My cholesterol is REALLY high - can i fix this?

[CholesterolHelp]

I just got blood work results & my cholesterol is 11.2. 🙁

My GP wrote in the report that i need to really critically look at my diet & then retest in 4 to 6 weeks.

I am 56, 5ft 9" & currently weigh 12 13. I was 14 5 last year & i have worked v hard to lose the weight. Target weight is 11 13.

My typical day of eating looks like:

Porridge (made 2 thirds water, 1 third low fat milk). In the past week i've added chia seeds & 3 chopped walnuts as they're supposed to help cholesterol

A coffee & glass of water (i used to have fresh orange juice but have cut it out)

Midmorning - a coffee with low fat milk

Lunch: homemade vegetable soup - this varies - spiced moroccan tomato & chickpea, roast root veg, carrott & ginger, minestrone (beans no pasta), veg & red lentil etc
I usually have a slice of organic seeded sourdough with real butter (cut that out now)

Dinner - salmon with veg & new potatoes, chicken salad etc

I drink 1.5 ltrs water & cut out all the crap & 90% less alcohol. That's how i've lost 20lbs so far.

Now i have had the odd fuck it day where i've had a takeaway / wine but truthfully my diet is the best its been ever

I have added a daily benecol drink, ditched the red meat (rarely eat anyway) & the butter. Cheese was long gone to aid weight loss

Can i turn this around with diet? Has anyone here managed?

I'm worried now

@Sashya yes, i wll ring her in the morning

We did not discuss my diet when she took the bloods. I mentioned i'd lost over a stone - perhaps she felt there could be scope in my diet. But from this thread it seems like diet is ok, def not so bad to be causing this issue

I suspect its genetic

@CholesterolHelp

To me "genetic" applies to people who have always had high cholesterol, at a young age, and independent of their diet.
Yours - as you said - was OK a few years ago. And rose recently - with age.

I had something similar. My LDL - (the bad cholesterol) has been quite low for years. HDL was high as I exercise a lot - but that one is actually protective, and is called "good cholesterol".

With age - my LDL slowly increased. It started after I had kids and put on a bit of weight. But then stayed at that level even after I lost baby weigh.
But it edged close to recommended (and a bit above) level in peri/menopause.

So - it's age appropriate genetics, I presume. I have nothing to cut out out of my diet as I have not had meat since I was 18, and consume barely any animal fat products. But this has been consistent for most of my life. So - age and hormones is the main driver of cholesterol changes for me.

So - do please discuss it all with your GP, and hopefully you can get to a better plan that waiting for over a month.

My family history is entirely high cholesterol and heart disease. I didn’t realize it until it was too late. I have had a double bypass, have a pacemaker, etc., and people and doctors who see me say I do not present as a cardiac patient. I look healthy, slim, active. But inside, I’m a ticking time bomb. My cardiologist says it doesn’t even matter what I eat ( very low cholesterol for many years. No pork, no beef) because it is entirely genetic. Statins have brought the numbers down. Don’t hesitate. If the numbers are still high, take the statins. It may save your life.

I think your unlikely to bring your cholesterol down significantly with the dietary changes you have made and TBH your GP should have been more realistic about that. It increases with age too, so a statin may be necessary. The main thing is you get it down to a safer level.

Several years ago I brought my total cholesterol down from 7 to 5 but it took 6 months and I was very strict with myself. I'd highly recommend a Phytosterol supplement - far more concentrated (and cost effective) than Benecol drinks.
Best of luck OP!

Only soluble fibre, anything else does nothing at all.

You might be genetically unlucky and are predisposed to high cholesterol. I would suggest dropping all milk and dairy and the fish and trying that for a month or so to see if it makes a change.

Drop all alcohol.

Your diet does seem very healthy so maybe it’s a combination of genetic plus your health history that is causing it so you have to go a bit further on the healthy diet unfortunately.

Are you also doing any cardio exercise like cycling or jogging?

Viscous fibre as well.

I was first tested in my 20s, after my father had a heart attack at 52 (I'm slightly older than that now.) At the time, I was in a house share with a hospital dietician, so I couldn't lie about my diet, whuch was quite good, and I didn't have a car, so cycled everywhere. The numbers have been such that once when I got 12, I said, "oh that's quite good..." as the previous reading had been 17.

I have never drunk tea or coffee, and I haven't drunk alcohol since my late 20s. I have been in some research programme testing for familial hypercholesterol, and apparently mine isn't genetic, but it is high anyway, however much fibre and low fat and exercise I consume. I stopped caring for many years, because it didn't seem to make a difference, whatever I tried, so there wasn't any point stressing over it, and I like to eat lots of veg and stuff anyway (not fish though, as I've never liked it.)

I started taking statins about a decade ago, and readings have been pretty much normal since.

Take the statins.

All viscous fibre is a type of soluble fibre. But that is the type you should be targeting yes.

That is well above the level at which lifestyle changes can help, and your diet seems fine. If the number is correct you need a statin at the very least.

The amount of oil added to meals can have a massive effect on cholesterol.

Please get to a lipid clinic to rule out hypercholesterolemia. I am awaiting genetic results for this.

@CholesterolHelp- here’s some sensible advice on diet:

https://share.google/RsGh3DAiIsDFOvM9Y

I have just started taking plant stenols from British Supplements - their reviews are good so worth a shot.
My diet isn't as good as yours but I also have good BMI and low BP, exercise, no booze etc and high cholesterol.

That’s really helpful! Thanks :-)

I think this could be | Hypercholesterolaemia - familial as that’s a high level considerating your current diet .

I suspect with it being that high it’s mostly genetics. My dd aged 21 (5ft 11, 9 stone and vegetarian) has very high cholesterol and they’ve put it down to genetics - her dad’s side is the same. I am 5ft 6, 15 stone with multiple disabilities and autoimmune issues and eat whatever I want whenever I want including butter, bacon, all sorts, and mine is low. I don’t think it’s always diet related, although obviously it can help to some extent.

Does anyone else feel that the interpretation of cholesterol tests is confusing and may not give a reassuring picture? Reference is always made to Total Ch. and LDL in isolation.

Very little focus seems to be on the ratio of HDL/ Total, and LDL/ HDLwhich can be more accurate indicators regardless of the individual HDL and LDL scores. Triglycerides are an important indicator also. The picture is rarely given in the round.

As a case in point, my chol readings (total and ldl) were over the limit. Ratios and triglycerides were excellent though. I was being treated for Afib and as part of the workup had all the usual cardiac tests + a cardiac calcium CT. I had a zero score, the best there could be, despite having high LDL and totals. Now the cardio team explained about the ratios and triglyceride score and it all fell into place. I still have slightly higher than the limits but am not taking any statins.

I'm not saying that is the case all the time, or should be for everyone, but it is food for thought just the same!

I would get it rechecked, it could be a bad reading.

Have you tried taking plant sterols?

Mine keeps showing as slightly high, but as it's only the good cholesterol that's high and I'm slim and active they're not worried. I'm not convinced as we're heart attack family.
I was listening to a new Dr Chris & Dr Xand podcast on cholesterol this week. I hadn't realised it was linked to the liver until now.

Mine is about 7 and I have only been able to make slight changes with diet (e.g. 7.2 to 6.8) by adding benecol, oats and green tea, but I'm also trying weight loss at the moment. If this doesn't help I will probably ask my GP about statins.

Sounds as if you could be like my mum. She always ate a low fat diet, but her cholesterol was through the roof. Turned out it’s genetic, she actually makes her own cholesterol, so she could live of nothing but salad leaves and still be way over desirable levels. She’s been on statins for years.

This! To go from 6 to 11 suggests a lab error.

My cholesterol was v high and yes, I did manage to reduce it by 6 points through diet but it was still high. Following a medical event probably caused, in part, by my cholesterol I now take statins as we’ve discovered I’m genetically predisposed to high cholesterol.

I think you could introduce more things into your diet that are know to aid in the reduction of cholesterol levels - oily fish, beans, avocados to name just three. Take a look at the heart UK pages as there is loads of great advice and some great recipes on there.