Ayurveda tips to reduce high cholesterol

• Do regular yoga and exercises like walking for an hour, preferably daily. Regular physical activity can help increase HDL cholesterol.
• Eat your meals at the same time everyday and plan to eat your largest meal at lunchtime, when your digestion is at its strongest. To avoid indigestion at night, eat lightly.
• Start your day with fresh fruits and high soluble fiber grains such as oats. Eat plenty of vegetables, dried beans or legumes.
• Minimize all animal fats including those in dairy and other dairy products except ghee (clarified butter).
• Drink herbal tea made of a mixture of ten grams of coriander, fenugreek and cumin seeds each, boiled in two liters of water. Drink it throughout the day.
• Turmeric, garlic and curry leaves are known to have cholesterol lowering properties and may be added into your food.
• Therapeutic fasting should be done monthly, once or twice, under supervision of a doctor.
• Do Panchakarma therapies (Ayurveda cleansing and detoxifying therapies).
• Quit smoking. Smoking lowers HDL cholesterol levels and increases the tendency for blood to clot.
• Keep away from over-eating and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
• Avoid daytime naps.

Aparna K. BAMS, MD, PhD

Aparna is one of the few specialists worldwide with a PhD in Ayurveda. Born into an Ayurvedic family which operates a traditional Ayurvedic Panchakarma hospital in Kerala, India, she grew up observing her father, the renowned Dr Padmanabhan.