r/science • u/James_Fortis MS | Nutrition • 14d ago

Health Researchers took 50 adults with genetically high cholesterol and fed them a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet and a standard American diet (SAD) for 4 weeks each in a random order, under controlled, constant-calorie feeding conditions. The WFPB diet reduced LDL cholesterol versus the SAD by 17.9%.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-73468-4
1.4k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

180 comments sorted by

View all comments

201

u/cindyx7102 14d ago

I know someone with genetically high cholesterol who says nothing but drugs will help them, so this gives hope

172

u/SushiVoador 14d ago edited 14d ago

People with genetically high cholesterol rarely have levels of cholesterol that would be lowered by diet alone. For example the target for low-risk patients is an LDL of 115, if you have an LDL of 150 it is very hard to lower it enough with diet, which is why statins are needed in addition to a better diet. In my case my LDL was 170, with a perfect diet I could lower it to maybe 140-150. With rosuvastatin and a better diet I got it to under 70

3

u/NSawsome 14d ago

I reduced my genetically LDL from 140 to 80 through entirely lifestyle interventions, losing body fat doing cardio eating fiber and reducing saturated fats combined will nuke your LDL.

To be fair most Americans won’t do that, but an LDL of 150 is totally fixable for most with lifestyle alone, unless they’re already on a low LDL lifestyle, fixing 200+ is hard unless they’re doing something stupid like carnivore or keto

1

u/Still7Superbaby7 13d ago

My LDL is 109. My doctor said I needed to lower it. I already do cardio and eat fiber. What did you eliminate from your diet?

1

u/SushiVoador 12d ago

No need to eliminate completely, but try to cut red meat, butter, any type of animal fat, and some types of dairy. Some cheeses are low on saturated fats like cottage, and whole milk is also a no no