Managing high cholesterol through diet - please share tips

[Lottapianos]

DP has been diagnosed with high cholesterol, and is keen to do what he can to get it down. Our main diet is pretty good - mostly veggie, lots of plant based foods, protein, fibre - and he's quite active ( gym 3 times a week, 1-2 walks of an hour or so). He has been snacking too much but now crisps are out and carrot sticks are in! He's looking at cutting back on booze as well

In general, what foods should he be eating more of, and what foods should he be avoiding? He doesn't have any allergies or other restrictions. Thanks!

Bump

Following with interest. My bloods came back last week and cholesterol was 5.2 when it should be under 5. I also eat very healthily but am diabetic which is one of the risk factors for cholesterol.

Haven't spoken to GP yet but I'm also worrying about what I should and shouldn't eat.

All I've seen so far is no cheese allowed. Which I'll be honest has pretty much devastated me!!

Cut out or drastically lower red meat intake. Eat more porridge.

Following! I was surprised my cholesterol came back high. My dr just said "eat less cheese" but I don't eat much anyway.

Definitely ditch processed food and ready made meals. Creamy pasta dishes are no good. I tried lowering my cholesterol for a few months, but it made no difference. I now take a low dose 10mg statin and my levels are around 3.5 now.

Mine is 5.2 also. I'm 43.

What's his alcohol intake like? I've just finished dry Jan but before that I was drinking about 16 units a week - alcohol is bad for cholesterol.

Interested in other people's tips.

Omega 3 supplements helped my cholesterol.

I had high cholesterol. 6 when I was in my 20's.
I stopped drinking alcohol and eating meat and despite eating a relatively crap diet ( lots of bread, cheese and chocolate) I'm now in my 40's and my cholesterol is 3.9.
I believe meat and alcohol plays a huge part and cutting back may not be enough.

Oh balls... so I need to give up steaks, wine and cheese??

They are like the 3 best things in life!!

@KylieCharlene

I had high cholesterol. 6 when I was in my 20's. I stopped drinking alcohol and eating meat and despite eating a relatively crap diet ( lots of bread, cheese and chocolate) I'm now in my 40's and my cholesterol is 3.9. I believe meat and alcohol plays a huge part and cutting back may not be enough.

Is all meat bad or just red meat?

I could live without red meat but I like chicken and fish.

Following with interest ... I'm 61, my cholesterol has been rising for a while and although the HDL:LDL ratio isn't bad, and my other risk factors are deemed too low for statins I want to see if I can reduce it through dietary changes.

My main one so far is that we'd rather defaulted to cheese sandwiches/toasties for lunch, so I'm trying to avoid that. Easy if I'm at home, but I'm looking for sandwich fillings for when we're walking and I want to shove one in my pocket or rucksack. So far I seem stuck on hummus which is ok but a bit of a faff to make when we're rushing to get out.

We cook from scratch nearly every day, don't eat much processed food, and eat red meat about once a week. Drinking definitely needs to reduce.

Do red meat and cheese have to go completely, or is it enough to reduce right down to say, one moderate portion of each once a week?

Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do it will make no difference, it can be genetic. We all have high cholesterol in my family, so I take a statin as does my brother. Mine went from 7.5 to 3.7 in a month when starting statins and will be on them for life. It's no bother taking one tablet a day.

You may find the linked article interesting:
nutritionfacts.org/questions/what-can-i-do-to-lower-my-cholesterol-it-seems-ive-tried-everything/

Basically, he suggests eating more oats, barley, beans, amla and Brazil nuts (no, I have never heard of amla, either). And less trans fat (which comes from processed foods and naturally from meat and dairy);
saturated fat (found mainly in animal products and junk foods) and
dietary cholesterol (found exclusively in animal-derived foods, especially eggs).

dietary cholesterol (found exclusively in animal-derived foods, especially eggs).

There is some debate about dietary cholesterol impacting cholesterol. The British Heart Foundation website says that it's ok to eat a moderate amount of dietary cholesterol but to cut out saturated fat. Saturated fat is the big issue.

That's very useful coronabeer, thanks

Also have cholesterol of 5.2, it has gone up a lot in the last 6 months. I do eat cheese, bacon and beef mince a couple of times a week each so that will be a big lifestyle change, especially as that’s what my kids like so if I’m cooking for all of us it will often include one of those two things. Not had a chat with the doctor yet.

My cholesterol went down significantly when I was doing the 5:2 diet.

I spent most of my working day discussing cholesterol and statins with patients. I'll elaborate later as I'm at the end of my break so placemarking.

The NhS website has some good basic information.

Exercise is crucial alongside diet.

Lentils and pulses are your friend.

I'll be back!

@Lottapianos

We cook from scratch nearly every day, don't eat much processed food, and eat red meat about once a week. Drinking definitely needs to reduce.

Do red meat and cheese have to go completely, or is it enough to reduce right down to say, one moderate portion of each once a week?

Unfortunately hard cheese is a big culprit. Don't cut it out entirely as you need to her a decent calcium intake, particularly if female as we don't want to throw osteoporosis into the mix!

As with anything nutritionally, it's about balance.

Olive oil, nuts and yoghurt drinks are the easiest ones to use imo. You can add half a teaspoon of oil to a bowl of soup, and use an olive oil spread.
www.piedmont.org/living-better/5-foods-that-can-lower-your-cholesterol-naturally

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4606102/

Dietary cholesterol has much less of an effect on the level of cholesterol in your blood than the amount of saturated fat you eat does.
If your GP has advised you to change your diet to reduce your blood cholesterol, the most important thing to do is to cut down on saturated fat.

From the NHS website. Further reading:

www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/lower-your-cholesterol/

OP I'd check the sources on this as there are all sorts of cranks offering dietary advice. The well known charities, NHS, BUPA. Anything from a peer reviewed source should be ok.

'OP I'd check the sources on this as there are all sorts of cranks offering dietary advice'

Very true. Thanks

I think the general thinking now (I come from a family with high cholesterol, though oddly not the genetic form, but that's another story) is that a low carb diet is best - so protein, healthy fats, fruit, veg, cutting out white carbs/sugar/junk food. I did paleo for a time (for unrelated reasons) and it was one of the few times in my life that my cholesterol was normal.

Thanks mindutopia. Can you say more about healthy fats?