Your cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fat, made in the body by the liver. Cholesterol also comes into the body through some foods – this is called ‘dietary’ cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol is found only in animal products (such as offal, fatty meats, full fat dairy products and egg yolks). Plant foods – such as avocados, nuts, grains, fruit and vegetables – don’t have any dietary cholesterol.

WorkHealth checks measure two main types of cholesterol:

LDL – often call the ‘bad’ cholesterol because it goes into the bloodstream and clogs up your arteries

HDL – often called the ‘good’ cholesterol because it helps to take the ‘bad’ cholesterol out of your bloodstream

How to improve your cholesterol

Eating healthy foods as part of a well-balanced diet will help keep your blood cholesterol in check.

Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are healthier fats that reduce the ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) in your blood and increase the ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL cholesterol). This helps to lower your risk of getting heart disease.

Saturated and trans fats are less healthy fats that can increase total and LDL cholesterol, which increases your risk of getting heart disease.

Replacing foods that contain saturated fats with foods that contain polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats will help lower blood cholesterol levels.

Foods high in polyunsaturated fats include:

• margarine spreads and oils (such as sunflower, soybean and safflower)
• fish
• some nuts and seeds

Foods high in mono-unsaturated fats include:

• margarine spreads and oils (such as olive, canola and peanut)
• avocados
• some nuts

Limiting your intake of foods such as cakes, pastries, pies and biscuits will not only lower your saturated fat intake but also your trans fat intake.

Foods low in refined carbohydrates and high in dietary fibre, particularly soluble fibre, can reduce the level of LDL cholesterol in the blood. Foods containing soluble fibre include fruits, legumes (chickpeas, lentils, soybeans, four bean mix and baked beans) and cereals (oats and barley).

The Heart Foundation recommends that all Australians eat two to three serves of oily fish each week. Oily fish contains omega-3s, which are a type of polyunsaturated fat that helps to reduce your risk of getting heart disease.

A healthy balanced diet can include a serve of eggs (two eggs) in two to three meals a week.

Increasing physical activity and quitting smoking can also assist you to reduce your cholesterol.

Further information and advice 

For further information and advice, you can contact: 

• The Heart Foundation on 1300 36 27 87 or heartfoundation.org.au 
• Better Health Channel on betterhealth.vic.gov.au

For more information and tips on how to reduce your cholesterol, you can download the Cholesterol Fact Sheet.