High blood pressure and Cholesterol

M

mark1985

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
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Hi
I have had tests and now have high blood pressure and cholesterol. I have been given 6 months to try sort this out with diet and lifestyle as the doctors are happy with the way i have change things so far. What are the best foods to add and maybe not have so much off to help lower this before i end up on more meds?
 
Hi @mark1985 sounds like these recent results have made you determined to up the changes you're already making. Tell us a little about your diet at the moment and where you think you might need some extra guidance.
 
Anna DUK said:
Hi @mark1985 sounds like these recent results have made you determined to up the changes you're already making. Tell us a little about your diet at the moment and where you think you might need some extra guidance.
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Hi
I have to say im in the transition stage atm from cutting out all junk and fizzy to eating more healthly. So far breakfast is bacon mushrooms and eggs on warbuntons high fibre bread 2 slices or greek yogurt and blueberries. lunch is on and off if i have it but normally soup as using up whats left in my cupbourds but plan to have more salads and cold meat and dinner has been a mix of using whats left in freezer and transfering over to more chicken salmon cauliflower rice and veg brocolli mostly. payday is next friday so set that as my day 1 of total fresh diet.
 
The transition stage is a hard one but soon you'll be out the other end. It sounds like a lot of what you've mentioned is a helpful start so well done on getting going.

Cholesterol is our blood fats so going for foods lower in saturated fats are healthier choices. This page might be helpful to give you an idea of what foods support those healthier choices: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/living-...r-medical-conditions/cholesterol-and-diabetes
 
Loosing weight can have a positive effect on lowering blood pressure, people on blood pressure meds can often reduce their dose when they lose weight.
Also having a diet low in carbs but including healthy fats can have a beneficial effect on reducing cholesterol. You don't need to restrict yourself to just chicken there are other meats which are OK as well as high meat content sausages. Tinned fish like tuna and mackerel are good as well as eggs.
 
Leadinglights said:
Loosing weight can have a positive effect on lowering blood pressure, people on blood pressure meds can often reduce their dose when they lose weight.
Also having a diet low in carbs but including healthy fats can have a beneficial effect on reducing cholesterol. You don't need to restrict yourself to just chicken there are other meats which are OK as well as high meat content sausages. Tinned fish like tuna and mackerel are good as well as eggs.
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Hi
Yes i have tuna and other meats also but limiting my red meats if i can. Just looking and exploring new meals that dont spike my bloods to much.
 
Hi @mark1985 sorry to hear about your rising BP and cholesterol. Lots of good ideas from others already. My meagre contribution is to reduce your salt intake by eating less processed food. Unfortunately this also includes cheese, bacon, ham and smoked mackerel. Bread also contains more salt than most people think.
 
The two biggest dietary things for improving cholesterol:

- Reducing saturated fats (or sometimes expressed as replacing saturated fats with unsaturated).
- Eating lots of fibre.

Losing weight also helps. (Exercise doesn't seem to have much impact on cholesterol.)

None of these are nearly as effective as statins or other medications, and very often they're not enough to achieve target levels.

For reducing BP, maybe the biggest thing is losing weight, though exercise is a big help too. Pretty commonly, weight loss and exercise can completely sort high BP issues, doing away with the need for meds, or anyway reducing the number of different BP meds required. Reducing sodium intake can also be beneficial.

Just as a general point, it's much easier to deal with high BP with just diet (and exercise) and no meds, than it is for cholesterol issues.
 
Unfortunately I live on meat, fish, eggs and cheese, I put cream in my coffee.
I don't eat 'healthy' brown carbs.
My blood pressure is just fine, if not taken just after climbing the stairs to the nurses' rooms on the top floor, my cholesterol is lower than at diagnosis, when I was eating low fat and high carb.
When statins have been suggested I have asked for simple numbers - such as the reduction in death rate actually seen in females in their 70's who are willing to take the tablets, but so far nothing has been forthcoming.
On the Atkins style diet I have been getting normal blood glucose levels after eating and almost normal HbA1c levels.
Maybe the morris dancing has had an effect.
 
When I was diagnosed more than 20 years ago I was prescribed metformin, insulin, and a statin to control my cholesterol level, which wasn't raised, it was just precautionary
About 10 years ago I developed statin ache - Search on YouTube - so I stopped taking the statin and made more of an effort to control my cholesterol level myself

So I did Tai Chi/Qi Gong; some indoor exercises; and walked more
My diet is now mostly low carb Mediterranean, and the only fats I eat are butter & olive oil & naturally occurring in meat & fish - that is 'proper' meat, not processed
I include salads & oily fish - canned sardines etc are cheap and do the job

My weight went down from about 95kg to about 80kg, and my cholesterol is acceptable
Similarly my blood pressure is acceptable, though I do take a low dose of Lipitor for that - in fact I'm considering stopping it for a few weeks and seeing just what effect it has
It is well worth getting your own BP meter, they're not that expensive

Search around on YouTube for how to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, Mediterranean Diet and similar categories and follow the Links & Prompts, there are loads of videos - yes you have to be a bit cautious, but overall you'll get the idea
Current thinking seems to be that animal fats & cholesterol are not quite the demons they were made out to be, and stem from dubious research

A couple of years ago when I was 72 I had an ultrasound scan of my blood vessels - they are graded from A = good to D = poor
I was told that mine were 'mostly A with a couple of B s, which is very good for a man of your age'.
 
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