[Dietary treatment of hypercholesterolemia]

The basis of successful treatment of the various forms of hypercholesterolemia is a balanced diet. Initially this includes a general change in lifestyle with a new approach to nutrition, an increase in physical activity and nicotine abstinence. For the individual this implies a diet containing less fat but more unsaturated fatty acids, less salt, less cholesterol, more proteins, more dietary fiber and more complex carbohydrates. Hyperlipidemia triggered by incorrect nutrition or polygenous hypocholesterolemia can usually be successfully treated by means of a fat-modified diet alone. Hypercholesterolemia due to apolipoprotein E polymorphism responds equally well to dietary change. In some cases such dietary modifications can result in a 25% decrease of LDL-cholesterol.