Conditions we support › High Cholesterol
Fiber, healthy fats, and a Mediterranean lean.
A cholesterol number can land like a verdict. It really is not one. Diet can meaningfully move cholesterol. The biggest wins come from adding soluble fiber, swapping saturated fat for unsaturated, and leaning into a Mediterranean-style pattern rich in produce, fish, nuts, and olive oil.
Start your High Cholesterol plan →We add more soluble fiber from oats, beans, and fruit, swap unsaturated fats in for saturated ones, and bring in fatty fish for omega-3s along with plenty of vegetables. At the same time we cut back on saturated fat, trans fat, and refined carbohydrate.
People with high LDL or triglycerides who want a food-first pattern alongside whatever their provider has recommended.
This is one of the areas where food really pulls its weight. Eating well can lower LDL cholesterol by somewhere around 10 to 30 percent, and an all-in version of it (sometimes called the "portfolio" approach, which stacks soluble fiber, nuts, plant proteins, and plant sterols) can land near what a starter dose of a statin does. The moves that matter most are the simple ones this plan is built on: more soluble fiber from oats, beans, and fruit, which pulls cholesterol out through your gut; swapping saturated fat for the unsaturated kind in olive oil, nuts, and fish; and a Mediterranean-leaning pattern overall. One thing that surprises people: the cholesterol in food, like eggs, matters far less than we were once told. Your liver makes most of your cholesterol, and it's saturated fat and your overall pattern, not the cholesterol on your plate, that move your numbers most.
It's also worth understanding what that LDL number is and isn't. It's the standard marker doctors track, and lowering it is well tied to lower heart risk, so it isn't one to wave off. At the same time, the single total number is a fairly blunt readout. What seems to matter underneath it is the kind of LDL particles you carry, whether they're getting oxidized, and your broader metabolic health, your triglycerides, blood sugar, blood pressure, and inflammation. Two people with the same LDL can carry quite different risk depending on that fuller picture. It's an active and still-unsettled area of research, and the practical takeaway is a good one: eat in a way that improves the whole panel, not just the one line, and read your numbers with a provider who looks at the context.
Two honest caveats. First, some people have high cholesterol for genetic reasons, a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, and there, diet helps but rarely does the whole job. If your LDL is very high, runs in your family, or you've had an early heart event, that's a situation for medication and closer monitoring, not food alone. Second, if you're already on a statin or another cholesterol medication, keep taking it. This pattern works alongside your treatment, and as your numbers improve, any change to your medication is a decision to make with your doctor while watching your bloodwork, not on your own.
If you’ve read about the Portfolio Diet, it’s a research-backed, cholesterol-lowering pattern built on four food groups: soluble fiber (oats, barley, beans), plant sterols, nuts, and soy protein. Those foods are woven right into these heart-and-cholesterol plans, so you get the Portfolio approach as part of the everyday menu rather than as a separate program.
A Mediterranean-leaning, fiber-forward pattern is the workhorse here. If you're on a statin or have known heart disease, this works alongside your treatment rather than replacing it, so keep monitoring your lipids with your provider.
Answer a few quick questions and we'll build four weeks of High Cholesterol meals, with recipes customized to you and a smart grocery list.
Start your High Cholesterol plan →Not sure yet? Compare all the conditions we support →
