Top Model' judge Nigel Barker: 'I Looked Great on the Outside' '

Nigel Barker: How a Mediterranean Diet Lowered My Cholesterol by 88 Points

The 'America's Next Top Model' judge opens up about a heart health scare that prompted him to overhaul his eating habits, and possibly save his life.

By Sharon Tanenbaum

You may know Nigel Barker as the encouraging yet truthful judge on America's Next Top Model, or as a famed fashion photographer who has shot pictures for GQ, Lucky, Town & Country, among other magazines, or as the author of a new book about connecting with your best self, Beauty Equation.

He's fit and trim and confident, but under that chiseled frame, the 39-year-old Barker wasn't nearly as healthy as he assumed. And he never would have found out — and had the chance to turn his health around — if it weren't for a routine conversation with his insurance company.

Last year, Barker asked for an increase in the amount of coverage on his life insurance policy. What he thought would be a no-brainer (pay more to get more) turned out to be a rude awakening.

The company denied the additional coverage because Barker'scholesterol levels were too high.

Food, Family, and High Cholesterol

Barker was shocked: He'd been following a strict low-carb, high-protein diet for the previous two years and had toned his body in the process, which he thought would be good for his heart and health. But his high-protein diet also included saturated fat-heavy red meat, cheese, and butter, which probably contributed to his total cholesterol level of 253 mg/dL and "bad" LDL level of 155 mg/dL.

"I looked great on the outside," says Barker, but inside, potentially dangerous levels of cholesterol were putting him at risk for heart problems.

The American Heart Association recommends keeping total cholesterol under 200 mg/dL and LDL cholesterol under 100 mg/dL. Barker's total cholesterol level put him at more than twice the risk of heart disease as someone with levels under 200, according to the AHA. On the plus side, Barker's "good" HDL cholesterol was 63; anything above 60 is considered cardio-protective.

But even more concerning was Barker's family history of heart disease: his father had the first of several heart attacks at age 45. Parental history of heart attacks predicts heart disease risk more than any other factor, according to a recent study in theJournal of the American College of Cardiology. The research found that children of a parent who had a heart attack in his or her forties were two and a half times more likely to have one too.

"The combination of Nigel's high LDL levels and family history was really scary," says Barker's cardiologist, Suzanne Steinbaum, MD, director of women and heart disease at the Heart and Vascular Institute at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "When you have a family history of heart disease, you really have to pay attention to your own health."

Because high cholesterol has no symptoms, it can go undiagnosed for years. While Dr. Steinbaum encourages everyone to have their levels checked regularly, it's especially important if heart disease runs in your family. The AHA recommends screening every five years beginning at age 20, but if you have high cholesterol or other heart disease risk factors, your doctor may recommend more frequent testing.

How Barker Lowered His Cholesterol Naturally

Steinbaum recommended that Barker first change his diet — instead of turning immediately to cholesterol-lowering drugs — to lower his total and LDL cholesterol.

Barker traded his low-carb, high-protein diet plan for a Mediterranean-style diet, which emphasizesheart-healthy foods like whole grains, olive oil, legumes, vegetables, and fish. "Before, Nigel was eating exactly what he shouldn't have been eating for his heart health," Steinbaum says. "But he made the decision to change and stuck with it."

Within a year, Barker's total cholesterol reading dropped to a much healthier 165 and his LDL to around 100. "He did it on his own by making healthy choices every day," says Steinbaum.

For his part, Barker remains committed to those heart-healthy habits: "Sometimes you need the drugs, but we decided to try a little bit of common sense and discipline first."

For more visit Everyday Health's Heart Health Center.