High cholesterol

[tubby2]

Morning everyone, I've just been told my cholesterol level is nearly 7 and wondered if anyone had any advice on getting it down. I have joined a gym so getting plenty excercise but I need some ideas on changing my poor diet. I have around 3 stone to lose so I have a bit of a mountain to climb. Any advice would be great 😀

[MW50]

I agree you need to get proper medical advice, high cholesterol is not just a result of poor diet, our bodies also produce it in the liver. If, like me, your body produces too much it cannot be controlled by diet alone.

[GingerCatJayne]

Hi there,

I am in the same boat as you! So any advice you receive, please share, and I will do the same! I have diabetes and my GP said the two were related. I am determined to get my cholesterol down because I know it's linked to dementia. Jayne x

[Venusflytrap]

Boost your veg and fruit intake. Just add an extra veg to every plate you eat. Pickled ones are quite useful here, as are the frozen ones. Maybe cut back on protein portion sizes, if the additions make you too full. Adding oats to your diet is also very helpful. I always think of them as scrubbing the LDL out of the blood stream. So porridge or home made muesli for breakfast. Consider having some oat cakes instead of bread at one meal. Try to increase your intake of fish, especially oily ones. We often make fish cakes with pilchards in tomato sauce, instant mash plus some oats mixed with boiling water. Some finely chopped onion is nice in this too. The best instant mash is Sainsbury's Basics one, because it is made with whole potatoes (ie including skins). Increase your intake of beans and pulses. It is worth swopping in as many wholegrains as you feel happy with. Swopping some of your meaty proteins for quorn or vegetarian versions also helps. Although check the fat content. Some traditional vege food can be high in fats. By following these guidelines, we managed to get my Dad's cholesterol so low, the medical advice was to stop! As his balance was going too far the other way. You can also use the plant sterol products if you like as they work too, but they weren't an option for my Dad. Good luck with your plans.

[Venusflytrap]

I forgot to mention that garlic is supposed to be good for it too. Dad didn't fancy peeling it and smelling of it etc. So we found that Indian shops sold big packs of dried slivers which he could just add to whatever he was cooking at the time.