In my mums side of the family high cholesterol seems to be an issue. It’s not been confirmed that it’s FE but my uncle at the age of 51, slim, healthy, non-smoker and had a clean diet, had a massive heart attack. He passed away a few years ago at 66 due to heart failure.

He was told it was caused by his high cholesterol but he never knew he had it at the time. They advised that his siblings got tested and they all had high cholesterol as did the majority of my cousins and everyone of them went on statins.

I had mine tested around the same time and mine was 5 so I was fine. Then about 6 years ago it was 6.9 and my doctor advised that I took statins but I declined and went on a vegan diet. Within 12 months it reduced to 4.3 and all the figures were great.

I have an underactive thyroid which I take treatment for. I do worry about cholesterol because my cousin who is the same age as me (42) recently had very high cholesterol and got told he was at risk of a heart attack like our uncle because of it. It’s worried me. My cholesterol is likely higher than when I last had it tested when it was 4.3, because I am less active these days because I’ve been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. I am going to get it tested again soon.

I’m just wondering what is the best diet for someone who may be at risk of high cholesterol, because it’s in the family? I can’t manage vegan anymore as it made my fatigue so much worse, I lost a lot of hair etc. I am taking a cholesterol lowering drink daily and using the spread on my food if I have ever have toast.