Managing diabetes and high cholesterol through diet

[HappySJ]

Hello, I’m looking for some diet management advice / thoughts please.

I was diagnosed type 2 in March and really changed my diet, reducing sugar and carbs, and portion size. I’ve always eaten a lot of veggies and done regular exercise. I had another HbA1c test recently and the doc called with results yesterday. My results have gone from 50 down to 43. Hurrah. But my cholesterol has gone up from 6 something to 7 something. The doc says medicine but I really would like to reduce my cholesterol through diet.
I have found the diet and the diagnosis really quite depressing honestly and the doctors seems to think drugs are inevitable but I would really like to avoid them. I didn’t realise when I had my first diagnosis that I had a cholesterol problem at all.

is it possible to reduce cholesterol with diet and how do I manage both that and keep reducing that HbA1C result?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts And for sharing experience. I have found this forum so supportive.

 

[Inka]

You could try a low fat plant-based diet @HappySJ Some allow occasional pieces of lean meat too, but if you were to try, I’d be strict to start with so you can gauge the effect on your cholesterol.

You could look at Joel Fuhrman, Michael Greger and the Forks Over Knives website if you’re interested.

 

[Martin.A]

My cholesterol was high when I was diagnosed so ever since then I've had a Benecol with my breakfast every day, used Benecol spread and had a target of keeping below the RDA for saturated fat in my diet. My cholesterol numbers have all been in their recommended ranges for the last 3 years.

 

[HappySJ]

You could try a low fat plant-based diet @HappySJ Some allow occasional pieces of lean meat too, but if you were to try, I’d be strict to start with so you can gauge the effect on your cholesterol.

You could look at Joel Fuhrman, Michael Greger and the Forks Over Knives website if you’re interested.

Thank you so much Inka, I’ll definitely look those up.

 

[HappySJ]

My cholesterol was high when I was diagnosed so ever since then I've had a Benecol with my breakfast every day, used Benecol spread and had a target of keeping below the RDA for saturated fat in my diet. My cholesterol numbers have all been in their recommended ranges for the last 3 years.

Wow that’s amazing Martin, congratulations and thank you for that advice.

 

[Sharron1]

Hello, I’m looking for some diet management advice / thoughts please.

I was diagnosed type 2 in March and really changed my diet, reducing sugar and carbs, and portion size. I’ve always eaten a lot of veggies and done regular exercise. I had another HbA1c test recently and the doc called with results yesterday. My results have gone from 50 down to 43. Hurrah. But my cholesterol has gone up from 6 something to 7 something. The doc says medicine but I really would like to reduce my cholesterol through diet.
I have found the diet and the diagnosis really quite depressing honestly and the doctors seems to think drugs are inevitable but I would really like to avoid them. I didn’t realise when I had my first diagnosis that I had a cholesterol problem at all.

is it possible to reduce cholesterol with diet and how do I manage both that and keep reducing that HbA1C result?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts And for sharing experience. I have found this forum so supportive.

Hi,

I also have good Hba1c numbers but cholestrol between 6 and 7. I resisted the dreaded Statins for a while, reviewed my diet, read up about diet cholestrol and cholestrol my over enthisiastic liver produces. I finally admitted defeat this year and now take a statin daily. My 3 month blood test is due in Feb and I am interested to see the result . Fortunately I have no side effects, but I was irritated by the lack of info from GP. The forever pushing of Statns No wonder people rightly or wrongly believe that surgeries received financial incentives to prescribe them. A little more explanation would help.

 

[harbottle]

No surprise there's controversy, when papers like this are published in medical journals:

Cholesterol confusion and statin controversy - PMC

The role of blood cholesterol levels in coronary heart disease (CHD) and the true effect of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are debatable. In particular, whether statins actually decrease cardiac mortality and increase life expectancy is ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

(And this isn't the only one.)

My own cholesterol levels bounce up and down. Seem to go down when I add more carbs to the diet.

 

[HappySJ]

Hi,

I also have good Hba1c numbers but cholestrol between 6 and 7. I resisted the dreaded Statins for a while, reviewed my diet, read up about diet cholestrol and cholestrol my over enthisiastic liver produces. I finally admitted defeat this year and now take a statin daily. My 3 month blood test is due in Feb and I am interested to see the result . Fortunately I have no side effects, but I was irritated by the lack of info from GP. The forever pushing of Statns No wonder people rightly or wrongly believe that surgeries received financial incentives to prescribe them. A little more explanation would help.

Thank you for sharing your experience, I find that so helpful. My doctor is pushing medicines too..- and I so badly do not want to take drugs. And they do not seem to be able to give me information and I don’t really trust them. i would be interested to know what effect you see in February. i Hope they work for you.

 

[HappySJ]

No surprise there's controversy, when papers like this are published in medical journals:

Cholesterol confusion and statin controversy - PMC

The role of blood cholesterol levels in coronary heart disease (CHD) and the true effect of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are debatable. In particular, whether statins actually decrease cardiac mortality and increase life expectancy is ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

(And this isn't the only one.)

My own cholesterol levels bounce up and down. Seem to go down when I add more carbs to the diet.

Thank you so much for posting. I will have a look. Some of the dietary advise I’m reading on managing a diabetic friendly diet and a cholesterol friendly on contradicts making me confused as to how to manage bother together. It’s all very New and confusing.

 

[dalebyrne88]

Best thing to get more advice is give us more info what foods you are actually eating and a small change may help its all a learning curve.

 

[nonethewiser]

Hello, I’m looking for some diet management advice / thoughts please.

I was diagnosed type 2 in March and really changed my diet, reducing sugar and carbs, and portion size. I’ve always eaten a lot of veggies and done regular exercise. I had another HbA1c test recently and the doc called with results yesterday. My results have gone from 50 down to 43. Hurrah. But my cholesterol has gone up from 6 something to 7 something. The doc says medicine but I really would like to reduce my cholesterol through diet.
I have found the diet and the diagnosis really quite depressing honestly and the doctors seems to think drugs are inevitable but I would really like to avoid them. I didn’t realise when I had my first diagnosis that I had a cholesterol problem at all.

is it possible to reduce cholesterol with diet and how do I manage both that and keep reducing that HbA1C result?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts And for sharing experience. I have found this forum so supportive.

It's well documented that foods high in soluble fibre can lower cholesterol & can also reduce cholesterol absorption but really don't think dietary changes alone will reduce your cholesterol significantly @HappySJ

 

[Sharron1]

From my over extensive reading prior to Statins I arrived at the conclusion that dietry changes alone will make very little difference to my cholestrol. But I will see what happens with my three month blood test after taking Statins.

 

[Sharron1]

Thank you so much for posting. I will have a look. Some of the dietary advise I’m reading on managing a diabetic friendly diet and a cholesterol friendly on contradicts making me confused as to how to manage bother together. It’s all very New and confusing.

Agree, there is so much information I s8moly didn't have the time or energy to wade through it. I am not a scientist and many of the reports are far way too technical for me. So I decided to take the damn thing and see what happens after three months. Until then I wait...

 

[Kim8365]

Hi what was your reading for your cholesterol?
I've been diagnosed with diabetes type 2 since February 23 was Already on 40mg statin then in the summer increased them to 60mg .
I had my diabetes bloods and reviewed last week, yesterday I received a call to say my cholesterol isn't going down 3.5 and it has to be 3.3 or below and now they've increased to 80mg which is maximum, will re test me in 3 months .
I'm 58 my mum is type 2 aswell has been for years .
After new year I will ave to seriously go on a rabbits diet lol .

 

[Sharron1]

Hi what was your reading for your cholesterol?
I've been diagnosed with diabetes type 2 since February 23 was Already on 40mg statin then in the summer increased them to 60mg .
I had my diabetes bloods and reviewed last week, yesterday I received a call to say my cholesterol isn't going down 3.5 and it has to be 3.3 or below and now they've increased to 80mg which is maximum, will re test me in 3 months .
I'm 58 my mum is type 2 aswell has been for years .
After new year I will ave to seriously go on a rabbits diet lol .

Hi

My damn cholestrol was between 6 and 6.4 with each annual blood test. I now take 20mg of Avosomething Statin daily. I didn't realise that 3.3 was the preferred level I thought it was around 4. I will see what the blood test in Feb shows.But when I spoke with the prescribing Pharmacist, she agreed that if my cholestrol drops to 5 I could carry on with the 20mg Statin as bp is good, lweight is good, Hba1c is good and diet is ok. However, proof is in the ( low carb) pudding The blood test will reveal all. I must admit I am quite interested to see the number.

 

[Kim8365]

Thats really interesting I suppose it depends on each individual then because I do suffer with high blood pressure got medication for that aswell but is under control, I am overweight so definitely need to lose some , it's all overwhelming.
My diet isn't that bad .
Thank you for replying and good luck on your next test.

 

[Sharron1]

Good luck. If you fall off that wagon, it happens, simply start again but don't give yourself a hard time about it

 

[Kim8365]

Thank you

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi what was your reading for your cholesterol?
I've been diagnosed with diabetes type 2 since February 23 was Already on 40mg statin then in the summer increased them to 60mg .
I had my diabetes bloods and reviewed last week, yesterday I received a call to say my cholesterol isn't going down 3.5 and it has to be 3.3 or below and now they've increased to 80mg which is maximum, will re test me in 3 months .
I'm 58 my mum is type 2 aswell has been for years .
After new year I will ave to seriously go on a rabbits diet lol .

I thought that those in the 'at risk' category the level for cholesterol was no more than 4.
You say your diet is not too bad but what sort of meals do you have, lowering carbs can help with reducing cholesterol as well as helping with blood glucose management.
But no need to go on a rabbits diet there are plenty of options for tasty low carb meals.

 

[Kim8365]

It was a joke about rabbits diet ie lettuce and carrots lol
I don't cook in oil dry fry everything have low fat mince etc but with the festive season we all or some over indulge.
My doctor said my cholesterol had to be 3.3 so not sure why to be honest I was surprised cos I thought 3.5 was good .