Good genes beats good diet every time. While I don't pig out on all the bad for us foods, I don't shy away from red meat or eggs. I have however taken most fast foods and high fructose corn syrup out of my diet.

But even back in the day when Jack in the Box and Wendy's were still acceptable places to pick up some take out dinner, anytime I had a lipid panel done, my LDL was well below the problem area and my HDL was well into the good range.

Now, it's even better:

Total Cholesterol (Normal value: <=239 mg/dL) Value 131
LDL Calc (Normal value: <=159 mg/dL) Value 73
HDL Chol (Normal value: >=40 mg/dL) Value 47
Triglyceride (Normal value: <=499 mg/dL) Value 57

Other test results show me to be a disgustingly healthy 78, soon to be 79, year old.

That said, it still behooves us all to eat as healthy as our budget will allow and get a modicum of exercise. Even with all those great test results, I'm still packing around about 40 lbs. of extra weight. That can't be good on my heart. I fear that the cause is a sedentary life style. Having spent the bulk of my work experience as truck driver since my early 30s and now part time as a school bus driver, exercise is not easy to come by.

In my twenties I worked precast concrete and I then was packing around 20 lbs. more than the charts said I should, but it was all in my shoulders and upper arms. Muscles weigh more than fat. I credit a lot of my good health to that ten years in my early adulthood.