I’m not overweight and don’t take in a lot of saturated fat, but my cholesterol is 282. How can I lower this large, greasy number? Everywhere I turn, I get different advice. Eat less saturated fat. Eat less of all kinds of fat. Exercise more. No, don’t bother; exercise doesn’t affect LDL. I’m so confused.
Exercise doesn’t affect LDL, but it does increase HDL, which is a good thing.
Eat less saturated fat like butter, cheese, meat, the standard good tasting foods.
Eat more fiber, lots of fruits and veggies, fish especially salmon, nuts, beans, garlic, onions and it is thought that avocadoes are very good too. Yes, they are high in fat but it is monounsaturated fat. Same as salmon. monounsaturateds work against cholesterol.
Small amounts of red wine and beer are also proving to be beneficial.
Good luck. I have high cholesterol also and it’s very hard for me to pass on a steak sometimes in favor of a salad, but hey. You gotta do it.
Well, one way to do it is to simply lose weight, and I have no idea why exactly.
When I weighed 160-176 or so, my cholesterol was routinely about 240-250 (and I was a size 16-18). After dropping to 120, my cholesterol is now around the 130-140 (and I’m almost a size 6!) range - with no changes in the type of diet, but merely the quantity of food I consume. I did not change the proportion of fats/veggies/meats or anything, only the absolute quantity.
Diet, however, does make the largest impact, outside of drugs.
Since you say you are not overweight - I don’t mean to be picky, but are you certain about that?
The above advice is good, but I also recommend avoiding trans fats, which are even worse than sat fats.
It is as Barb says. Avoid all fats wearing dresses. 
Seriously, the above tips are good. Exercise reduces weight and builds muscle, which does lower bad cholesterol. Reducing the intake of trans and sat fats makes it more of a chore for the body to synthesize cholesterol, so it doesn’t make as much. And if you’ve done this stuff and your cholesterol ratio is still unfavorable, your doc can help you.
Keep in mind cholesterol levels do not directly correlate with diet and body morphology. The highest levels I ever saw of cholesterol were 1200, in a 8 year old girl who weighted 70 pounds. I’ve also seen levels of 180 in a 400 pound man.
The little girl’s liver was genetically programmed to produce as much cholesterol as possible, no matter what she ate; and the fat man’s liver essentially said “eh, he’s probably taking in enough cholesterol in all that crap he eats, why should I work to make more?” (Caution: The preceding anecdote about the talking liver represented an anthropomorphization, and should not be taken to imply an actual clinically talking liver).
Summary: Having high cholesterol doesn’t automatically mean you’re a big fat lazy slob with poor eating habits. But if you are a bit fat lazy slob with poor eating habits and high cholesterol, diet and activity change can help a lot.
Excellent advice throughout this thread, but I can’t resist adding a few points.
As a rule, if it comes from a vegetable source it’s good. Exceptions to this include palm and coconut oils.
Another “rule”: If a fat is solid at room temperature, regardless of whether it’s supposed to unsaturated, avoid it. This is a simple way of identifying saturated and hydrogenated fats, as well as the bad trans-fatty acids that barbitu8 mentioned.
As Qadgop stated, in most people, diet contributes to only a small minority of the LDL cholesterol. Similarly, dietary restriction can only be expected to have a modest effect on LDL in most people.
Increased dietary fibre, independent of changing dietary fat intake, can lower LDL. And, fibre is generally a good thing. Turbo Dog is right on.
One thing to consider in all this is the presence of other so-called risk factors for atherosclerosis - especially high blood pressure, diabetes, family history, smoking. If any of these apply to you, you may wish to seek further medical advice if your LDL remains high despite your dietary restrictions.