I quit taking statins about 5 months ago. My HDL and LDL were marginal at best, but statin side effects got the best of me. I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to my breakfast cereal and to a 10-cup pot of coffee that I share with my wife. HDL and LDL are now "in the black," as my accountant says. Give credit also to what @elio has avoided -- fried foods, sweets, bakery goods (all of which contain trans-fats), dairy products that are not nonfat, and red meat, substituting chicken (small helpings) and fish. Add a lot of walking or related exercise and you have my recipe for losing weight and cutting cholesterol levels.