Q: Recently I got my husband's lipid profile done and the results are as follows - Total Cholesterol- 133 mg/dl, HDL 24 mg/dl, LDL 73 mg/dl, Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 5.5, Triglycerides 181 mg/dl. I would like to know what should be done for his diet?

A:Please introduce a few modifications in his diet. Total oil intake per day should be a max of 3-4 tsp per day; the choice of oil could be soyabean / ricebran / olive / sunflower / safflower. For a period of 6 months, no fries please. Introduce 1 clove of garlic swallowed early morning like a tablet with a glass of water daily for 6 months. Introduce 4-5 almonds a day with peel, don't exceed that count. Introduce soya flour and soyabean on a biweekly basis. You could also make the first cup of tea in the morning to be green tea. It is preferable to avoid saturated fats (solid at room temperature) so avoid parathas, etc made in ghee/butter. He must control stress and anxiety also, if there is any such cause of worry. Exercise would help him raise the levels of HDL (good) cholesterol.