Doctor says stop eating these common food items to lower your cholesterol

A doctor has taken to social media platform TikTok to share what we need to eat, and what we should avoid, if we want to avoid the risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Dr Sooj aka @doctorsooj on TikTok, suggested simple ways to reduce your cholesterol.

According to the NHS, excessive cholesterol in the bloodstream, known as high cholesterol, arises when fatty substances accumulate to concerning levels. Root causes are often dietary in nature, with fatty foods being prime culprits.

However, it can also be due to little physical activity, obesity, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Genetics also plays a role - meaning if family members have high cholesterol, you might too.

Elevated cholesterol levels increase the chances of heart complications and strokes, the NHS cautions. However, there's good news as small lifestyle tweaks can mitigate these risks.

Dr Sooj explained: "Diet is a key contributing factor to high cholesterol levels. This means we want to reduce food with saturated fat in it.

"[This] includes biscuits, cakes cheeses butters and we want to increase the amount of unsaturated fat and our diet. That means using things like olive oil or nuts and oily fish."

The NHS backs this up, stating on their website we need to eat less food that contains coconut oil too. They have also issued a warning about high cholesterol, which "does not usually cause symptoms", and can only be detected through a blood test. They advise reducing the intake of certain foods such as meat pies, sausages, fatty meats and more. Instead, they recommend increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Try to eat more

• oily fish, like mackerel and salmon

• brown rice, wholegrain bread and wholewheat pasta

• nuts and seeds

• fruits and vegetables

Try to eat less

• meat pies, sausages and fatty meat

• butter, lard and ghee

• cream and hard cheese, like cheddar

• cakes and biscuits

• food that contains coconut oil or palm oil