Grapefruit juice, linseed (flax seeds) and Benecol

[Cathy Frankland]

Hi all,

Rather than doing three separate posts I thought I should maybe just ask about all three in the one hit, because I am hoping that they will all help with the same - reducing my blood sugar level and reducing my cholesterol.

Grapefruit - I have read that it is supposed to really help lower blood sugar levels and have seen it reported as the natural equivalent to Medformin. How true is this and does anyone here eat it (I have read that eating 1/2 a day is best, as the juice is too high in carbs/sugar)?

Linseed/flax seeds - these seem to be the same thing (in the UK we say linseed, in the States they say flax feed) and again reports of them being very beneficial to lower blood sugar levels, cholesterol and general benefit the heart. How true is this and does anyone add them to their diet?

Benecol/Flora Pro Activ/Alpro Soya Yogurt - these are either plant-based (Alpro) or contain plant stenols (Benecol and Flora Pro Activ), which are widely reported to be very good at lowering cholesterol. Three questions: how true is this, does anyone use them and, finally, it is worth consider the Sainsbury's version of Benecol drinks - they are MUCH cheaper, but have about 7.8g of sugar per drink, compared to the 3.2g in Benecol, which scares me a bit.

Thanks, as always, for any help, suggestions and advice.
Cathy 🙂 xxx

P.S. I am not on any meds for my diabetes or high cholesterol at the moment, but suspect the doctor will prescribe one/both at my appointment in 2 weeks. I already take Prozac and vitamin D, so if I can control my diabetes and cholesterol with diet and exercise that would be my preferred route.

 

[Ljc]

Hi Cathy. I know your not on statins but just incase you do go on them or for anyone who is on them and has grapefruit, have a read of this
https://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2474.aspx?CategoryID=73&SubCategoryID=103

I’ll leave your o5he queries to others on here

 

[Mark Parrott]

Hi all,

Rather than doing three separate posts I thought I should maybe just ask about all three in the one hit, because I am hoping that they will all help with the same - reducing my blood sugar level and reducing my cholesterol.

Grapefruit - I have read that it is supposed to really help lower blood sugar levels and have seen it reported as the natural equivalent to Medformin. How true is this and does anyone here eat it (I have read that eating 1/2 a day is best, as the juice is too high in carbs/sugar)?

Linseed/flax seeds - these seem to be the same thing (in the UK we say linseed, in the States they say flax feed) and again reports of them being very beneficial to lower blood sugar levels, cholesterol and general benefit the heart. How true is this and does anyone add them to their diet?

Benecol/Flora Pro Activ/Alpro Soya Yogurt - these are either plant-based (Alpro) or contain plant stenols (Benecol and Flora Pro Activ), which are widely reported to be very good at lowering cholesterol. Three questions: how true is this, does anyone use them and, finally, it is worth consider the Sainsbury's version of Benecol drinks - they are MUCH cheaper, but have about 7.8g of sugar per drink, compared to the 3.2g in Benecol, which scares me a bit.

Thanks, as always, for any help, suggestions and advice.
Cathy 🙂 xxx

P.S. I am not on any meds for my diabetes or high cholesterol at the moment, but suspect the doctor will prescribe one/both at my appointment in 2 weeks. I already take Prozac and vitamin D, so if I can control my diabetes and cholesterol with diet and exercise that would be my preferred route.

OK, I will give a personal opinion the best I can. I have never heard anything about grapefruit lowering blood sugar levels & I don't believe it does. Half an average sized grapefruit is 11g carb but is quite low in fibre at just 2g. It's by far not the worst, but will still increase BG levels to a degree. I use linseed a lot, mainly in baking, but not for it's health benefits, only because it is low carb. I do not partake in any plant based spreads. I have butter, which does not increase cholesterol levels. We produce our own cholesterol in our livers & this mainly comes from carbs, not fat or cholesterol in food. Plant stenols will lower overall cholesterol, but I don't know what bits of the cholesterol it lowers (LDL, HDL or Trigs). We all need cholesterol to function properly so too low can be as bad as too high, and recent studies in the US show no correlation with high cholesterol levels & heart disease. As for statins, it has been proven that in every 100 people that take them, 3 will benefit. If you do not have issues with high cholesterol, then don't worry about it. A low carb diet should keep your cholesterol ratios in good range.