Skip to content
lunerievidence engine
Sign inCreate free account

01Markers · Lipids

Total cholesterol

The combined cholesterol carried in all lipoprotein particles, including LDL and HDL.

Measured in
Blood (serum)
Units
mg/dL, mmol/L
Also called
serum cholesterol
  1. Berberine
  2. HIIT
  3. Milk thistle
  4. Magnesium
  5. Zinc
  6. Melatonin
  7. Vitamin C
  8. Taurine
  9. Ubiquinol (CoQ10)
  10. Zone 2 cardio
  11. Iron
  12. Red yeast rice
  13. L-carnitine
  14. Vitamin D3
  15. Ashwagandha
  16. Collagen
  17. Creatine
  18. Resveratrol
  19. Vitamin E
  20. NAD+
  21. Omega-3
  22. NAC
  23. L-theanine
  24. Vitamin K2
  25. Lion's mane
  26. PQQ
  27. Finnish sauna
Total cholesterol across the 27 supplements and practices researched so far · best evidence first

AWhat moves Total cholesterol

26 of 27 studied

In human studies, 17 of the 27 supplements and practices researched so far lowered total cholesterol. 7 showed no change and 2 had mixed results. 1 was never studied for it.
  • Supported 17
  • No effect 7
  • Conflicting 2
  • Not studied 1
See Total cholesterol on the evidence map →Check claims about Total cholesterol →

Moves it17

Human studies found a change. The grade reflects the studies behind it, from A (strongest) to D.

BerberineLowersGrade A

Berberine lowers total cholesterol.

55 studies linked

Studied in: Dyslipidemia, T2DM, Metabolic syndrome, Predominantly Chinese RCTS

Open the Berberine page →Check a claim about this →
HIITLowersGrade A

HIIT lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 43 studies linked

Studied in: Overweight obese, T2DM, Metabolic syndrome

Open the HIIT page →Check a claim about this →
Milk thistleLowersGrade A

Milk thistle lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · Small effect · 24 studies linked

Studied in: NAFLD, Metabolic syndrome, Hypercholesterolemia

Approximately −0.28 SMD; −8 to −18 mg/dL. Effect modest and inconsistent across trials. May be disease-specific to NAFLD (see pc_005). Contested.

Open the Milk thistle page →Check a claim about this →
MagnesiumLowersGrade A

Magnesium lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · Small effect · 21 studies linked

Studied in: Dyslipidemic, General adult

Open the Magnesium page →Check a claim about this →
ZincLowersGrade A

Zinc lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 18 studies linked

Studied in: T2D, Dyslipidemia, Adults, Global

TC reduction more consistent in T2D than general population. Some confounding from dietary changes co-occurring in lifestyle-modification trials.

Open the Zinc page →Check a claim about this →
MelatoninLowersGrade A

Melatonin lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · Small effect · 8 studies linked

Studied in: Adults, Metabolic syndrome

Total cholesterol modestly reduced; below clinical significance thresholds for cardiovascular risk reduction

Open the Melatonin page →Check a claim about this →
Vitamin CLowersGrade A

Vitamin C lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 8 studies linked

Open the Vitamin C page →Check a claim about this →
TaurineLowersGrade A

Taurine lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 7 studies linked

Studied in: Hyperlipidemia, Overweight obese, Metabolic syndrome, Adults

49 corpus studies. Mechanism: bile acid synthesis upregulation (7α-hydroxylase) + LDLR upregulation. ≥2 MAs confirm direction.

Open the Taurine page →Check a claim about this →
Ubiquinol (CoQ10)LowersGrade A

Ubiquinol (CoQ10) lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 7 studies linked

Studied in: Dyslipidemia, Metabolic syndrome

Open the Ubiquinol (CoQ10) page →Check a claim about this →
Zone 2 cardioLowersGrade A

Zone 2 cardio lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 7 studies linked

Studied in: Adults overweight obese, Adults dyslipidemia, Adults metabolic syndrome

Open the Zone 2 cardio page →Check a claim about this →
IronLowersGrade A

Iron lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 6 studies linked

Studied in: General

No established effect of iron supplementation on total cholesterol.

Open the Iron page →Check a claim about this →
Red yeast riceLowersGrade A

Red yeast rice lowers total cholesterol.

2 studies linked

Studied in: Primary HCH, Statin intolerant, Metabolic syndrome

Open the Red yeast rice page →Check a claim about this →
L-carnitineLowersGrade A

L-carnitine lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · Modest effect · 1 study linked

Studied in: General adult, T2DM, CAD, Dyslipidemia

166 studies in corpus; Wang 2020 animal corroborates direction; TC effect consistently smaller than TG reduction

Open the L-carnitine page →Check a claim about this →
Vitamin D3LowersGrade B

Vitamin D3 lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 10 studies linked

Open the Vitamin D3 page →Check a claim about this →
AshwagandhaLowersGrade B

Ashwagandha lowers total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 3 studies linked

Studied in: Stressed adults, Overweight adults, Type2 diabetes, Indian cohorts

Open the Ashwagandha page →Check a claim about this →
CollagenLowersGrade B

Collagen lowers total cholesterol.

Human trials · 2 studies linked

Studied in: Adult mixed sex, Cardiometabolic risk, Dyslipidemia

Open the Collagen page →Check a claim about this →
CreatineLowersGrade B

Creatine lowers total cholesterol.

Human trials · 2 studies linked

Open the Creatine page →Check a claim about this →

Studied, no change7

Studies looked and found no meaningful change. That is a result, not missing data.

ResveratrolNo changeGrade A

Studies of Resveratrol found no change in total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 41 studies linked

Studied in: Mixed, Adults, Dyslipidemia, Normoglycemic

See total_cholesterol entry for detailed analysis. Merged: TC and total_cholesterol refer to same biomarker.

Open the Resveratrol page →Check a claim about this →
Vitamin ENo changeGrade A

Studies of Vitamin E found no change in total cholesterol.

33 studies linked

Studied in: Adult, Mixed sex, NASH, Adolescent

Consistent null from VE-MA-002 (22 RCTs), corey_2015, ahmadi_2014. VE is not a lipid-modifying intervention. Grade A null finding.

Open the Vitamin E page →Check a claim about this →
NAD+No changeGrade A

Studies of NAD+ found no change in total cholesterol.

1 study linked

Studied in: Healthy, Overweight, Age 40 60

Open the NAD+ page →Check a claim about this →
Omega-3No changeGrade A

Studies of Omega-3 found no change in total cholesterol.

Small effect · 1 study linked

Studied in: Adult, Dyslipidemia, General

  • Eslick GD, Howe PR, Smith C, Priest R, Bensoussan A (2009)
Open the Omega-3 page →Check a claim about this →
NACNo changeGrade B

Studies of NAC found no change in total cholesterol.

Human trials · 3 studies linked

Studied in: PCOS, Adult

Open the NAC page →Check a claim about this →
L-theanineNo changeGrade B

Studies of L-theanine found no change in total cholesterol.

Human trials · 2 studies linked

Studied in: Elderly japanese, Cognitive dysfunction, Green tea mixture not pure ltheanine

Same grade inconsistency as fasting_glucose.

Open the L-theanine page →Check a claim about this →
Vitamin K2No changeGrade B

Studies of Vitamin K2 found no change in total cholesterol.

Meta-analysis or review · 1 study linked

Studied in: General adult, Healthy, European

Hartley 2015 Cochrane (single RCT, n=60): no significant effect. Consolidated with total_cholesterol entry. 4 studies with TC data in corpus.

Open the Vitamin K2 page →Check a claim about this →

Mixed results2

Studies disagree, or the direction depends on who was studied.

Lion's maneMixed resultsGrade C

Studies of Lion's mane and total cholesterol disagree.

Human trials · 1 study linked

Studied in: Healthy volunteers, Asian, Short term, Pilot

Lipid panel measured in Xiao-qian 2021 pilot; direction not extractable

Open the Lion's mane page →Check a claim about this →
PQQMixed resultsGrade D

Studies of PQQ and total cholesterol disagree.

1 study linked

Studied in: Japanese adults, Subgroup analysis only

Open the PQQ page →Check a claim about this →

Not studied1

No usable human study has measured Total cholesterol with these. A gap is not a negative result: nobody has looked.

Finnish sauna

Commission research on a gap →

Why trials measure it. Reported in most lipid trials as the broadest single cholesterol measure.

About this marker: Cholesterol Levels (MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine).

Evidence states come from published human studies found in PubMed and OpenAlex and read by a model pipeline. "Not studied" means no usable human study was found for this marker, which is a gap, not a negative result. Every result links its studies so you can check it.

Research summary for education. Not medical advice.