High cholesterol may run in your family. The foods you eat may also cause high cholesterol. Causes include:

• What you eat. Eating too much saturated fat can cause high cholesterol. You will find this unhealthy fat in foods that come from animals. Beef, pork, veal, milk, eggs, butter, and cheese contain saturated fat. Packaged foods that contain coconut oil, palm oil, or cocoa butter may have a lot of saturated fat. You will also find saturated fat in stick margarine, vegetable shortening, and most cookies, crackers, chips, and other snacks.
• Your weight. Being overweight may increase triglycerides and decrease HDL.
• Your activity level. Lack of physical activity, which may increase LDL and decrease HDL.
• Your age and gender. After you reach age 20, your cholesterol levels naturally begin to rise. In men, cholesterol levels generally level off after age 50. In women, cholesterol levels stay fairly low until menopause, after which they rise to about the same level as in men.
• Your overall health. Having certain diseases, such as diabetes or hypothyroidism, may cause high cholesterol.
• Your family history. If family members have high cholesterol, you may also.
• Cigarette smoking. Smoking can lower your good cholesterol.

In rare cases, high cholesterol is caused by an inherited problem called a lipid disorder that changes the way the body handles cholesterol. People with lipid disorders may have total cholesterol levels well over 250 milligrams per deciliter. Certain types of inherited lipid disorders may be more difficult to treat.