Progress on cholesterol but BS static.

[turambar]

Hi people
Just had my 6 months blood test results after my prediabetes diagnosis. Cholesterol has reduced significantly from 7.3 to 5.3 but my blood sugar has slightly increased from 42 to 43. Will be having a chat with my dietician in August but in the meantime wondering if anyone had any tips about reducing blood sugar? My initial thoughts are to drink more water, go to the gym more, eat more fibre and reduce fruit intake. Any other suggestions?

 

[rebrascora]

Congratulations of reducing your cholesterol!

What modifications have you made to your diet already? Without knowing what you currently eat, it is difficult to advise what you can cut back on to reduce your HbA1c.
Do you eat a lot of fruit and if so which fruits? It might be enough just to swap higher carb fruits for lower carb ones. So if you still eat bananas and grapes, eat raspberries and strawberries instead as they are lower carb.
If you still eat bread have one less slice a day or swap to a low carb bread like LivLife.
If you still eat pasta, half the quantity and eat more sauce and vegetables with it or change to Edamame bean pasta.
If you eat potatoes, have less and more veg.
That sort of thing....

I would doubt that drinking more water will do much unless you are drinking it instead of something sweet. If your HbA1c was really high then drinking more water would help to flush surplus glucose out through your kidneys, but at that low level of 42-43, the kidneys will not be triggered to remove it.
Yes, exercise will also help.

Those are my thoughts.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi people
Just had my 6 months blood test results after my prediabetes diagnosis. Cholesterol has reduced significantly from 7.3 to 5.3 but my blood sugar has slightly increased from 42 to 43. Will be having a chat with my dietician in August but in the meantime wondering if anyone had any tips about reducing blood sugar? My initial thoughts are to drink more water, go to the gym more, eat more fibre and reduce fruit intake. Any other suggestions?

You may find some ideas in this link which will guide you about making a few more tweaks to your dietary regime. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

 

[turambar]

Congratulations of reducing your cholesterol!

What modifications have you made to your diet already? Without knowing what you currently eat, it is difficult to advise what you can cut back on to reduce your HbA1c.
Do you eat a lot of fruit and if so which fruits? It might be enough just to swap higher carb fruits for lower carb ones. So if you still eat bananas and grapes, eat raspberries and strawberries instead as they are lower carb.
If you still eat bread have one less slice a day or swap to a low carb bread like LivLife.
If you still eat pasta, half the quantity and eat more sauce and vegetables with it or change to Edamame bean pasta.
If you eat potatoes, have less and more veg.
That sort of thing....

I would doubt that drinking more water will do much unless you are drinking it instead of something sweet. If your HbA1c was really high then drinking more water would help to flush surplus glucose out through your kidneys, but at that low level of 42-43, the kidneys will not be triggered to remove it.
Yes, exercise will also help.

Those are my thoughts.

Thanks that's really helpful. I avoid white bread and have seeded bread instead. Have cut down on cheese. Mainly eat porridge for breakfast with added strawberry, tend not to eat any other fruit. Don't have fruit juice anymore. Do eat pasta regularly but mainly wholewheat. Don't drink sugary drinks. Could probably do with upping my veg intake. Will look into the options you have suggested!

 

[rebrascora]

Wholemeal versions of bread and pasta have almost exactly the same amount of carbs as the white versions and porridge oats as a grain, are about 60& carbs so I personally would be cutting down on those things a bit before I cut down on strawberries if they were my only fruit, or substituting with something else. You can make keto porridge with much lower carb foods than oats.

 

[Martin.A]

Thanks that's really helpful. I avoid white bread and have seeded bread instead. Have cut down on cheese. Mainly eat porridge for breakfast with added strawberry, tend not to eat any other fruit. Don't have fruit juice anymore. Do eat pasta regularly but mainly wholewheat. Don't drink sugary drinks. Could probably do with upping my veg intake. Will look into the options you have suggested!

Wholegrains are a smart choice, not just for people with diabetes, and are usually better for managing blood glucose levels because they tend to have a lower glycaemic index (GI), so they don't affect blood glucose levels as quickly as refined carbohydrate foods (source:- www.diabetes.org.uk). However, as @rebrascora says, they are also carbohydrate foods, and all carbohydrates affect blood glucose levels, so portion size is important. Are you eating normal portion sizes? I restrict my pasta portions to 40g and follow the cook-cool-reheat recommendation to increase the resistant starch content. For bread I've started sharing my wife's gluten-free seeded as it has not far off half the carbs of some regular seeded breads.