Cholesterol and the Vegan Diet

"My name is Richard Goudreau, and I am a recovering carnivore. I haven't had a meat dinner since mid April."
That sentence sounds almost like the beginning of an AA meeting for vegans, if there was such a thing. When I started eating vegan, my initial goal was to get off the medicines I was taking to control my high blood pressure and diabetes. The side effects of the pills was worse than the afflictions brought forth by those illnesses, in my humble opinion. I HAD to get off these pills! Four months later, I have dropped about 25 pounds (exercising very infrequently), and managed to cut my blood pressure medicine down to 80mg per day instead of 160mg. I no longer have to take Prilosec for my acid reflux, bye bye!!! I rarely get heartburn any more. Before I began eating vegan, my doctor was seriously considering putting me on a low dose of cholesterol medicine, to battle my cholesterol levels which were creeping up. My most recent numbers were 148 down from 175 the previous year. My LDL (bad cholesterol ) numbers were down to, 65 from 107 the previous year. I am still battling my triglycerides which have always been high, now 250 from 171 last year. My HDL (good cholesterol) numbers are pretty close to last year's numbers, 33 from 35 (which is pretty good).
Obviously, if I exercised religiously every day, these numbers would probably be even better, but I am overall happy with them. It has been only 4 months on this diet after all! It took me 49 years of unhealthy eating to get to this state of calamity. I can't complain about my progress, the numbers don't lie, I am getting healthier!
Look, a scientist or a nutritionist could probably tell you in medical hyperbole why a vegan diet is good for you, but I will say it simply: "If you eat foods with no cholesterol in them, sooner or later you will not have cholesterol problems. If you avoid animal based fats, you will loose fat. If you stop using dairy products, your lactose intolerance will go away. " I am feeling better than ever right now. I am at 205 pounds (down from 230 in April), and I hope to be under 200 pounds by Christmas, if not sooner. My goal weight is about 175 pounds, and not so unrealistic as it was a few months ago...
So now I am going to celebrate with one of my wife's delicious vegan double chocolate espresso chip cookies and a glass of almond milk. And I don't even feel strange or upset about this snack. It's becoming more and more of a habit with me. It's comfort food--VEGAN STYLE!