I tried all of those things to reduce my cholesterol, and they all worked. I started with taking Citrus Bergamot, which improved my numbers. I have been very good about my diet for years, but I decided to cut red meat and anything made with white flour. Again, my numbers improved. The biggest improvement occurred when my son asked me to take care of his dog while his family was traveling for several months. I took her for two long daily walks and two short ones. That produced the greatest positive change of all. I am currently using more olive oil, since I read that it is rich in polyphenols (as is the Citrus Bergamot) and is featured in the Mediterranean Diet that is the only diet that consistently shows up as a star among healthy diets. I should also mention that I am sugar sensitive (though my tests are always normal) and as I aged, I would get hangover-type symptoms every time I had a piece of cake or any sugary dessert. So I have avoided sugar for years. Something that is well known in the medical community, but never mentioned on cooking shows, is that sugar is the biggest cause of inflammation, which in turn is a cause for heart disease. A side effect of banishing sugar is that the arthritis, that had just begun to appear in my fingers, completely disappeared.