It was 25 years ago that I realised I had raised cholesterol – around 6mmol/L. Cardiovascular disease is still the biggest killer in Britain – and having high cholesterol is a risk factor. You can be rake thin and have high cholesterol; and there are no symptoms. The only way it will get picked up is via a blood test at your GP.

Things are radically different now, but as a doctor, when I qualified way back in 1979, we had virtually no training at all in diet. In fact, in the six years of my medical training, I had six hours of training on nutrition. What that meant was that I had to teach myself about the importance of nutrition – and that became especially important when I discovered that I had high cholesterol.

At the time, I was involved in some research that was very helpful. It became clear that the people in southern Europe who were eating a Mediterranean diet had very low levels of heart disease. Similarly, the Japanese had low rates of heart disease – and they ate very little saturated fat and lots of fish. I spent some time in Japan looking at the strategies that worked there – and I’ve tried to follow a diet that combines everything I know.

Decoding your cholesterol test

When you have your cholesterol checked at the GP, the first number they look is your total cholesterol – and that should be below five (if you look at the average cholesterol in this country, it’s probably closer to six). Britain has traditionally been home to some of the highest cholesterol sufferers in the whole world. This is partly genetic, and partly due to our diet – the good old British fry-up is probably the worst thing you could have if you wanted to influence your cholesterol levels.

The next number your GP will note is your low density lipoprotein (LDL) – that’s your ‘bad’ cholesterol. You really want this to be under three. Then they’ll look at your HDL, your high density lipoprotein or ‘good’ cholesterol. HDL carries cholesterol away – so the more that you have, the better.

Then the other important number is your LDL-HDL ratio. And that number should be less than three. It’s a useful way of looking at how you’re balancing the good and the bad cholesterol. And if that’s out of kilter, then your doctor may really focus on that.

how to lower your cholesterol
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How to lower cholesterol

At first, when I found out about my own high cholesterol, I cut out dairy and saturated fats (red meat in particular). But once I discovered the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet I switched to that and increased my exercise levels, specifically by cycling a lot more and going to the gym.

I’m very conscious about adding in other things to keep my cardiovascular system healthy such as soluble fibre (porridge) and antioxidants such as fish oil. I’m also a fan of Benecol products, which I’ve used regularly for decades. Now I’m older, I’ve had to start a statin (Atorvastatin), but using Benecol has allowed me to keep the dose low and avoid side-effects. My cholesterol is now 3.3 – and I think I’m very healthy!