I need to lower my cholesterol and am like the idea of a Mediterranean diet but am a little concerned that eating full fat yoghurt etc will raise my cholesterol. I have spent years choosing the lower fat options and changing to full fat seems so wrong. \how have you all found it?

Hi t1nkerbell, it is a bit difficult to get your head around the low fat high fat question. So here is my story. Had high cholesterol from my early 40’s, doctor suggested it was familial rather than diet. Was on statins for years and eventually on the highest dose allowed in the UK (60mg). Moved to France and doctor would only give me 40mg as that is the rule here. Was still around 8.0 when I started this diet. To cut it short, my cholesterol is now 4.1 and I stopped taking statins completely. I eat full fat everything including real butter and full fat cheddar cheese (other brands available). Obviously being on a calorie restricted plan I dont use much butter, just a touch when I scramble an egg for instance. If I have cheese it is a measured portion of around 40 / 50 grams. I also eat cholesterol friendly fats like avocados, nuts, olive oil etc. My theory is that so called low fat, low calorie, diet foods are so full of chemicals and carbs (easy spread butter contains rice powder) and the body doesnt know what to do with it and stores it causing damage. I asked my doctor about margerine with sterols and he said the amount of good it does is outweighed by the damage the highly processed margarine does as compared with butter. Same applies to the yoghurts with sterols.

Word of warning, if you come off the low carb plan and start slathering butter on mountains of potatoes and bread then I am not sure that would have the same cholesterol lowering effect. I believe it is a combination of low carb with the higher fats. Also lots of lovely med foods like red peppers, salads, fresh veg are all important too. Give it a go. And before anyone questions my statin intake, I did decide to go back on a very small dose as I have a family history of heart attacks and strokes, but only as a precaution.

Thanks for replying and well done with lowering your cholesterol so well.

Can I ask did you just follow the diet in the book or did you subscribe to the 12 week plan?

Glad to be of help. I am diabetic and I bought the BSD 8 week diet book and followed that. For the first 2 weeks I used their menu plans, just altering things I didnt like i.e. replaced sardines (or was it mackerel) with tuna for the pate type dip but always careful for swapping like for like in calories and fats etc. Although I have never managed to put my diabetes into remission, I have been injecting for 12 years when I found the plan, I have put my numbers into a healthy range and stayed pretty much on the plan for 4 years now. Not really worrying about weight except for vanity but always concentrating on my health.

Why would you pay when it is so simple to follow and there is so much help here. Someone on here recently did the 12 week paid plan and after a couple of weeks asked for her money back as it was too prescriptive and impersonal and dictated the diet plan. Here you can get ideas for variations, no-one forces you to follow a particular plan, you are free to mix and match and there is always someone here to help. Pick which diet you are on i.e. med, 5:2, BSD, Fast800 and try to stick with that for simplicity and when you get the hang of it you can experiment a big.

Hi there t1nkerbell – I am new to this (in Week 2) so don’t necessarily have a lot of advice to offer you but if you have access to Amazon Prime I would encourage you watch a documentary called Fat Fiction. It is very insightful into low fat diets – it may help you get your head around the science of low carb eating and a new way of living 🙂

Hi just want to let you know there is a thread called ‘Take a look at this’ search in the box above right. The thread is full of links to videos, articles podcasts etc. I’m sure you’ll find lots of useful information. Enjoy the journey!

Hi t1nkerbell
I started the BSD 800 when I was first diagnosed with T2 diabetes. At that point my cholesterol was 6.2. It was classed as abnormal and discussions were had about statins. When I started this way of eating I cautiously started eating butter again (delicious), full fat Greek yoghurt, cheese etc. I still eat full fat but more liberally now. So, I’ve eaten more full fat as I’ve gone on rather than less and yet over the last 4 years my annual cholesterol has gone down apart from that initial 6.7
6.2 – at start of BSD
6.7
5.6
4.7
One thing to be aware of is that there is a thing with low carb eating for some people that during the ‘weight loss’ phase your cholesterol can go up but it then starts going down again once your weight stabilises and usually ends up lower. This happened with me – the 6.7 was while I was losing weight, the 5.6 and 4.7 after I’d lost all the weight I needed to. It may not happen to you at all but it’s just worth keeping in the back of your mind.
This way of eating has led to so many health improvements for me – I’d definitely go for it.

girlwiththeredface – another great name! – I agree with you. It’s a fascinating film. Hope things are going well with you too

Jennie xx

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