Disclaimer - I am neither a physician nor an epidemiologist. I have been through something similar recently and I will share my perspective. Take it or leave it.

Dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol are only slightly linked though there are some who think there is no connection between the two. That debate rags on. I have seen enough clinical studies and anecdotal evidence to conclude that there is a link, however, it is only slight. A massive reduction in dietary cholesterol only produces a small decrease in serum cholesterol. If you want to reduce triglycerides and serum cholesterol, both diet and exercise are required. Also, pharmaceuticals can help greatly.

DIET - Reduce intake of animal-derived foods (meat, eggs, and dairy). This will help cholesterol a little but not the best bang-for-the-buck. For triglyceride reduction, reduce fat in your diet and eat foods high in fiber. Saturated fat is the least healthy fat by far but you will need to reduce your overall fat consumption. Watch out for the huge amounts of fats that can be hidden inside of processed foods. Read labels carefully. Better yet, stop eating fast foods and boxed/bagged foods as much as possible.

USDA Guidelines
NIH - Triglycerides

EXERCISE - I do not understand all of the biochemical and physiological processes at work but I experienced significant cholesterol and triglyceride reductions after exercise increased. Walking a mile or two each day helps but you are going to need to ramp that up a bunch to see much movement in lipid labs. Google search the effect of exercise on lipids and LDL cholesterol. There are tons of information available that confirm that exercise helps both. I linked one below.

Exercise and LD Cholesterol

I will be honest. It is unlikely that you will be able "diet" your way into better lipid health. The benefits of diet alone usually don't fix the issue. You probably need to make permanent lifestyle and dietary changes if you want to ward off the cumulative deleterious health effects of high LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Statins can help a lot but only you can decide if your situation warrants pharmacological intervention.

TL;DR
Eat less fat and cholesterol in your diet, exercise a lot, speak with your doc about benefits/risks of statins. Ask yourself why you need to change, develop a plan, and attack it.

I hope this helps. I probably just lit the fire of folks who will strongly disagree with my perspective. Use all info to form your own conclusion. Good luck.

This post was edited on 12/22/23 at 10:08 am