My cholesterol is REALLY high - can i fix this?

Agree with lots of others, that high reading is not just diet related. (I assumed your title would be dramatic and your cholesterol 5.9 or something). I has a high cholesterol. I cut back on booze, did the porridge thing, did even more exercise, cut down on red meat and my cholesterol went even higher! Both my parents are on statins.

A lot of cholesterol is genetic rather than diet related. Just take statins.

I suffer from familial hypercholesterolaemia and have been taking a statin for nearly 20 years (I have just turned 50). The lipids specialist I saw said I would never reduce my cholesterol to safe levels through diet alone. Not one doctor has ever mentioned the link with coffee though (and I do drink 4-6 cups a day- some of which are decaf but I have googled and that could be even riskier.) Not any more. Thanks for posting.

Not really, generic high cholesterol starts from birth, they’d have spotted it in other tests, so it is overwhelmingly more like to be something else.

Cholesterol is also very closely linked to estrogen and menopause.
You’re doing all the right things. You need to ask hope more tests

This i had really high cholesterol just before being diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Cholesterol isn't always about diet it can be because of other conditions or just genetic. Unless you are eating blocks of lard everyday I doubt your cholesterol would be that high from diet alone.

Fish and chicken are fine.
My cholesterol is spot on for everything and eat a lot of fish snd some chicken.
i don’t eat red meat
I have to be really careful what i eat due to acid reflux so i eat minimal sugar and minimal added fats.

im mid 50s

But with all that weight loss and good diet you have already reduced significant risks for all sorts of health conditions so no need to get panicky. Monitor and change where required the diet, check back in 42 days and then make informed decisions based on your results in 6 weeks. You've already taken important steps. Take some credit for that.

My blood tests have always been fasted and apparently even eating saturated fat before the test can have an impact. Which is often why they retest a few weeks later.

I have not read the thread, but:
was this a fasting blood test? If not, redo
you also need the full breakdown ie hdl, ldl etc and the ratio
and finally; with that level you are likely someone with an inherited form of high cholesterol (like me). In which case, all the diet and lifestyle tweaks in the world, while helpful, will not bring it into safe levels. You need statins etc.

But age can manifest a genetically predisposition. And late 50s is the time we find out how good our genes are at keeping us healthy into older age.

I would up the fibre (do it slowly and with water). Work your way up to having 30g a day although your diet seems pretty good with the veggies and beans. Fibre helps with removing the bad cholesterol so may help you.

I brought mine down by diet and now I don’t need statins, but my level was just on the cusp of needing them in the first place. If yours is much higher you may need to just have the statins. Some people just have naturally high levels

I’d go back to the doc.

these conditions can cause high cholesterol

Conditions: Hypothyroidism, kidney disease, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), and lupus can increase cholesterol levels

the only other thing past diet and lack of exercise, is too much alcohol.

I agree with other posters and think there’s something else going on to cause this. Don’t panic, have a go at adjusting your diet and if it doesn’t come down I’m sure your GP will refer you to the lipid clinic to see what could be the reason that it’s so high.

I’m not sure it’s genetic, as it’s recent. Genetic they’d have seen it before, my husband has it for genetics and your age and it was detectable years ago.

whuch says it’s diet, and is why your doc is saying look at your diet. As he or she is thinking the same thing.

but your diet isn’t a high cholesterol one, so it’s odd.

I have reduced mine from just over 7 to 4.3 by eating healthily, exercise, cutting out alcohol, exercising and plant stenols . Saying that, my diet is quite similar to yours minus the butter. It's taken a year for it to go down and I have lost 2 stone. It seems that doctors are not so keen to rush people onto statins anymore. Do you exercise regularly?

What coffee do you drink? If its anythjng other than filter or instant it contains oils that can raise cholesterol.

I'm very similar to you in terms of height, weight and what I eat. My cholesterol was around 7 which I think is down to genetics and a previously sedentary job. I've been on 20mg Statins since Sept 2024 and my cholesterol is down to around 3-4. I've had no side affects.

Exactly this. There is a genetic link and tbh this level shouldn't be left to a possible dietary control, especially when there are no significant risk factors in your diet. This will increase your stroke risk well above the trigger for considering medication.