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Don't accept that prescription just yet. In most cases it's possible to take control of your cholesterol naturally, without the use of prescription drugs. First, you need to understand some facts on cholesterol.

When the word "cholesterol" comes to mind some of us may think of it as deadly. The truth about cholesterol is that it isn't deadly at all, it's a vital substance.

Cholesterol is actually a very important part of our bodies because it's used to form cell membranes and is needed for other functions in our bodies. However, it's when there are excessive levels of cholesterol in the blood that cholesterol can become dangerous.

This is known as hypercholesterolemia or "high cholesterol." There are many risk factors involved in having high cholesterol. These risks shouldn't be taken lightly as high levels of cholesterol greatly increase the risk of stroke, atherosclerosis, and coronary heart disease.

There are different ways you can develop high cholesterol. Your body, mainly the liver, can produce too much cholesterol and a poor diet will almost always do it. You MUST take on permanent, healthy lifestyle changes to take control of your cholesterol. This includes:

1) Becoming more active. Physical activity plays an important role in reducing and maintaining healthy cholesterol levels. Just 30 minutes per day can have a positive impact.

2) Eating foods that are low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

3) Maintaining a diet rich in soluble fiber. Soluble fiber binds with cholesterol in the intestine and takes it out of the body.

There are also many natural alternatives that can be used to compliment a healthy lifestyle. In most situations, you can reduce high cholesterol without the use of a statin drug which is a prescription strength cholesterol lowering medication.

Statin medications work by interfering with an enzyme that is necessary for the body to manufacture cholesterol. However there can be some serious side effects when using statin medications ranging from mild to very serious.

Before making the decision to start statin therapy, you may want to consider trying natural alternatives first. Natural alternatives are not only much safer than using prescription drugs but also a lot cheaper. Some natural alternatives may even be as effective as using a statin.