I have high “bad” cholesterol, how can I lower it? – WWN

I am 67 years old, I regularly exercise and try to eat healthily. Doing blood tests, however, I discovered that I had some borderline values: total cholesterol 240, HDL (good cholesterol) 83, LDL (bad cholesterol) 135, triglycerides 85, blood sugar 94. Should I take some supplements to improve the situation? Or is it necessary for me to turn to a specialist for the possible prescription of a therapy, in particular with the aim of reducing total cholesterol and bad LDL cholesterol?

He replies Monica Girolibiologist, specialist in nutrition science, Monzino Cardiology Center, Milan (GO TO THE FORUM)

She rightly so he does physical activity and takes care of his diet. Lifestyle habits have positive repercussions on cardiovascular health through mechanisms that go beyond their effect on blood levels cholesterolwhich on average is rather modest (approx a 10% reduction in LDL levels).

Prevention

Therefore the basis of good cardiovascular prevention is always: do not smoke, adopt an active lifestyle (about 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity), lose weight if you are overweight and follow aMediterranean diet
(fish approximately 3 times a week, legumes 2-3 times a week, vegetables, fruit, extra virgin olive oil as the main condiment; instead limit the consumption of red meat, cured meats and cold cuts, sweets, butter and mature cheesesso as not to overdo it with saturated fats).

The therapies

On the other hand, to find out if you need to take anything else (supplements, drugs) to further reduce your cholesterol, it is necessary to carry out a medical evaluation, taking into account that the indication for additional therapies depends on what your risk of experiencing clinical manifestations is (angina, heart attack, stroke): evaluating this risk requires knowing a series of clinical variables that only your doctor can obtain. This medical decision is important because it involves the setting of long-term additional therapy.