One in two adults in the UK now have high cholesterol, according to the charity Heart UK. With too much of the fatty substance in their blood, they are at greater risk of suffering heart disease or stroke. The older you are, the higher your risk of cholesterol levels rising with creeping pounds. And for women, a reduction in oestrogen — which protects against the build-up of fatty plaques in the arteries — after the menopause also plays a part.
Cholesterol is carried by proteins in your blood and there are two main types. High-density lipoproteins, or HDL, is the so-called “good” cholesterol that rids the blood of the “bad” non-HDL cholesterol, which if allowed to build up inside the walls of blood vessels, will clog, causing narrowing of the arteries. When this happens, blood flow to the heart and brain can become restricted and heart disease is diagnosed.
A healthy diet and exercise are the best weapons for waging war on cholesterol levels. Dell Stanford, senior dietitian for the British Heart Foundation (BHF), says there is now “unequivocal” evidence that high intakes of saturated fats, including those from animal sources, such as red meat and butter, will raise cholesterol levels. But many people remain confused about what will and won’t affect their blood fats. Are eggs in or out? Is coconut oil on or off the menu?
• The cardiologist’s guide to protecting your heart
And then there’s the minefield of the festive period. Danish researchers tracked more than 25,000 people in their fifties and sixties for three successive years and found that the number who had unhealthy cholesterol levels in January was almost double the figure for June. Their findings, published in the Atherosclerosis journal a few years ago, showed that typically cholesterol levels were highest during the first week of January.
“If you are eating a poor diet over a number of weeks it can affect your blood lipids,” Stanford says. “A couple of days of indulgence won’t harm you in the long run if your diet and lifestyle are healthy for the rest of the year.”
Oliver Guttmann, consultant cardiologist at the HCA Wellington Hospital in London, says that no single food or drink will cause cholesterol problems if consumed in moderation, but eating a variety of cholesterol-friendly foods each week will help to keep your heart healthy. Here are some of the more surprising foods to choose and to avoid:
The goodCumin seeds
Black cumin seeds, which enhance the flavour of curries, have long been used in traditional medicine for their health-boosting effects. A study in the Food Science & Nutrition journal suggests they can also contribute to lowering cholesterol levels. Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University recently reported that people in their study who consumed 5g of black cumin seed powder — roughly a teaspoon — daily for eight weeks had significantly lower levels of non-HDL and total cholesterol, and higher levels of HDL cholesterol. “It was so gratifying to see black cumin comprehensively demonstrate actual, demonstrable blood-lipid-lowering effects in a human trial,” says Akiko Kojima-Yuasa, associate professor at the Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology, who led the study.
Spices including ginger and turmeric have also been shown to have favourable effects on cholesterol.
• The ten ways cardiologists avoid heart disease
Oats and barley
Eat porridge or overnight oats for breakfast and add a handful of barley to soups and stews for a protective effect. “Both barley and oats contain soluble fibre in the form of beta-glucans, which do lower the amount of cholesterol that your body absorbs,” Stanford says.
In 2023 a review of 28 published studies in the National Library of Medicine confirmed that a daily intake of about 3g of oat beta-glucans substantially lowers both total and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels. In one study, midlifers who ate 3.5g of beta-glucans from oat products daily for 12 weeks saw their “bad” cholesterol levels drop by an average of 4.2 per cent.
A 40g serving of porridge oats provides 2g of beta-glucans, a 250ml glass of oat milk provides 1g of beta-glucans, and three unsalted oatcakes provide around 1g of beta-glucans.
Chickpeas
All pulses are great sources of protein and heart-healthy soluble fibre, but chickpeas may reign supreme, according to a recent study presented at the Nutrition 2025 conference held by the American Society for Nutrition.
Morganne M Smith, a researcher at Illinois Institute of Technology, looked at the effect of consuming a daily portion of canned chickpeas or black beans over a period of 12 weeks on 72 adults with prediabetes, a condition that affects about 12 per cent of adults in England, according to the Office for National Statistics. Only the chickpeas were found to be linked to a significant drop in cholesterol.
Another study, in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, showed that eating a daily portion of chickpeas or lentils could significantly reduce non-HDL cholesterol levels. “Replacing meat with beans and pulses, including chickpeas, as your protein source is a good move for heart health,” Stanford says. “In addition, you get more soluble fibre, which reduces the amount of cholesterol your body absorbs.”
• The ‘holy grail’ of heart health: a valve that grows inside you
Walnuts
Eating a handful of mixed, non-salted nuts, a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, daily has been shown to reduce levels of inflammation related to heart disease. But make sure walnuts are included, because scientists have homed in on their cholesterol-lowering effects. “Most plain nuts are good for us,” Guttmann says. “But walnuts have a unique fat profile that seems to be beneficial for cholesterol-lowering.” In one study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation, adding a small handful of walnuts to one’s daily diet was found to reduce levels of “bad” cholesterol by 4.3 per cent.
A mix of all the above
A plant-based approach called the Portfolio Diet that was developed in the early 2000s is regaining traction for its cholesterol-lowering benefits. It advocates most of the above foods along with a greater variety of legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables, and extra virgin olive oil. Its potency rests largely on the good fats and fibre content of plant foods such as oats and barley, which form a gel-like substance in the gut, binding cholesterol to reduce its absorption by the body.
Two years ago a large study involving more than 200,000 women and published in the Circulation journal showed that those who broadly adhered to the Portfolio Diet principles for 30 years were at a 14 per cent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease. An early study by Canadian researchers, published in the Metabolism journal, showed that the Portfolio approach could lower “bad” cholesterol levels by about 30 per cent.
The badCoconut oil
Despite the hype about its purported health benefits, coconut oil is back on the naughty list for heart health. Yes, it contains medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which have a different chemical structure to other fats and are thought to promote satiety and, in turn, prevent the storage of body and belly fat. But those same MCTs are a form of saturated fat linked to increased “bad” cholesterol levels, and a scientific review published in Circulation found that regular “consumption of coconut oil results in significantly higher LDL cholesterol” than consuming other plant oils.
The BHF says the saturated fat content of coconut oil is a “whopping” 86 per cent — considerably more than butter (at 52 per cent).
“Coconut oil should not be considered a heart-healthy food,” Guttmann says.
Artisanal charcuterie
Salami, chorizo and air-dried hams are as bad for your cholesterol as any processed meat, Guttmann says. A study by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health, published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, showed that every 50g of processed meat consumed daily increased the risk of coronary heart disease by 18 per cent, largely because of the saturated fat and sodium it contains. In the UK it is recommended that people who eat more than 90g of red and processed meat every day should reduce their intake to no more than 70g a day.
• Is your heart healthy? How to protect it at every age
Unfiltered coffee
Two chemicals present in coffee beans — cafestol and kahweol — have been shown to raise levels of bad cholesterol in the blood, but these are mostly removed from any coffee that has been filtered, including teabag-style coffee and pods with a paper-filter lining. But espresso, stove-top moka pot and cafetière or plunger coffee were all shown to produce increases in blood cholesterol levels when compared with filtered coffee in a study in Open Heart journal.
“There’s some evidence that unfiltered coffee in high amounts, which is more than three to four cups a day, can have a negative impact on cholesterol levels,” Stanford says. “A couple of cups a day is unlikely to make much difference if you eat a healthy diet.”
Alcohol
According to Heart UK alcohol is broken down in the body and rebuilt into triglycerides and cholesterol in the liver, which then raises cholesterol levels in your blood.
Guttmann says that while it is true that red wine contains antioxidants including resveratrol, you are better off consuming these compounds from fruit and vegetables. He says an “occasional glass of red wine with a healthy diet” should be your limit. “Red wine is alcohol and overall too much of any type of drink raises your bad cholesterol levels,” he says. The World Heart Federation says that no alcohol, red wine included, is good for the heart.
“There is no safe intake of alcohol for health,” Stanford says. “And there is no evidence that drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol is cardio-protective.”
And the neutralEggs
A single yolk contains as much as 186mg of dietary cholesterol, more than many other commonly consumed foods. But it is now known that the amount of saturated fats has much more of a damaging effect on our blood cholesterol levels than any cholesterol a food contains.
“Eggs have a neutral effect on cholesterol for most people with a moderate intake of them,” Stanford says. “They do contain some cholesterol, but importantly they are not high in saturated fat.”
A 2025 study from the University of South Australia published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggested that eating up to two eggs a day could lower your levels of “bad” cholesterol compared to a breakfast high in saturated fat. Even the NHS says that a couple of eggs a day is perfectly acceptable unless you have been medically advised to limit consumption because of existing heart issues or conditions such as familial hypercholesterolaemia.
• Read more expert advice on healthy living, fitness and wellbeing
Cheese
Cheese has been found to have a neutral impact on cholesterol levels
GETTY IMAGES
For decades, cheese, in all its delicious forms, was vilified for its high saturated fat content and less than favourable association with raised cholesterol levels and poor artery health. But this has been challenged by scientists who have discovered the saturated fat in cheese is not as bad for us as was once thought.
Emma Feeney, assistant professor of food science at University College Dublin, has published findings in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that confirm how the cheese-making process alters the chemical arrangement of nutrients and other components of milk in a way that has a positive effect on blood lipids and cholesterol.
“We do have evidence that dairy foods, including cheese, appear to have a neutral impact on cholesterol levels,” Stanford says. “But full-fat cheese is high in fat and calories, so on balance you should eat it in moderation.”
Edamame beans, tempeh, tofu and soya yoghurt
There’s not enough conclusive evidence that soya protein and foods containing it, such as edamame beans, tempeh, soya yoghurt and tofu, have a direct effect on lowering cholesterol, but there are still reasons to include it in your cholesterol-buffering diet. “There is a little evidence that eating more soya helps to reduce cholesterol synthesis, meaning your liver doesn’t produce as much cholesterol,” Stanford says. “But the biggest cholesterol-lowering gains come from replacing red and processed meat with soya-protein products in the diet because they contain protein, fibre, unsaturated fats and plenty of vitamins and minerals.” For maximum benefits you’d need to eat at least 25g of soya protein a day, roughly the amount in 200g of tofu or edamame (soya beans).
Have your cholesterol levels checked
There aren’t usually glaring signs that you have high cholesterol levels. Guttmann says you should be checked at least every four to six years if you are under 74 and considered at low risk of coronary heart disease, but more often if you have a family history of heart disease. Finger-prick cholesterol checks can be carried out by your GP or local pharmacy. According to the BHF, less than 4.0mmol/L (or less than 2.6mmol/L if you have had a heart attack) is a healthy level of non-HDL cholesterol, the type that builds up in your arteries. More than 1.0mmol/L is a healthy level of “good” HDL cholesterol for men, and more than 1.2mmol/L is a healthy level for women. Healthy total cholesterol levels are below 5.0mmol/L (4.0mmol/L if you’ve had a heart attack).