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If you have a high cholesterol reading for any length of time then there is an increased risk that you’ll get thickening of the artery walls. There is more. This can ultimately lead to other cardiovascular problems, in particular heart disease. Heart disease is a leading cause of death of people in many developed countries thus there is plenty of information on how to lower cholesterol. In general, it involves eating foods with less cholesterol & taking on regular exercise. There is another approach to reducing cholesterol that involves taking foods & supplements that can combat cholesterol. One such foodstuff that can assist is niacin. This article will discus how niacin can be often used to control cholesterol.

Niacin is also known as vitamin B3 or nicotonic acid. It’s soluble in water & can be easily found in a range of foods. It can sometimes be easily found in leaf vegetables, avocados, broccoli & many other foods. Most people that eat a balanced diet will get enough niacin for it to be effective within the body.

Niacin is believed to be effective in lowering cholesterol in two ways. However, before covering this we need to understand how cholesterol is transported throughout the body.

The nutrients, sugar & other elements of food, including cholesterol, are absorbed into the bloodstream from the intestine. However cholesterol can not actually be moved throughout the body because it’s not soluble in water (or blood). Thus it’s attached lipoproteins. There is more. They act as cholesterol transporters.

There are various types of lipoproteins that are responsible for different parts of this transport. Very low density lipoproteins (or VLDL cholesterol) transports cholesterol from the liver. Low density lipoprotein (LDL cholesterol) transports cholesterol throughout the body but often bind with the artery walls. There is more. This leads to thickening of the artery walls or atherosclerosis (which is bad for the body & is dubbed bad cholesterol). High density lipoproteins (HDL cholesterol) transports cholesterol back to the liver where it’s removed from the body (this is good for the body & therefore is called good cholesterol).

Niacin is believed block the breakdown of fats in the body. This causes a decrease in free fatty acids in the blood. This means that the levels of VLDL & cholesterol produced by the liver are decreased. By decreasing the level of VLDL, niacin also causes the level of HLDL cholesterol to be increased. By reducing VLDL cholesterol & increasing HDL cholesterol niacin is effectively reducing the bad cholesterol in the body.

Niacin supplements are sometimes prescribed when a person has low levels of HDL cholestrol but in most cases a person can get their daily requirement of niacin by eating a balanced diet that includes fresh fruit & vegetables.

High cholesterol is usually treated by making changes in your lifestyle. Find out how you can reduce cholesterol by starting a cholesterol diet at http://www.lowcholesteroldieting.com . Adrian Whittle writes on issues related to reducing cholesterol & how to monitor cholesterol levels.

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