How do you reduce cholesterol?

[Lindy2]

Apparently my cholesterol is a bit high. I've been sent an NHS link on how to reduce cholesterol but I'm already doing practically everything it suggests already.

I'm in the healthy BMI range at 5 foot 6 and 10 stone 7 (after loosing 2 stone since the start of the year), I'm still calorie counting so I'm eating healthily at least 80% of the time. I don't smoke. I'm only drinking 1 or 2 glasses of wine a week as I'm calorie counting. I'm fairly active and do a very intense 1 hour exercise class each week.

How come my cholesterol is high? What else can I do?

Google says to eat nuts and apples....

Is there anything else I can do (not statins). I don't like the idea of fatty blood and frankly I'm a bit peed off about it as I've been being so healthy lately.

Riddle me this…I’ve been vegan for 34 years, even followed the Doug Graham diet for 4 of them. I also am an ultramarathoner. I got diagnosed with high cholesterol last week. I’m very disappointed.

following with interest

I've just had a look and they are on there. There's a lot of information, of which I understand very little.

This is some of it.

Serum cholesterol 5.8 mmol/L
Serum HDL cholesterol 1.79 mmol/L
Serum triglycerides 1
Serum cholesterol HDL ratio 3.2
Serum LDL cholesterol level 3.6
10 year cardiovascular risk score 2.2%

Its the ratio which is most important

@IMustDoMoreExercise

I found the results on my NHS app. Some of the information is above.

Can I jump in as similar and it might help to compare, age 40 healthy bmi and just had results

Total cholesterol 6.4 mmol/L
HDL cholesterol is 1.91 mmol/LL
DL cholesterol is 4.1 mmol
Ratio is 3.4
Triglycerides are 0.88 mmol

So your ratio is low

Or am I wrong about the ratio being all important perhaps?

Im trying to get my ratio below 4

It is the saturated fats in food that will raise cholesterol. Low carb diets are well known to increase cholesterol . Can you switch the chicken for tofu/tempeh? Your eggs for rolled oats and flax seeds for breakfast, and your cheese for beans? and no coconut oil, if this is the one you use.

Your Serum cholesterol HDL ratio of 3.2 is fine. Not sure why you have been told you have an issue.

I am not a doctor, but as @soupfiend said, the raio is the most important figure.

Your ratio if fine too.

I don't know why people are being told they have an issue.

That is what I have heard too, that the ratio is the most important as the HDL is good.

I was told I had high cholesterol last week, but my Q risk was low (also around 2%). I didn’t really want to get on the statin treadmill, so said I’d try and loose weight and have a new blood test in six months time.

I did that health research thing a while ago, I can't remember what it's called but my cholesterol came back high I think 8.7 I'm 40 5ft5 7.5 stone and exercise 4 times a week, my diet is pretty good too. I started using the benecol margarine and the little yoghurt drink things and I got my cholesterol checked again about 3 months later at my GP surgery and it went down to 6 point something. Although I have since heard that the first test might not have been so accurate as it was a finger prick test rather than a proper blood test.

The QRISK looks at:

1. Age
2. Sex
3. Total cholesterol
4. HDL cholesterol
5. Smoking status
6. Blood pressure
7. Diabetes status
8. Use of antihypertensive medications

None of us is you with your medical history so my levels and my risk will be different than yours. They told you that statins are not needed, but I would still try to work on those levels if my GP flagged them to me.

DHs was nearly 9😲, his ratio wasn't too bad though, lots of good cholesterol.
He got his down to just over 5 in six months.
His diet was good but with naughty snacks in between fairly healthy meals. He cut out chocolate, cakes, cheese, butter and fatty cuts of meat. He also changed from brewed coffee to filter ( we had no idea brewed coffee has cholesterol raising compounds in it that are reduced by a filter).
He has soya milk in his coffee and peanut butter on his toast, eats oats every day and had a cholesterol lowering yogurt drink in the morning.
The nurse was impressed, as it is unusual to achieve results like this with dirt changes alone. I'd like him to go on statins though as his younger brother has just been diagnosed with Angina, but it's his body.
Annoyingly he has outsourced learning about diet to me and always asks me what he's allowed to eat in restaurants, irritating.

I'm 58 and post menopausal and I think my diet has improved since I was in peri, but all my levels have worsened in the last 5 years:

I am 5ft 1 and weigh 8 stone.

2019

Total cholesterol 4.6 mmol/L
HDL cholesterol is 2.1 mmol/LL
LDL cholesterol is 2.5 mmol
Ratio is 1.9
Triglycerides are 0.5 mmol

2024

Total cholesterol 5.1 mmol/L
HDL cholesterol is 1.8 mmol/LL
LDL cholesterol is 2.8 mmol
Ratio is 2.8
Triglycerides are 1.0 mmol

I've also received a notification to say that mines high and a link in how to reduce it, I'm 5'2 and weigh 8.5 stone , I'm going to have a look at my diet and see what else I can do, it was a-bit of a shock , but I suppose it's better to know than not.
Glad this threads on here as I've been a-bit worried what it all means and what it leads to if I don't do something.

What are your levels and how old are you?

I'm 39 I need to find out my levels and have an appointment with the doctor next week as I've also just found that I've got low kidney function.
It was just a generic txt they sent with the link and said to get tested again in a year.
But I'll ring and find out tomorrow as clearly I need to know.

I eat a low carb (20% daily macros) high fat (50% daily macros) diet.

I eat lots of full fat yoghurt, eggs, avocados and nuts and I eat meat.

I don't eat a very much crap like biscuits, cake, chocolate (95% dark if I have any) or other sweet treats.

I have low cholesterol (HDL 2.1, LDL 2.4, ratio 2.1)

Low carb diets are known to increase cholesterol. Does it mean everyone on a low carb diet gets high cholesterol? Of course not.
It is not the low carb itself, but what people eat instead of the carb. Many will swap for fatty proteins rich in saturated fats. Eggs and bacon for breakfast, chicken for lunch, burger for dinner.

The results should be in your NHS app. There is a search function at the top of the app and if you put in "test results" you should find them.

@imustdomorexercise
Thank you I will have a look now.

My NHs app doesn’t show test results. Maybe gaven’t requested access to them. Need to phone the surgery tomorrow so may ask them about it.

I couldn't find them on mine either, I had to do a search and they then came up.

Migraines as well