Help Lowering High cholesterol and high triglisterides

For specific foods, i found the book "Cholesterol Down" by Janet Bond Brill to be helpful. She cites studies for all of her recommendations (specifically it's aimed at lowering LDL cholesterol). In general, the studies support foods with soluble fiber (e.g., oatmeal, barley, almonds, almond butter, walnuts, peas, lentils, beans, flaxseeds, apples with the skin, prunes, okra, brussels sprouts, egglant); foods with higher ratios of omega-3 fatty acids (e.g., flaxseeds, fatty fish, canola oil); garlic; soy protein; and phytosterols (in foods fortified with phytosterols, like certain margarines -- although I didn't follow that recommendation). The book recommends certain amounts of various foods on a daily basis, but I had success without getting all of them every day.

It also cites studies supporting exercise (specifically, walking at least 30 minutes a day) as being effective in lowering LDL.

I took my LDL from the 160s to the low 90s and raised my HDL and got my triglycerides into the normal range.

- I lost weight...about 40 Lbs
- I started exercising regularly...I spend about 8 - 10 hours per week working out
- I made great efforts to balance out my diet overall.
- Made veggies a priority and a significant part of my diet.
- Made oats and legumes a steady part of my diet (great sources of soluble fiber and plant sterols)
- I eat salmon a couple days per week (I also take fish oil)
- I get most of my fats from things like avocados and nuts and cooking with avocado oil and olive oil. I also cook some with coconut oil and I still use butter where butter is called for.
- I pretty much eat an apple a day...awesome source of soluble fiber (pectin)
- I significantly reduced my dairy consumption
- I significantly reduced my consumption of commercially processed foods
- I significantly cut back on eating out whether fast food or a sit down restaurant
- I cook most things from scratch, whole ingredients and/or minimally processed foods.
- I drink way less beer (I'm pretty well convinced that daily beer consumption was what was keeping my triglycerides high even as my cholesterol plummeted...cut back significantly on beer and voila).

There are probably about a million other things too...I can't tell you what made the most difference or anything like that...I can only tell you that I basically completely changed the way I live my lift...I call it "good livin" It was a slow process...baby steps to make changes here and there...the next thing I knew it was 9 months later and I was down 40 Lbs. It took me about a year and a half to get my cholesterol in check...my doc really was pushing the meds, but I was taking blood tests every 3 months and as long as my numbers were coming down I was going to win that argument.

I'm a little over 2.5 years into all of this good livin...and it feels good. I'm as fit and healthy as I was in my early to mid twenties.