This post packs a work or school lunchbox from the foods the NHS (the UK health service) links with lower cholesterol. Dates go in too, at lunch rather than as a mid-morning nibble, and the last part covers what the studies on dates and blood lipids found.
First, the background from the NHS page on high cholesterol. It says you can lower your cholesterol by eating healthily and getting more exercise, and that some people also need to take medicine. Eating fatty food and being overweight are among the causes it lists. High cholesterol does not usually cause symptoms, so a blood test is the only way to find out if you have it.
The lists to pack from
The NHS page on how to lower your cholesterol says to cut down on fatty food, especially food with saturated fat, and to check labels for the type of fat. You can still have foods with unsaturated fat. Its “try to eat more” list:
- oily fish, like mackerel and salmon
- olive oil, rapeseed oil and spreads made from these oils
- brown rice, wholegrain bread and wholewheat pasta
- nuts and seeds
- fruits and vegetables
And to eat less of meat pies, sausages and fatty meat; butter, lard and ghee; cream and cheese; cakes and biscuits; and food that contains coconut oil or palm oil. The sections below fill a lunchbox using these two lists.
The sandwich
Wholegrain bread is on the eat-more list. The NHS Eatwell Guide calls sandwiches a combination of its food groups and says to check the ingredients and think about how they fit the guide.
The spread is the first choice. Spreads made from olive or rapeseed oil are on the eat-more list, and butter is on the eat-less list. The NHS page Fat: the facts says eating too much saturated fat can raise “bad” LDL cholesterol in your blood, and that there is good evidence that replacing saturated fats with some unsaturated fats can help to lower your cholesterol level.
For the filling, the NHS page on fish and shellfish counts canned sardines, pilchards and tinned salmon as oily fish, and says fresh and canned tuna do not count. It advises at least 2 portions of fish a week, including 1 of oily fish. The NHS 8 tips for healthy eating warns that canned and smoked fish can be high in salt. Cheese is on the eat-less list; if you want some, the Eatwell Guide suggests reduced-fat cheese. Sausages and meat pies are on the eat-less list too.
Fruit, vegetables and dates
The NHS page on 5 A Day counts 80 g of fresh, canned or frozen fruit and vegetables as one portion. For tinned fruit, it says to pick ones in natural juice or water, with no added sugar or salt.
The same page counts a 30 g portion of dried fruit, such as dates, as one of your 5 A Day, but says it should be eaten at mealtimes, not as a snack between meals, to reduce the impact on teeth. In a lunchbox, that means eating the dates with lunch. Weigh 30 g once at home so you know what a portion looks like.
USDA FoodData Central lists Deglet Noor dates at 0 mg of cholesterol, 0.39 g of fat and 0.032 g of saturated fat per 100 g, with 8.0 g of fibre. Medjool dates have 0.15 g of fat and 6.7 g of fibre per 100 g. They are also sweet: per 100 g, Medjool has 277 kcal and 66.5 g of sugars, and Deglet Noor 282 kcal and 63.4 g.
The snack slot and the drink
For the gap between meals, the NHS page on getting more fibre suggests fresh fruit, vegetable sticks, rye crackers, oatcakes, and unsalted nuts or seeds. Nuts and seeds are on the eat-more list as well. The fat page names almonds, brazils and peanuts as sources of monounsaturated fat. It also says a gram of any fat gives 9 kcal, against 4 kcal for carbohydrate and protein, so keep the portion small.
Cakes and biscuits are on the eat-less list. The NHS page on sugar names sweets, cakes, biscuits and chocolate as foods with free sugars, and says adults should have no more than 30 g of free sugars a day. For the drink, the Eatwell Guide counts water, lower-fat milks and sugar-free drinks, and limits fruit juice and smoothies to a combined 150 ml a day.
What the date studies found
A food with no cholesterol in it is not the same as a food that lowers the cholesterol in your blood. Here is what three studies on that second question found.
In a pilot study (Rock et al., 2009), ten healthy people ate 100 g a day of Medjool or Hallawi dates for four weeks. Their total cholesterol and the cholesterol in the VLDL, LDL and HDL fractions did not change significantly. Triglycerides fell by 8% after Medjool and 15% after Hallawi.
A randomised trial (Butler et al., 2022) gave 79 people with type 2 diabetes either 60 g of dates or 60 g of raisins daily for 12 weeks, split into a midmorning and a midafternoon snack. Sixty-one completed the study. Lipids showed no difference between or within the groups.
A meta-analysis limited to people with type 2 diabetes (Mirghani and Alhowiti, 2025) pooled fourteen cohorts from four studies, 298 participants in all. Dates reduced total cholesterol in the pooled result, with heterogeneity of 90%. LDL, triglycerides and HDL showed no significant change, and the authors say larger studies are needed.
So the evidence is thin. The study in healthy people found no change in cholesterol, the diabetes trial found no change in lipids, and the meta-analysis, in type 2 diabetes only, found lower total cholesterol but no significant change in LDL. None of the three found that dates made lipids worse. In the lunchbox they count as a fruit portion, next to the swaps from the NHS lists.
Beyond the lunchbox
Food is one part of the NHS advice. It also says to aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week, to stop smoking, and to avoid drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week on a regular basis. Whether you also need medicine is a question for your doctor.
For the dates themselves, see our dates fruit range and kurma prices, or contact us with a question. The figures above are for plain dates, so check the label on stuffed or coated ones.
This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have high cholesterol or take medicine for it, talk to your doctor before changing your diet.
References
- Rock W, et al. Effects of date (Phoenix dactylifera L., Medjool or Hallawi variety) consumption by healthy subjects on serum glucose and lipid levels and on serum oxidative status: a pilot study. J Agric Food Chem. 2009;57(17):8010-7. PMID 19681613
- Butler AE, et al. Effect of Date Fruit Consumption on the Glycemic Control of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Nutrients. 2022;14(17):3491. PMID 36079749
- Mirghani HO, Alhowiti A. Dates fruit effects on dyslipidemia among patients with Type-2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. Pak J Med Sci. 2025;41(1):331-337. PMID 39867809
- NHS. High cholesterol; How to lower your cholesterol; The Eatwell Guide; Fat: the facts; Fish and shellfish; 8 tips for healthy eating; 5 A Day: what counts?; How to get more fibre into your diet; Sugar: the facts
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (2019): Dates, deglet noor, FDC ID 171726; Dates, medjool, FDC ID 168191.