Doesn't genetics have a role to play in this also? Some people are always going to have a battle with high "bad" cholesterol for that reason. That being said, my father died of a massive coronary at the age of 65 (6 years older than I am now), as did his father before him. He had very, very clogged arteries. My brothers and I (we live thousands of miles apart but apparently all decided this on our own) took this lesson to heart and all eat well and exercise. I do treat myself, in fact I just finished a macadmia toffee chocolate cake, but I've been vegan for many years and that seems to have helped. I keep getting things like "you're a cardiologist's dream" written across my blood results, which I find hilarious. Not that I should rest on my laurels since it could well be that we take after our mothers' side of the family and we'll all get cancer. Swings and roundabouts!