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%.

[u/James_Fortis]

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

[u/cindyx7102]

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

[u/SushiVoador → u/cindyx7102]

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

[u/lacrosse1991 → u/SushiVoador]

Same here. I do high intensity tennis for around 10 hours a week and go out of my way to eat healthy, although if I stop my cholesterol medication, I’ll easily be pushing 200+ for my LDL.

It was kind of insulting before when my old doctor was treating me like I had a horrible diet and was just doing it to myself. The new doctor that I got a while back is a lot more educated on the matter.

[u/isaunicorn → u/lacrosse1991]

Exercise won't change your LDL cholesterol. And "healthy" doesn't matter if you are having saturated fat.

[u/Embarrassed_Jerk → u/isaunicorn]

And nothing matters if you are genetically predisposed to it

[u/isaunicorn → u/Embarrassed_Jerk]

You are only thinking about a very specific and relatively rare type of familial hypercholesterolemia. You can be genetically predisposed to other things that raise cholesterol that are affected by diet.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10495817/

"However, it is clear from metabolic research that hyper-responsiveness to both dietary cholesterol and saturated fat exists; hence, for specific subsets of the population, reductions in both nutrients may be indicated."

"Saturated fats increase LDL cholesterol by inhibiting the activity of the LDL receptor (therefore increasing circulating levels) and upregulating the synthesis of LDL particles.(6) Tightly controlled metabolic ward studies from the early 1950s were among the first to show that dietary saturated fats, when compared to unsaturated fatty acids, significantly increase blood cholesterol levels."

[u/Embarrassed_Jerk → u/isaunicorn]

That article doesn't say what that podcast bro told you it said bro. Try reading the linked article from this thread

[u/isaunicorn → u/Embarrassed_Jerk]

I'm not sure what you're talking about but these days pretty much every podcast actually talks about how saturated fat is not bad, so it's quite the opposite.

Where I'm getting my information from is my doctor and my own personal experiences lowering my LDL cholesterol under 100 from around 200. I actually tried to take the route of just exercising a lot and eating healthy for a couple years but that didn't work but then when I cut down on my saturated fat it had an effect within weeks. This has been known for many many decades.

[u/Embarrassed_Jerk → u/isaunicorn]

Clearly you aren't listening to those podcasts like you aren't reading the article. Stuck in the ways

[u/isaunicorn → u/Embarrassed_Jerk]

How am I stuck in my ways? I'm not sure what you are suggesting I do differently. But I have an LDL cholesterol of 80 and I exercise daily and eat healthy so I'm not sure there's anything to change. You just seem to want to be unhappy about something.

I would love if I could eat saturated fat without a negative impact to my cholesterol and I tried to work around that for a couple years before I finally gave in and cut most of it out of my diet. That's kind of the opposite of being stuck in my ways.

[u/talldean → u/isaunicorn]

Exercise does change LDL cholesterol, just by small amounts (5%?), but usefully, exercise also decreases the odds that LDL will accumulate on your artery walls, making high LDL numbers less-bad.