MickeyMaguire

The lowest mine has been was 123 and the highest 166 (it is probably somewhere in the middle at the moment). My arteries are clear. I drink a glass of red wine every night after dinner. I also eat a low-salt diet and almost no red meat, very little dairy or eggs. I stay active and ride as much as I can with my busy schedule. Over the winter, the bike is on the trainer in my den and I am on it almost every day.

009jim

+1

John E

The amount of fiber in the diet has a bigger impact on serum cholesterol than the amount of the cholesterol in the diet. Yes, there are genetically determined sensitivities and predispositions, but you can influence your own chances of avoiding disease through lifestyle, which means paying close attention to your diet and exercise habits. Maintaining an ideal body weight is a huge part of avoiding diabetes, heart disease, and cholesterol issues. My own fountain of youth:

1) bicycling and fast walking for aerobic conditioning; my 6-day/wk round-trip commute on public transit includes 4 to 6 mi of fast walking;
2) weight lifting to maintain what little upper body muscle and bone mass I have;
3) steel cut oats every morning at breakfast;
4) minimization of white sugar, white flour, white rice, etc.; pronounce "doughnut" as "Do Not";
5) absolutely no soda pop, soft drinks, etc., and very little fruit juice (whole fruit, instead);
6) some cheese (my "cheat" food), otherwise plain nonfat yogurt and kefir are my only dairy intake;
7) low sodium -- never add salt to anything -- use pepper or spices instead;
8) mostly vegetarian, although I do eat some salmon;

Herb

Was around 240. Tried diet and exercise. Got a heart clog. Crestor brought it right down to 160. Don't fool around. Take the med. If I had started earlier, I would not have had a clogged coronary artery. The med is reversing the clog. no stent needed.

fastcarbon

I had numbers like that 40 years ago when I started riding plus 260 lbs. The one thing I noticed is your HDL is 52 which I believe based on reading the bottom of my blood tests is high enough to put you in the lowest risk category for cardiovascular disease. But maybe the theories on this have changed. My total is generally 150 - 180 these days with HDL in the mid sixties. But I ride 150 -200 miles a week with a diet that is pretty low in fat but still with occasional french fries and other cholesterol suspects.