Lowering cholesterol naturally

In Tuesday’s e-Alert I told you how high cholesterol levels have been associated with the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Of course, the drug industry is excited by that news – it opens up a huge and lucrative new market for their expensive statin drugs.

As we already know, however, there are effective methods to lower cholesterol that don’t carry all the dangerous side effects of statins. For instance, research shows that reduced cholesterol has been linked with a high intake of flavonoids – plant pigment molecules found in fruits and vegetables, as well as the leaves of the tea plant.

The May issue of the HSI Members Alert features an article about the specific flavonoids in both green and black teas, and how their powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities have helped reduce cholesterol. The problem with getting these nutrients through tea drinking is that you would need to drink an enormous amount of tea every day to have any effect on your cholesterol level.

With this in mind, scientists have developed a new supplement called TheaChol, a formulation that delivers 375 mg of different tea flavonoids – the equivalent of 25 to 57 cups of tea. You’d need to spend a good part of your day doing nothing but brewing tea to get the flavonoid content of a single capsule of TheaChol.

The first supply of TheaChol will be available in mid-to-late May, but through a special arrangement with NorthStar Nutritionals, HSI members can place advance orders for exclusive first access. Look for Jennifer Arnold’s article about TheaChol in the May Members Alert for more detailed information about tea flavonoids and how to place an advance order.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute