High Cholesterol

I am a 55 year old male in good health and quite active.  I play in a men's indoor soccer league as well as doing regular excercise.  My latest blood tests came back with a Chol level of 219, HDL of 48, Triglycerides of 60, but an LDL (direct) of 159.    I weight 170 lbs and am 5' 10".  For the life of me I can not get my LDL down, despite trying low fat diets (except for almonds!)  Someone mentioned that there are two subtypes of LDL and that one is bad and the other not so bad.  It was also mentioned that having a low HDL/Trig ratio normally indicated that you probably have the less bad kind of LDL.   My Dad is 85 but had stents put in 7 years ago, so I don't know if that is normal family history or not.  Are there any options for me.  Should I go on statins?   Thanks

[Encephalomalcia]

Your LDL is really not that high.  The LDL should be 100 or below.  Do you eat red meat?  If you do, you can reduce or eliminate it and the LDL should drop a great deal.  When I stopped eating beef, my LDL went way down and then when I stopped eating pork it again went down further.  The Triglyercides should be 150 or below (the lower you can get them the better).  Your HDL is good for males.  Males have lower HDL levels than females.  What have you been eating?  

[Mdweather]

I wouldn't say I eat a lot of red meat.  Mostly I eat chicken and fish, rarely do I have steak though I love it.   I do like bar-b-que either pork or beef, so probably have that once a week.  My blood pressure is normal 118/68, but its the LDL that I just can't seem to lower.   Maybe I'll try your suggestion and totally eliminate red meat.  Thanks for your help