My cholesterol has always been high. Runs in the family. Mine has been over 200 even when I was in my 20s. It was weird because I never ate very much fat and did all the low fat versions of stuff. What I didn't know was that when you lower fat in a lot of pre-packaged foods, companies increase sugar to make it taste better. When I was about 23, I got my cholesterol checked on my LDLs were about 160 and my HDLs were 88. My triglycerides were always high too. I couldn't take cholesterol medication though because my HDLs were so high which is good. A normal range for HDLs is in the 40s (that being the upper end) mine were in the 80s which is almost unheard of. If I took medication, not only would it lower the bad (LDLs) but good cholesterol as well. Well, when I started treatment with Matia, not only did I lose a ton of weight (i had gained 50 pounds during my pregnancy) but my cholesterol dropped too. I recently had a cholesterol test. I went in and was not fasting and my cholesterol tested at 132 (the high end of normal for bad is 130) and my HDLs were still high at 88. So, I really think that contrary to what science would tell everyone, meat, butter, etc. doesn't not contribute to high cholesterol, but rather sugar does! I am living proof!