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.

My cholesterol was pushing 6.5 - non smoker, non drinker size 10 gym bunny. Would not budge - took Statins with not one side effect and immediately dropped to 4. The medical evidence base for statins is very convincing - it even stabilises any plaque already formed in the arteries and the rate of cardiovascular events are reduced in those who take them.

I was told stress can cause high cholesterol

I brought mine down from 6.6 to 5.3 on diet alone. Basically cut out saturated fats and lost 2 stone in the process. Have Benecol drinks and spread, not sure if that's part of the success or not. Took about 9 months, gp very impressed.

@Lindy2 Gosh, your results look alright, I'd be chuffed with that! The NHS guidelines recommend total cholesterol under 5, so your total is slightly elevated, but combined with your other results and ratio, looks fine overall

My DH was told that he had very high cholesterol at his 40 year old test. As he had been vegetarian for 20 years, healthy weight and didn’t smoke so he hadn’t been worried about it. But it is a genetic thing.

His cholesterol was 11, yes 11. The doctor wanted to put him on statins straight away but he wanted to try 6 months of diet.
He switched from dairy to oat milk and tried to eat oats every day in some form.
He didn’t cut out cheese but he cut down.
No biscuits, which were his downfall.
Limited number of pastries like croissants.
Switched from butter to flora spread.

After 6 months his cholesterol was 7. Still high but nothing like as bad.

To lower cholesterol, you need to increase your hdls. You do this by eating at least 10 grams of soluble fibre ever day. Google dietitians of Canada soluble fibre. It is a very comprehensive list of foods that contain soluble fibre, and tells you how many grams of fibre per serving of each food. If your triglycerides are in the normal range, it is unlikely that the problem is too much saturated fat. Our bodies make cholesterol however, and we don't absorb that much from food. But the soluble fibre will help prevent us absorbing even small amounts of cholesterol in food.

Also, some medications can actually increase cholesterol production, so if you are on a few, ask your GP surgery for a medication review.

Beetroot juice.
My sister has lowered hers in 6 months to get to an healthy level.

Thanks for all the information everyone.

I'm glad my levels actually seem OK. That's a relief.

I have my follow up appointment in a couple of weeks. It's good to know diet tips though so I can do my best to keep the levels OK going forward.

I have mine tested annually, it is high but the ratio of good to bad is within the acceptable range so o don’t worry too much.

Just found my results, in case it helps:

Total: 6.9
HDL: 1.77
LDL: 4.1
Triglycerides: 2.16
Ratio: 3.9

I think menopause has an effect as my results 4 years ago, pre menopause were lower, with a ratio of 3.8. HDL pre menopause was 1.47 and LDL 3.3. Total was 5.6.

The ratio should be below 4.

My diet and exercise regime are better now than back then, so I’m not sure that diet makes a huge amount of difference.

Yes, I have found exactly that too.

My levels pre and post menopause are so much worse. My trigliceride levels have doubled.

How old are you?

I am 58 and had my levels tested last week and the last time was 5 years ago when I was in peri.

I know that my diet and exercise levels are so much better now compared to 5 years ago.

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