there has to be a reason for the cholesterol to be high. a vegetarian diet can be one of eating absolutely no dairy or animal meat products or one of just avoiding meats. if you are a true vegetarian and eat no dairy or animal products you will have to look at your source of fats and protein. are you using any fats that are not healthy fats such as hydrogenated oils or oils that form trans-fats when digested? if you find the source of the cholesterol you can eliminate your problem. your body cannot make bad cholesterol if you do not supply it with the ingredients to do so. try limiting your fats to only a good nut fat such as almond and-or a good seed like flax or sunflower for a month and see what your results are. another thing you say you are eating whole grain only? is this processed grain? try eating unprocessed grains or less processed grains than products made from highly processed flours. or try a product made from a non grain seeds such as millet flour. the more a grain is processed the more good parts of it are destroyed or reduced leaving you with a starch that will undoubtedly ferment while digesting. how many processed foods do you eat? is your vegetarian diet from fresh fruits and veggies or is it from “canned” or processed foods laden with salts and unlabeled fats? 3rdly and last what is the ph status of your blood? most diets consist of highly acidic causing foods which causes your body to store excess acid in the fats of your body. you say you are overweight this could be a major reason since even though you are “vegetarian” you are still overweight. get a few ph strips or paper and check your first urine in the morning. if it is under 7. 0 on the ph scale this may be part of the problem. genetics can play a role also but i really think this is more of a crutch for most people. i was told i would be on my cholesterol meds for the rest of my life as my whole family had high blood pressure and high cholesterol! i changed my lifestyle of eating and am now off all my meds with a total cholesterol of 145 by doing so. i am diabetic also and have been able to eliminate all my meds. i follow a lifestyle of eating called the ph “diet”. you ought to look into it to see if it can help you too. just google it and read about it. it is a sort of vegetarian diet but just a little different. there are several good books on the ph diet out there some a little more radicle and hard to follow but most with a common sense attitude of diet one can follow. one thing you have to want something bad enough to make it happen. good luck!
query about taking statins. dear webmd. i am 46 little over weight but a good exerciser and total vegetarian. even than my cholestrol remains high. my doctor prescribed lipirex 10 mg per day. usually around one week my values come down well within normal. after that i usually stop medication on my own. on rechecking after about a month the values are back to high again. do i have to take the medication for life? i have no heart disease but a strong family history of heart disease. . thanks. faisal