Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels.

   / Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels. #1  

OldMcDonald

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Four weeks ago today I had an operation to replace a valve in my heart and to bypass three partially blocked arteries. Prior to this my knowledge of human medical matters was zero.

After a few tests in a general hospital before being transferred to the specialist heart hospital, the head cardiologist had come to me and said çš„t is strange that you have so much damage. You do not have hypertension, you are not diabetic, you are not obese, do not have a cholesterol problem and have never smoked. I am 75 years old and still farming full time so get plenty of exercise. Not at present obviously, but a few more weeks and I will return to light work.

Later, it was decided my blood sugar levels were higher than desirable, and to prevent long term possible future problems I should keep cholesterol levels low too. Consequently I have accepted the medication prescribed by the specialist hospital, but I am averse to taking drugs of any description (except alcohol mainly wine) and would like a diet that reduces blood sugar and cholesterol. I check my blood sugar every morning and it is lower now than when in hospital but I would like to reduce it further.

My wife trained in nutrition and cookery and we eat very healthily. No snacks between meals. This healthy diet has been confirmed by much reading since my discharge from hospital three weeks ago. What we eat, and have done through 48 years of my wife's cooking, should keep sugar and cholesterol levels down, but both are higher than desirable.

I am sure there are members out there with similar views to myself about being drug reliant and feeding the bonuses of Big Pharma employees, so, anyone had a similar experience and what did you do to lower blood sugar and cholesterol? Bear in mind there appears to be nothing to cut out of our diet, but there may be things we could add. For instance I have begun to add a small amount of cinnamon to my morning large bowl of porridge. I read it can help, and no harm done in trying.
 
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   / Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels. #2  
I'm type 2 diabetic and changing my diet, loosing weight, more exercise DID lower my cholesterol & blood sugar levels. But not to the levels the Dr wanted. The prescribed meds did the trick. I guess it's all in the way the dice are rolled. It works for some - not for others.
 
   / Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels. #3  
Cutting out alcohol will have a big effect on blood sugar. Increase dietary fibre and physical activities. Cut out processed starches I.e. foods that come in a box.
 
   / Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels. #4  
You mention about 3 times your diet is good and then end by stating you eat porridge for breakfast. In one case you are asking for advise and the other you are stating the diet is good- pick a lane.

If you want help and are willing to hear and accept different ideas I’d talk to your MD and request some visits with a nutritionist. If it’s not covered obviously that’s an out of pocket expense. The food pyramid is out, some would say up side down. The two foods you did mention (grains and wine) will raise bs. Snacking isn’t necessarily bad. I say all that to point out what you are your wife were taught many years ago runs contrary to a lot of today’s best practices.

A lot of folks don’t like the meds. A lot of folks want to make the changes so they don’t need the meds. I think with some tweaks you can get there. It’s a plus that your wife is on board. Get some professional food advice- that may be your ticket to success. Good luck with the recovery. It sounds like full CABG instead of stints. That can take a bit until you get your chest muscles and skeleton all going good again.

As a side note. Coronary Artery Disease can be caused by many different things. Genetics play a role along with what you mentioned above- diet and exercise. All of these items are “risk factors”, not causes. It sounds like you’ve done way more right than wrong with regards to taking care of yourself. Something outside of your control was likely the root cause- based on your write-up.

Another side note- I get not wanting to be on meds- I’m with you on that. A lot of times, with diet, you can get off both the bs med (for type 2 diabetes) and the cholesterol med (typically a statin). Read up and talk to your md about a prophylactic statin. Seems more and more folks are seeing positive results with a statin one day a week or on a limited basis. The folks who tend to see the good results have high normal or normal levels before taking the low dose or prophylactic dose.
 
   / Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels. #5  
Your body produces about 75% of your cholesterol and uses it for repair to cells.

Cholesterol is needed by your body, and it is debatable whether or not changing your diet can actually have as pronounced effect on your levels as people believe. If your body needs it, it will produce it.

Two things I'd cut out of your diet as much as possible are sugars and hydrogenated vegetable oils. They have been known to cause inflammation in your body, and your body will repair that inflammation with cholesterol. It that damage is in your arteries it sets the stage for a cardiovascular event.

I am not a doctor, so do your own research on this.

The Cholesterol-Inflammation Connection - Health

A test your doctor can order that will tell a lot about inflammation in your body is the CRP blood test. Lower CRP levels have been shown to be an indicator of lower risk of a cardio event.
 
   / Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels. #6  
See a nutritionists and get proper advice.

Eliminate all processed food and bottled carbonated drinks and fruit juice. Learn how to understand food content labeling.
 
   / Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels. #7  
Times change, and so should your diet,,
in 1962, my father was not considered a heavy drinker (HE WAS a heavy drinker!!)
he died of cirrhosis of the liver at age 52,,

You say your wife is trained in nutrition, but, I assume she is a similar age as you.
When did she receive the training? Possibly correct information is different now?

If you had told me 13 months ago that the diet I needed to be on KETO, I would not have believed it,,

My wife is border-line diabetic,, a year ago, we started a KETO diet.
Well, she no longer takes diabetes meds,, and her pain med use has reduced.
We have both lost the weight that we were trying to get rid of,,,

In my opinion, at 75, I feel you will not achieve your health goals until the alcohol is eliminated,,
and the porridge will have to be eliminated, also,,

I admit KETO is so controversial that there have been MAJOR lawsuits over the concept.
For us, it has been a life changer in a very positive way.
It is the first diet we have tried that I am not hungry, and it has produced the results that I wanted.

Maybe you need to try something totally new, rather than a minor tweak to your old diet?
 
   / Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels. #8  
I'm almost a year since I had a 'bad' blood work test done. Went cold turkey on a low-carb diet which is very close to the Keto diet. in 6 months my AIC went from 10.5 to 5.9, feeling good about up coming blood work in a couple weeks. Lost about 60 pounds
I now tell everybody that I'm on a No GPS diet. No Grains, No Potatoes, No Sugar.
Have you looked into intermittent fasting? 12-18 hours between last meal of day and first of the next day.

Dave
 
   / Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels. #9  
I'm almost a year since I had a 'bad' blood work test done. Went cold turkey on a low-carb diet which is very close to the Keto diet. in 6 months my AIC went from 10.5 to 5.9, feeling good about up coming blood work in a couple weeks. Lost about 60 pounds
I now tell everybody that I'm on a No GPS diet. No Grains, No Potatoes, No Sugar.
Have you looked into intermittent fasting? 12-18 hours between last meal of day and first of the next day.

Dave

Times change, and so should your diet,,
in 1962, my father was not considered a heavy drinker (HE WAS a heavy drinker!!)
he died of cirrhosis of the liver at age 52,,

You say your wife is trained in nutrition, but, I assume she is a similar age as you.
When did she receive the training? Possibly correct information is different now?

If you had told me 13 months ago that the diet I needed to be on KETO, I would not have believed it,,

My wife is border-line diabetic,, a year ago, we started a KETO diet.
Well, she no longer takes diabetes meds,, and her pain med use has reduced.
We have both lost the weight that we were trying to get rid of,,,

In my opinion, at 75, I feel you will not achieve your health goals until the alcohol is eliminated,,
and the porridge will have to be eliminated, also,,

I admit KETO is so controversial that there have been MAJOR lawsuits over the concept.
For us, it has been a life changer in a very positive way.
It is the first diet we have tried that I am not hungry, and it has produced the results that I wanted.

Maybe you need to try something totally new, rather than a minor tweak to your old diet?

Good advice from both these posts. The FDA's recommendations have turned a lot of people in this country into obese diabetics since the 1970's.
 
   / Blood Sugar and Cholesterol levels. #10  
You mention about 3 times your diet is good and then end by stating you eat porridge for breakfast. In one case you are asking for advise and the other you are stating the diet is good- pick a lane.

If you want help and are willing to hear and accept different ideas I’d talk to your MD and request some visits with a nutritionist. If it’s not covered obviously that’s an out of pocket expense. The food pyramid is out, some would say up side down. The two foods you did mention (grains and wine) will raise bs. Snacking isn’t necessarily bad. I say all that to point out what you are your wife were taught many years ago runs contrary to a lot of today’s best practices.

A lot of folks don’t like the meds. A lot of folks want to make the changes so they don’t need the meds. I think with some tweaks you can get there. It’s a plus that your wife is on board. Get some professional food advice- that may be your ticket to success. Good luck with the recovery. It sounds like full CABG instead of stints. That can take a bit until you get your chest muscles and skeleton all going good again.

As a side note. Coronary Artery Disease can be caused by many different things. Genetics play a role along with what you mentioned above- diet and exercise. All of these items are “risk factors”, not causes. It sounds like you’ve done way more right than wrong with regards to taking care of yourself. Something outside of your control was likely the root cause- based on your write-up.

Another side note- I get not wanting to be on meds- I’m with you on that. A lot of times, with diet, you can get off both the bs med (for type 2 diabetes) and the cholesterol med (typically a statin). Read up and talk to your md about a prophylactic statin. Seems more and more folks are seeing positive results with a statin one day a week or on a limited basis. The folks who tend to see the good results have high normal or normal levels before taking the low dose or prophylactic dose.

Wow. Thank you. All my random thoughts and comments documented nicely in a single post. I know I couldn’t have said it better.
 

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