Do statins raise blood sugar levels?

[Sally W]

Yes I’m going to try with those as only 4 tbsps

 

[Radders]

I wonder what the carb count would be given the parsnips and maple syrup?

 

[Sally W]

I’m not sure. I am going to make, work out number of slices and take it from there. I do have a recipe for maple syrup without sugar and also have pancake syrup that I could use.
That said, even with the parsnips I think it should be relatively low compared to others I’ve seen.
If you want one that has just ground almonds and spices try the one on Ditch the carbs website.

 

[Radders]

I’m not sure. I am going to make, work out number of slices and take it from there. I do have a recipe for maple syrup without sugar and also have pancake syrup that I could use.
That said, even with the parsnips I think it should be relatively low compared to others I’ve seen.
If you want one that has just ground almonds and spices try the one on Ditch the carbs website.

Please let us know what it works out at. I’ve made cakes with carrot and courgette and tasted one with beetroot but not parsnips so far!

 

[Sally W]

https://iquitsugar.com/recipe/sugar-free-christmas-cake/
I did consider the above with beetroot but it needs quite a bit of tweaking to take the flour and rice malt syrup out.

Yes I will do: looks like carbs in parsnip would be circa 30 so will see how many slices it makes!

 

[RachelB]

Firstly I would read The Great Cholesterol Con, by Dr Malcolm Kendrick. It is a very easy read. You will find out all about Cholesterol, and in fact you are being tested for lipoproteins which isnt even Cholesterol. HDL stands for high density lipoprotein, and LDL stands for low density lipoprotein. At a recent Cardiology conference, the cardiologists were saying that raised cholesterol is not a key risk factor in chances of getting heart disease. Given that it has taken at least five years for the NHS to get to first base with GI diet, give it a couple more years before they get with the programme with Statins. I dont take them, and my doctor knows why, but she does press the point each time, and each time I push back.

 

[Sally W]

Firstly I would read The Great Cholesterol Con, by Dr Malcolm Kendrick. It is a very easy read. You will find out all about Cholesterol, and in fact you are being tested for lipoproteins which isnt even Cholesterol. HDL stands for high density lipoprotein, and LDL stands for low density lipoprotein. At a recent Cardiology conference, the cardiologists were saying that raised cholesterol is not a key risk factor in chances of getting heart disease. Given that it has taken at least five years for the NHS to get to first base with GI diet, give it a couple more years before they get with the programme with Statins. I dont take them, and my doctor knows why, but she does press the point each time, and each time I push back.

Thank you. Always interested to learn new information. I agree some doctors are not familiar with up to date information. Also modern healthcare does appear to be based upon give a tablet rather than lifestyle changes.

 

[Kathy1960]

Firstly I would read The Great Cholesterol Con, by Dr Malcolm Kendrick. It is a very easy read. You will find out all about Cholesterol, and in fact you are being tested for lipoproteins which isnt even Cholesterol. HDL stands for high density lipoprotein, and LDL stands for low density lipoprotein. At a recent Cardiology conference, the cardiologists were saying that raised cholesterol is not a key risk factor in chances of getting heart disease. Given that it has taken at least five years for the NHS to get to first base with GI diet, give it a couple more years before they get with the programme with Statins. I dont take them, and my doctor knows why, but she does press the point each time, and each time I push back.

Thanks for that Rachel - very interesting. I will def read that book. I know what you mean about the NHS and GPs taking ages to embrace stuff. They are very quick to prescribe meds and stick to the "diabetes is progressive and you can't do anything about it" mantra. So ,many people have proved you can! It all gets very confusing. I don't want to take statins, bit there's this little voice in my head saying - but what if you have a heart attack? I will hold off for now and read the book.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thanks for that Rachel - very interesting. I will def read that book. I know what you mean about the NHS and GPs taking ages to embrace stuff. They are very quick to prescribe meds and stick to the "diabetes is progressive and you can't do anything about it" mantra. So ,many people have proved you can! It all gets very confusing. I don't want to take statins, bit there's this little voice in my head saying - but what if you have a heart attack? I will hold off for now and read the book.

I think you are not the first person on the forum to find this issue confusing.

There is seemingly good evidence that (at a population level) statins reduce risk of cardiac events, but I can never properly understand how that happens, as it does not seem to relate much, if at all, to ‘cholesterol’ levels.

There seems to be some other, anti-inflammatory effect of statins that is protective. I half wonder whether I would be more inclined to take them if they had little effect on cholesterol to be honest!

It also doesn’t help that the risk of side effects is underplayed by the ‘official’ statin lobby (and data about them is kept under lock and key). Meanwhile their positive effect is always headlined in the biggest way possible as ‘relative reduction’ rather than absolute risk.

 

[Kathy1960]

Thank you for that Mike. It really is very confusing and hard to know the best thing to do. I guess there isn't a right answer and we just have to make our own decision. I just can't make that decision! There was a time when I would go to the docs and just do what they said - that was before type 2 diabetes! I didn't go much before this. So many people on this forum feel that the drs don't know best in the case of type 2 and have proved it by getting great results with diet, excercise and self testing and ignoring advice about the healthy plate and eating carbs with every meal etc. I realise its different for you being a type 1. Thanks again.

 

[Northerner]

Thank you for that Mike. It really is very confusing and hard to know the best thing to do. I guess there isn't a right answer and we just have to make our own decision. I just can't make that decision! There was a time when I would go to the docs and just do what they said - that was before type 2 diabetes! I didn't go much before this. So many people on this forum feel that the drs don't know best in the case of type 2 and have proved it by getting great results with diet, excercise and self testing and ignoring advice about the healthy plate and eating carbs with every meal etc. I realise its different for you being a type 1. Thanks again.

I took statins after diagnosis. However, around that time I remember reading that, out of every 100 people that take statins only 3 would be less likely to suffer a cardiac 'event' - for the remaining 97 they would have no benefit at all. For me, that was enough to decide to stop taking them, considering that they are actually very powerful drugs. Every cell in the body needs cholesterol, as it is essential to building the myelin sheath that protects our cells. They also prevent the production of something called coenzyme Q10 being produced, and I don't think people know whether that might be a problem or not. Along with the potential side-effects I would rather take my chances of being one of the '97' 🙂

Actually, I find that exercise helps me manage my cholesterol well - I have observed that when I have had a relatively inactive period it goes up, but the reverse when I am particularly active 🙂

I'd also recommend The Great Cholesterol Con, which puts the other side of the story to all the pro-statin promotions 🙂 They are very important and effective drugs for people who really need them, but not for the general population, in my opinion.

 

[ajax]

I started my course of Statins in June this year ..since when:

My HbA1c rose from 50 mmol/mol to 51 mmol/mol ..which may just be ✻noise✻ on the data ..and my Total Cholesterol decreased from 4.6 mmol/l to 2.8 mmol/l

I have experienced no Side Effects ..thankfully.

 

[Kathy1960]

I started my course of Statins in June this year ..since when:

My HbA1c rose from 50 mmol/mol to 51 mmol/mol ..which may just be ✻noise✻ on the data ..and my Total Cholesterol decreased from 4.6 mmol/l to 2.8 mmol/l

I have experienced no Side Effects ..thankfully.

Thanks Steven - that's very interesting and informative. So the statins didn't really raise your glucose levels which is what I was wondering about - and no side effects!