How did you lower cholesterol naturally?

[gdlyig]

I am trying to avoid statins. Was on steroids for years and finally tapering. Hoping this will make a real difference.

Will lose a few kg to put me in the middle of the normal BMI range (losing the steroid puff). Peri, which doesn't help.

Exercise - frustratingly gently after severe illness.

Oats for two days in a row every few weeks - see the recent study.

Roast tomatoes - used to eat them raw, but apparently cooked is much better.

Kimchi,

I am vegetarian and don't eat many UPFs, so not many cholesterol heavy foods to ditch.

Any magic tricks?

Have you read about the Portfolio Diet? https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10841173/

Lots of tips on here, but it’s the usual stuff I’m afraid. Don’t drink alcohol, reduce portion sizes, lose weight, change your diet, don’t smoke etc etc.
there are lots of diet tips on here and, iirc, a meal plan and even some recipes.

https://www.heartuk.org.uk/healthy-living/introduction

Why do you want to avoid statins?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80142p2g00o

Fish oil. Seems to have made a difference for me.

@SpanielsAreNutty I had to take steroids after a horrific near fatal reaction to a medication, so am now nervous to start anything.

Oats for breakfast religiously for a year.. Next test showed levels were now fine.

Plant sterols and losing weight.

Ive found oats for breakfast, cardio exercise where you break a sweat (20/25mins a couple of times a week) and reducing upf has worked - i also have used plant sterols - yoghurt drink which I have one week on, one week off.

7 or 8 portions of fruit and veg a day.

I have a Benecol drink every day.
It has lowered my cholesterol by 10% and it’s now in normal range.

I think upping your fibre is really helpful (as long with all the usual stuff). Most people don’t eat enough. Hence the oats helping but lots of other high fibre foods are good too.

A friend and I both found out our cholesterol was too high about the same time. We both cut out basically most fat, ate 10 helpings of fruit and veg a day and loads of fibre.
We both lost weight despite not originally being overweight so at 5ft 6in I dropped to 8st in my late 60’s.
Our cholesterol it went up! I think sometimes it’s a losing battle.

It can be genetic and very hard to influence.

I agree.

I think if you are overweight, drink alcohol, eat a poor diet and don’t exercise then you can make a difference through lifestyle. If you already do all the ‘good’ things, then I don’t think there is much you can do. Plus your bad cholesterol levels go up with menopause (aka. the gift that never bloody stops giving!)

It is for me. I'm not overweight, eat healthy, never smoked, rarely drink, and do plenty of exercise. Me and DH eat the same but his levels are perfect while mine are stubbornly high. I've had to go on statins as now I am getting older the risks are greater. Statins are the only way for me to reduce my levels.

I thought that was one of those lovely sounding myths. I think I could do this very easily.

I don't want to be on statins either OP. I react very badly to a lot of medications and twice reacted so badly I needed steroids.

Anyone had one of those coronary calcium scans? I think they're meant to be the best way to check your heart attack risk.

It’s not everyone’s tac, but I took the advice of the doctor who discovered I have high cholesterol. I have an annual private medical check through work and the doctor at the time a few years ago said that we really don’t know how impactful cholesterol is on its own, because those who present with problems and are discovered to have high cholesterol generally have other health issues which are comorbid and brought them to the doctor in the first place. There are almost certainly many perfectly healthy and fit people who have high cholesterol, but never learn about it, and it’s never a problem for them, because healthy and fit people with no issues don’t go to the doctor to have their cholesterol tested.

So, I continue to exercise frequently and regularly as I’ve always done, I have a good diet, I watch my drinking to some level; but I don’t sweat the results of the cholesterol test.

I reduced mine in 3 months from 6.9 to 5.4.
I had one benecol every morning.
Breakfast is 30g of oats soaked in coconut water with frozen blueberries. I add in a handful of almonds and a scoop of greek yoghurt.
I cut out filter coffee.
I upped my excercise, yoga swimming and weights.
My liver specialist who i see every few months asked had my gp put me on statins.
Very happy to say no.

Agree with this!

I posted about this before but myself and my sister were both told we had high cholesterol at the same time, both around 6.5 with too much of the bad ones. Our dad died of congestive heart failure in his 60s, even though he was slim and fit and had a very good diet. Dsis wanted to avoid statins so decided to tackle it through diet with the support of her doctor. I went on statins straight away. She has since had a stroke and lost most of the sight in one of her eyes, and is on statins now anyway. Give diet a go, but for some people medication is the only effective way to keep cholesterol down.

Husband very successfully lowered his:

Porridge for breakfast
Switched to skimmed milk
More fruit and veg at lunch - basically swapped a cheese sandwich and a chocolate bar for salads or soup. Also less cheese in general.
We already ate pretty healthy dinners but we did reduce the amount of red meat we eat
Upped his exercise levels
Cut down on unhealthy snacks

It worked a treat for him.

My mum however has a very healthy diet and nothing made any difference apart from statins. Sometimes genetics are just not on your side.

There is nothing wrong with trying to reduce it in a healthy way and if it doesnt work, go on the statins.
It doesnt have to be either or.

DH did this, boots plant sterols & cut down on sugar, smaller portions

The problem with coronary artery calcium scans is the a low or nil score does not mean that you have no heart disease.The scan detects calcified plaque but not non calcified plaque.

Also, it’s a picture of what’s going on now, but not a predictor of the future. So what you’re doing now might well cause heart disease in the future but a zero score now can’t warn you of that.