Getting the news that you’ve got high cholesterol – as almost 40% of people in the UK and US do – can be scary. After all, having high cholesterol is linked to everything from heart attacks to strokes.

But the good news is that there are things you can do to get it under control. One of the most recommended interventions is simply to cut down on the amount of fat in your diet, which limits how much cholesterol enters your body. However, according to Professor Sarah Berry – chief scientist at the nutrition company Zoe – that might not be the best approach.

Speaking on the Zoe Science & Nutrition podcast, Professor Berry started off by explaining how eating a diet that’s high in fat can actually benefit our cholesterol levels. “If you were to say to me, ‘How should I reduce my cholesterol level?’, I’d start by saying, ‘Start eating fat’,” she said. “But,” she added, “I would say, ‘Start eating the right type of fat’.” 

Of course, the right type of fat isn’t the one found in crisps, cakes and chips (unfortunately) – that’s saturated fat, which can increase the levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol in our blood. Instead, good fats are those which are poly or monounsaturated, such as those found in avocados, olive oil and walnuts. These fats can boost the levels of ‘good’ fats in our blood, also known as HDL cholesterol, which helps to clear our arteries of the fats that cause us harm – aka, LDL cholesterol.

Professor Berry’s advice didn’t stop there. On top of highlighting the right kind of fats to eat, she flagged a pattern of eating that’s been proven to lower cholesterol levels, known as The Portfolio Diet. “[This diet] is a portfolio of different dietary components,” Professor Berry began. “It includes having phytosterols [a natural compound found in plants that can help to lower cholesterol], soluble fibre like beta-glucans, plant-based proteins and nuts and seeds.

“It’s made up of four key components, and this is largely because of the effect that those components have on how we process cholesterol and how we remove cholesterol from our circulation. If you include all of these four components from the portfolio diet, you can actually reduce your cholesterol by about 30% – that’s huge.” 

Some examples of foods that would feature in The Portfolio Diet include broccoli, celery and cauliflower (which are high in phytosterols), oats, barley and wheat (which are high in beta-glucans), tofu, chia seeds and lentils (which are good sources of plant-based protein) and nuts and seeds such as walnuts, almonds and pecans. In this way, The Portfolio Diet tends to be largely plant-based, reflecting studies that found a vegetarian and vegan diet can lower LDL levels.

However, Professor Berry added, switching to The Portfolio Diet from a regular UK diet can prove a challenge for some people (especially when it comes to getting the right balance of each component), so making a conscious effort to boost the level of healthy fats in your blood can be a much simpler way to bring your bad cholesterol levels down.

“I think the takeaway here is that there are multiple different ways to reduce our cholesterol – there’s multiple different foods and multiple different nutrients. And one of the key components of The Portfolio Diet and one of the key strategies is to increase the amount of fat we’re having from healthy fat sources. And that can significantly reduce bad LDL cholesterol.”

So, whether you’ve received blood test results which indicate you have high cholesterol levels or just want to protect yourself against future cholesterol increases, then focusing on increasing your HDL cholesterol levels – which includes eating more healthy fats like olive oil – could be an effective strategy.     

Images: Getty