Astaxanthin For Cholesterol
Protecting your heart
There have been a few studies on humans relating to the effects of astaxanthin on cardiovascular disease. There have been many more on various other species of animals though. Several experimental studies have demonstrated that astaxanthin can be very effective in protecting the heart muscles prior to and after a cardiac event such as a heart attack or stroke. Astaxanthin has also been proven to be effective in lowering cholesterol and reducing blood pressure.
WHAT IS CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in your blood. Your body needs cholesterol to build healthy cells, but high levels of cholesterol increases a person’s risk of serious health conditions such as heart disease.
With high cholesterol, you can develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels. Eventually, these deposits grow, making it difficult for enough blood to flow through your arteries. Sometimes, those deposits can break suddenly and form a clot that causes a heart attack or stroke.
There are different types of cholesterol, they are:
- Low-density lipoprotein (LDL). LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, transports cholesterol particles throughout your body. LDL cholesterol builds up in the walls of your arteries, making them hard and narrow.
- High-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL, or “good” cholesterol, picks up excess cholesterol and takes it back to your liver
What Causes High Cholesterol?
The causes of high cholesterol include : poor diet, lack of exercise, being overweight, smoking, old age, diabetes.
If you’ve been keeping an eye on your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, there’s something else you might need to monitor: your triglycerides.
Triglycerides are a type of fat, found in your blood. When you eat, your body converts any calories it doesn’t need to use right away into triglycerides. The triglycerides are stored in your fat cells. Later, hormones release triglycerides for energy between meals.
If you regularly eat more calories than you burn, particularly from high-carbohydrate foods, you may have high triglycerides (hypertriglyceridemia). High triglycerides may contribute to hardening of the arteries or thickening of the artery walls (arteriosclerosis) — which increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and heart disease. Extremely high triglycerides can also cause acute inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis).
What’s The Difference Between Triglycerides And Cholesterol?
- Triglycerides and cholesterol are different types of fats that circulate in your blood
- Triglycerides store unused calories and provide your body with energy.
- Cholesterol is used to build cells and certain hormones
HOW ASTAXANTHIN TARGETS CHOLESTEROL?
Astaxanthin has been proven in many independent clinical tests and medical trials to be effective in being able to reduce cholesterol levels in both animal tests and human trials. Not only can it significantly reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol, but it can also increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol. Astaxanthin has also been shown to lower Triglycerides levels.
The way astaxanthin decreases triglycerine levels and bad cholesterol, while increasing good cholesterol, is, through its powerful anti-oxidant properties to reduce inflammation, metabolise fats and glucose.
When we have high cholesterol, our bodies become inflamed. Astaxanthin through its powerful anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory powers, has the ability to cool the inflammation at a cellular level. As soon as this happens, the good cholesterol goes in and sweeps away the accumulated bad cholesterol which had bound itself to the inflammation to protect the body. If this doesn’t happen, the cholesterol can build up in your arteries and form think walls of plaque which restrict blood flow and eventually lead to heart disease and strokes.
