The good oil on cholesterol

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No matter how hard we try by cutting the fat off meat and swapping to low-fat dairy products, it seems we cannot reduce our cholesterol. Now a natural treatment is bringing new hope to those with high levels of the killer sterol.

Australia's leading cholesterol expert, Professor Leon Simons, says the consequences of high cholesterol are staggering.

"Half of adult Australians might have cholesterol levels that are too high," he said.

"Cholesterol lowering will reduce the risk of heart disease dramatically. We're talking about a 30 per cent reduction in the toll from heart disease."

Heart disease and stroke cause almost 40 per cent of Australian deaths each year - around one death every 10 minutes.

Hospitality manager Robert Bourne is one of the lucky ones; he survived a stroke at 57.

"I couldn't feel half of my body," he said.

"I wasn't in good shape."

Mr Bourne's wife Jenny saw her husband have the stroke.

"His hand became stiff and his leg crumbled from under him and I thought - my initial thought was - 'he's had a stroke'," she said.

A former smoker with high cholesterol and a nasty family medical history, Mr Bourne followed the same path as his father and brothers before him.

"The event was the plaque coming away from inside of the arteries and showering my brain and my lungs," he said.

With expert care, Mr Bourne survived but now a little wonder capsule of natural plant chemicals, or sterols, is paving his way for a long and healthy life by dramatically cutting down his deadly cholesterol.

"You get the result and the result's fantastic," Mr Bourne said.

Combined with a low-fat diet and a change in lifestyle habits - quite simply, more exercise - the capsule Basikol can reduce cholesterol.

"A readily available source right now of extra plant sterols in the diet is through several commercially available margarines," Professor Simons said.

"It turns out that you can now obtain these same plant sterols in a capsule without the added calories of taking it through a margarine."

Lou Cook beat his heart attack but his cholesterol levels remained dangerously high and the medication he took to reduce them made him crook.

"The harsh drugs for cholesterol ... just didn't agree with me so I just stopped taking them," he said.

Basikol solved the problem; the natural product dropped Mr Cook's levels by 10 per cent.

"Totally natural plant husks and I eat the margarine and it seems to be doing the job," he said.

Cutting down your risks of heart attack and stroke does not stop when you swallow those pills.

You need to change your whole lifestyle and that adventure starts at the greengrocer's.

Mr Bourne takes Basikol with every meal, along with margarine containing plant cholesterol, while actively controlling his blood pressure and sugar levels.

"I do have my three glasses of red of an evening with my pills, as recommended by my doctor, and I believe that's part of a good therapy," he said.

His cholesterol level was six when he had his stroke but now he's at a safe 3.9.

"That gives me a lot of confidence in all the exercise and all the management I'm doing, so I feel great," Mr Bourne said.

Mr Cook also has made that life change: exercise and a low-fat diet.

"I just more or less stay away from the processed foods," he said.

And Professor Simons says more advances in cholesterol treatments are on the way.

"There's no question that now we are on the threshold of being able to do even greater things with cholesterol lowering and heart disease prevention," he said.

Basikol Phytosterols cost about $22 per month and will be available from pharmacies without prescription. For more information call Arkopharma on 1800 088 588 or visit www.arkopharma.com.au/Products/Basikol.htm Disclaimer
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