A prominent doctor has offered guidance on how to lower cholesterol levels naturally, addressing concerns about the side effects of statin medications.

The National Health Service (NHS) identifies high cholesterol as primarily resulting from a diet high in fatty foods, lack of exercise, being overweight, smoking, and alcohol consumption. It can also be hereditary. To combat high cholesterol, the NHS advocates adopting a balanced diet and increasing physical activity.

While some individuals might need medication like statins to manage their cholesterol, the NHS warns that excessive cholesterol can obstruct blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart disease or stroke. Notably, high cholesterol typically shows no symptoms, so a blood test is needed to diagnose it.

Dr. Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology, emphasized the importance of lifestyle modifications, such as increasing physical activity and improving dietary habits. He explained, “Exercise promotes the release of HDL cholesterol into the bloodstream, which helps clear fatty deposits from blood vessels by transporting them to the liver for elimination.”

Nutrition is crucial in managing cholesterol, with experts highlighting the benefits of the portfolio diet. This approach includes soy products like tofu, plant proteins such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas, and high-fiber foods like oats, barley, psyllium husk, berries, apples, and citrus fruits. Additionally, incorporating nuts, seeds, avocados, and healthy plant oils like rapeseed and olive oil can aid in cholesterol management, according to Andrea Glenn, a nutrition researcher at New York University.

Nutrition plays a key role with experts praising the portfolio diet. This includes soy products like tofu along with plant proteins including beans, lentils and chickpeas; high-fibre foods such as oats, barley, psyllium husk, berries, apples and citrus fruits; nuts and seeds; avocado; and healthy plant oils like rapeseed and olive oil – which may help lower cholesterol, according to Andrea Glenn, a nutrition researcher at New York University.

In a review of seven clinical trials featuring roughly 440 participants with raised cholesterol who didn’t need medication, researchers found that the portfolio diet helped reduce their LDL cholesterol by up to 30%.

This proves to be about as successful as the early forms of statin medications that were frequently prescribed in the ’90s, Dr. Glenn clarified.

In a study published in 2023, Dr Glenn and her team monitored around 210,000 American adults over a span of roughly 30 years. They found that participants who strictly followed this diet plan had a 14% lower risk of heart disease compared to those who ate fewer of these foods.

The portfolio diet works effectively because it combines various types of foods and nutrients that help lower cholesterol through different mechanisms, she explained.

Plant-based proteins such as beans, chickpeas and soya products can inhibit the production of apolipoprotein B, which usually aids your body in absorbing cholesterol from meals. Viscous fibre traps or binds cholesterol in the gut, making absorption more challenging.

Meanwhile, nuts are excellent sources of unsaturated fatty acids, plant sterols and fibre, all of which can decrease LDL cholesterol levels.

Simply adding or substituting a few foods – like sprinkling nuts on your morning granola or swapping red meat with chickpeas or tofu – can significantly improve your cholesterol levels, Dr Glenn expounded.

“There’s certainly no magic bullet,” declared Dr Hu. However, he emphasised that diet and physical activity can significantly help in reducing cholesterol levels. 

He added: “We have to think about it from a holistic point of view.”