Have you successfully reduced your bad cholesterol?

gorgeousme

As the title says, have you successfully reduced your bad cholesterol? I have tried for 2 years and it is still creeping upwards. I eat healthily at home and cook from scratch, but I eat out once a week. I don’t eat biscuits, and have cakes only on special occasions. My hubby’s reading is 4.5, he is lean despite eating junk food and chocolates as well as his meals. My reading is 6. I am around a stone and a half overweight so I try to cook healthily all the time to stop the weight from increasing. I do not eat junk most days, if I do, it is normally crisps. So I guess I eat around a packet of crisps a month. 

Please share what you did if you have been successful.

comeandgo

I got down to 9 stone which I stay at, eat healthy, excercise is hill climbing and strenuous and I’m still high in bad and low on good cholesterol, diet plays only a small part in cholesterol control.  

luvchocolate

It's very hard to reduce cholesterol by diet alone. I took simvastatin but unfortunately increased my blood sugar levels to top of the pre diabetes range
Came of medication went low carb lost weight lowered bloodsugarto normal but cholesterol still 6.
It's difficult trying to balance.

gorgeousme

I read a paper (written by a doctor) that your liver makes up the cholesterol. If you consume a high amount of cholesterol, it will make less. That’s is why I question whether it is possible to reduce it at all.

Mnoee

My GP recommended the cholesterol lowering yogurt drinks (benecol, but own brands are available) and spreads. They seemed to help in combination with the good diet tips you're already following, but I found them too pricey to keep buying long term. 

sevenhills

gorgeousme said:

 My reading is 6. I am around a stone and a half overweight so I try to cook healthily all the time to stop the weight from increasing.

Do we know what healthy food is? Perhaps you are not eating healthy if you are over weight and have poor cholesterol?

strawb_shortcake

Since my Husband stopped his statins he has maintained his cholesterol at around 6, though that last reading was a year ago. 

Pre heart attack we don't know what his cholesterol was do we have no baseline to work with. 

As others have said, cholesterol is only slightly related to diet, genetics play a big factor. 

My Husband has a very low fat diet, and will not eat anything not labelled green on saturated fats or eat red meat. 

His Dr suggested flax seeds and turmeric to help lower his cholesterol, but I've no idea just how much science supports this.

luvchocolate

It seems incredibly hard to lower by diet alone