Diet tips for high blood pressure and cholesterol...

[Tolley]

Can you share any details re: a typical day's set of meals, both content and preparation? Do you prepare your own meals?

Try to reduce intake by 25%.

What is your height/weight?

I'd avoid caffeine, tobacco, get as much exercise as your body can manage; swimming may be the best option for any with ailments.

My height is 180cm and weight is 83kg.

I do not drink much coffee, maybe twice a week, some weeks none.

Do not smoke, never have.

Exercise is my main issue as it bores me incredibly.

As for what I eat, well I have made a dramatic change this week and intend to stick by it for the 3 months and see how it changes things.

But prior to this change it was toast and vegemite for breakfast and black tea. Lunch I would normally just have a snack or a sandwich when kids home on weekends, noodles sometimes, snack is usually dried biscuits and cheese and tomatoes. Dinner usually Thai, white rice and whatever the missus cooks up which is always great food.

I do not drink alcohol unless out and thats maybe once a month at most. I drink water, ribena or fruit juice, but not the processed box ones, nor any sodas such as pepsi or coke etc.

Now though and as an example, yesterdays meals were...Breakfast muesli with dried raisins, dried cranberries, raw almonds, flax seed, barley, fresh apple and kiwi, soy milk and 2 spoons of natural yoghurt..... Lunch was 3 dried biscuits with cheese and vegemite....Dinner was the very dark brown rice, and several vegies in a stir fry using olive oil, no meat.....snacks during the day was an apple and an orange.....drinks were water and 2 teas......exercise was a bike ride, nothing huge.

Dinner tonight is bbq' salmon steak and salad.

Not much protein in that diet.

I think you could do much better especially lunch.

You would be better off eating more meat with your rice and veggies and especially more protein in the morning and for lunch.

[CaptHaddock]

What is your waist size?

Can you share any details re: a typical day's set of meals, both content and preparation? Do you prepare your own meals?

Try to reduce intake by 25%.

What is your height/weight?

I'd avoid caffeine, tobacco, get as much exercise as your body can manage; swimming may be the best option for any with ailments.

My height is 180cm and weight is 83kg.

I do not drink much coffee, maybe twice a week, some weeks none.

Do not smoke, never have.

Exercise is my main issue as it bores me incredibly.

As for what I eat, well I have made a dramatic change this week and intend to stick by it for the 3 months and see how it changes things.

But prior to this change it was toast and vegemite for breakfast and black tea. Lunch I would normally just have a snack or a sandwich when kids home on weekends, noodles sometimes, snack is usually dried biscuits and cheese and tomatoes. Dinner usually Thai, white rice and whatever the missus cooks up which is always great food.

I do not drink alcohol unless out and thats maybe once a month at most. I drink water, ribena or fruit juice, but not the processed box ones, nor any sodas such as pepsi or coke etc.

Now though and as an example, yesterdays meals were...Breakfast muesli with dried raisins, dried cranberries, raw almonds, flax seed, barley, fresh apple and kiwi, soy milk and 2 spoons of natural yoghurt..... Lunch was 3 dried biscuits with cheese and vegemite....Dinner was the very dark brown rice, and several vegies in a stir fry using olive oil, no meat.....snacks during the day was an apple and an orange.....drinks were water and 2 teas......exercise was a bike ride, nothing huge.

Dinner tonight is bbq' salmon steak and salad.

[chiang mai]

Can you share any details re: a typical day's set of meals, both content and preparation? Do you prepare your own meals?

Try to reduce intake by 25%.

What is your height/weight?

I'd avoid caffeine, tobacco, get as much exercise as your body can manage; swimming may be the best option for any with ailments.

My height is 180cm and weight is 83kg.

I do not drink much coffee, maybe twice a week, some weeks none.

Do not smoke, never have.

Exercise is my main issue as it bores me incredibly.

As for what I eat, well I have made a dramatic change this week and intend to stick by it for the 3 months and see how it changes things.

But prior to this change it was toast and vegemite for breakfast and black tea. Lunch I would normally just have a snack or a sandwich when kids home on weekends, noodles sometimes, snack is usually dried biscuits and cheese and tomatoes. Dinner usually Thai, white rice and whatever the missus cooks up which is always great food.

I do not drink alcohol unless out and thats maybe once a month at most. I drink water, ribena or fruit juice, but not the processed box ones, nor any sodas such as pepsi or coke etc.

Now though and as an example, yesterdays meals were...Breakfast muesli with dried raisins, dried cranberries, raw almonds, flax seed, barley, fresh apple and kiwi, soy milk and 2 spoons of natural yoghurt..... Lunch was 3 dried biscuits with cheese and vegemite....Dinner was the very dark brown rice, and several vegies in a stir fry using olive oil, no meat.....snacks during the day was an apple and an orange.....drinks were water and 2 teas......exercise was a bike ride, nothing huge.

Dinner tonight is bbq' salmon steak and salad.

Not much protein in that diet.

I think you could do much better especially lunch.

You would be better off eating more meat with your rice and veggies and especially more protein in the morning and for lunch.

People who are starting out trying to treat the symptoms of Type II Diabetes need to be very careful about the balance of their diet, it's for this reason that both the ADA and BDA keep pushing the phrase, "eat a balanced diet". There is a temptation that I succumed to which involves decreasing the amount of carbs and increasing protein, eat more chicken and fish and it'll be better I thought. That unfortunately puts a strain on the kidneys hence a renal blood check from time to time will show whether BUN levels are unusually high - one symptom of excess protein is frothy urine in the toilet bowl, another is an ache in the sides/lower back.

We actually only need quite a small amount of protein each day, two small pieces, each the size of the palm of the hand, of fish, chicken or pork will fullfill all needs, better to compensate on low glycemic carbs than to overdo the protein.

[Showbags]

So much conflicting info out there also makes it very difficult to get an accurate picture of it all.

Like a site I posted above recommends Canola oil and then another does not because of it vicious processing cycle.

Anyone know if you can freeze natural yoghurt? And if you can, does it have any detriment to the product?

[CaptHaddock]

Focusing on specific food items is the wrong strategy and will not make you healthy.

About 15 years ago I had cholesterol of 305 and high blood pressure. First thing I tried was diet and that shaved about 30 points off the cholesterol, but that was not enough. I then took statins for many years and that worked, but then I got painful side effects. Switched to niacin which also controlled the lipids and is a much better drug than statins. Then I took up exercise, dieted, lost a lot of weight and later lost a lot more. That worked. Overall I lost 25% of my body weight taking me from a BMI of probably 28 in 2007 to 21 today. Body fat is about 15%. Waist to height ratio 47%. I have been able to reduce my niacin dose progressively until stopping it completely, but I won't know until my next blood test in a few weeks whether my lipids are low enough that I can stop the niacin for good, but I expect that I have already taken my last pill. BP has been fine for years now without medication.

I eat a very low-fat, nearly vegetarian diet and swim for an hour a day. I do not attempt to limit carbs. I certainly don't pay attention to the latest fad food items that someone claims will lower cholesterol painlessly.

The interesting point in my experience was that it was the last ten pounds of that 25% of body weight loss that did the trick. I don't know why and there is very little discussion on the internet about the effect of substantial weight loss on lipid profile. Most of the discussion emphasizes that losing at little as five or ten pounds will be helpful. That's certainly true, but doesn't answer the question of how much you have to lose to get your lipid profile into an acceptable range.

The important point in considering one's weight is not how normal one appears with respect to other people, but at what weight level your body is healthy. I wish someone had suggested substantial weight loss to me years ago. Certainly no doctor ever mentioned weight loss, exercise or any other lifestyle change.

So much conflicting info out there also makes it very difficult to get an accurate picture of it all.

Like a site I posted above recommends Canola oil and then another does not because of it vicious processing cycle.

Anyone know if you can freeze natural yoghurt? And if you can, does it have any detriment to the product?

Edited November 2, 2013 by CaptHaddock

[chiang mai]

"Focusing on specific food items is the wrong strategy and will not make you healthy".

Agreed 100%, the OP needs to focus on weight control and exericse, the remainder of the diet is almost fine tuning from he's written although I don't rule out that he might want to take statins until he gets the bigger issues stabilised.

[ravip]

BP = lose weight if needed, exercise regularly and minimize sodium intake (no added salt, and avoid processed foods)

Note that even with this, some people -- many in fact, especially among the over 5 crowd -- cannot maintain a healthy BP without medication.

Cholesterol = would help to know exactly what you HDL and LDL levels were 9total cholesterol is not meaningful). Avopid all fried foods at the market/restaurants (they use the worst kind of oil) and use only healthy oils at home (canola, olive, sunflower etc). Take in as much fiber as you can. Keep red meat to a minimum, ditto cheese. Avoid processed carbs but it sounds like you already do. Fish oil supplements.

"cannot maintain a healthy BP without medication."

Is it true that if you start on BP medications that you have to continue for life?

[moe666]

Check your testosterone if it is low you may be making more cholesterol to boost testosterone. if your T is low boost it up and see what happens to the cholesterol. Take magnesium 1000 mg a day say 4 times a day at 250 each time it will lower cholesterol and most people are deficient in magnesium.

[meatboy]

docters gave me an ultimateum lose 20kilo plus or you wont be getting your surgery[by pass and new heart valve].

first i stopped eating after 5pm,if needed i had just fruit.

all the bad things like butter,cheese,pies,fat off the meat i cut down to a very small bit as a treat.

as for exercise i had to take small walks before i had any food.

alcohol down to once a week.

i lost 44lb in just over 3months.

and i did have water tablets from the doctor that in itself gave you plenty of exercise back and fo the loo.

only what i know my cholesterol uk.measure was 8 good was between 4-5.was on 80mg of simverstatin for 4yrs.which did give me very sore joints.

[chiang mai]

As I see it you have three problem areas, cholesterol, triglycerides and blood glucose levels, potentially each needs different treatment:

Cholesterol is naturally occuring although cholesterol in food does account for a small percentage, if your diet doesn't include much by way of added cholesterol via foods such as eggs, chicken anc coconut it may be that you need to begin taking statins in low doses until you can get the numbers under control.

Triglycerides typically come from cakes and pastries or after drinking alcohol, eliminating both those things from your diet will go a long way.

Finally blood glucose: if you haven't already done so, you will be advised to buy a blood glucose test device (glucometer) and to begin testing your blood when you wake up and two hours after each meal, record your numbers and you'll quickly see what foodstuffs have what affect on your glucose levels, as the old mantra goes, test, test, and test again.

Exercise will help all three of the above, particulalry if you can do some about 60/90 minutes after eating.

[Showbags]

How much do those blood sugar testers cost and a home BP kit?

One thing this has forced me to find a good vegetable supplier in our area and I have now found 3, although only visited 2 and one of them is straight off the farm. You can buy a pile of vegies for 500b, but unfortunately they do not always have a lot of stock, seems hit and miss.

[kurnell]

Your diet seems very healthy so it's difficult to know what to add, salt, refined carbs and anything with sugar in it are the first things I excluded from my diet. What I added back in was oatmeal for breakfast and this does an excellent job of helping to lower cholesterol.

Yes plain yogurt tastes like crap, try adding some fruit to it to change the taste.

Spinach is great for many aspects of a diet, helps keep blood sugar low and is generally good all round.

Using olive oil for frying works very well, perhaps give it a try.

Cheese is protein and small amounts of hard cheese are allowed in most diets.

Just wondering how is your weight and what exercise you do, those could be parts of the jigsaw - 45 minutes a day for four days a week on the running machine will get your numbers down, trust me .

Alcohol is really bad for cholesterol, it raises the triglyceride levels so best left alone.

Dietary cholesterol comes in many forms, chicken is a big offender, lean grades of pork are a better option.

Yeah, this is one of the confusing things to me. I do not eat much junk food at all, no MacDonalds to speak of, maybe twice a year etc and less of any other rubbish, a donut maybe 4 times a year etc.

Oatmeal is a good idea, might switch from toast to this each morning for a while.

I like dried fruits, so can add to it dried sultanas, cranberries and whole raw almonds as well as the yoghurt and fresh bananas or kiwi.

Spinach we tend to already it quite regularly.

I know olive oil is supposed to be good, wondering what else is out there.

As for my weight, not too bad, little bit over but not much. I am 180cm tall and 83 kilo's.

Exercise is the big let down, I hate doing it for exercise sake, it bores me to tears and I cannot edoing it for long periods and consistently. Riding a bike is about the only thing I can tolerate and even then after a few days I am bored.

Alcohol is already low, no beer and when I do drink it is either gin and tonic or whiskey and soda. But those times are few and far between. As example, last drink was 1 g&T 3 weeks ago, before that was maybe 3 months and 2 drinks etc. Last big night was in March.

Chicken, yes we do eat a lot of chicken.

My sister swears by porridge (oatmeal...why do yanks always have to change the name of everything).

[Showbags]

The food side of things is going well and enjoying the food thus far, until I have to miss out on some favourites like potato etc. But committed to 3 months of a regime change and see if it works, then I hope if it is considerably better I can take up some old favourites but in more moderation.

I have started a diary noting all the foods and drinks since the doc visit last week.

Exercise has been happening, tomorrow start 10/15k bike ride 5 days a week.

[chiang mai]

How much do those blood sugar testers cost and a home BP kit?

One thing this has forced me to find a good vegetable supplier in our area and I have now found 3, although only visited 2 and one of them is straight off the farm. You can buy a pile of vegies for 500b, but unfortunately they do not always have a lot of stock, seems hit and miss.

Be careful with your choice of vegetables, go for the low glycemic ones and that typically means no root crops.

Home testers vary in price, the big cost is the cost of testing strips. I use the SD Codefree tester and the strips cost me 770 baht for 50, you'll use one every time you test, figure on about 2,500 for the tester plus some starter strips, an excellent investment.

10/15 miles a day x 5 days is a noble gesture but don't burn out on the idea too quickly. You need two or three days of rest each week otherwise it defeats the purpose, we wont yell at you if you only manage three days a week to start with, then, as the habit sets in with you and you report back that you've increased to six days a week, we'll know you've been hooked!

Edited November 3, 2013 by chiang mai

[Showbags]

Root crops you mean like carrots ?

Surely not.

How about sweet potato, heard they were much better than normal potatoes.

[ravip]

Root crops you mean like carrots ?

Surely not.

How about sweet potato, heard they were much better than normal potatoes.

What I heard was that any vegetable growing under the soil was fattening - can someone confirm this please?

[chiang mai]

The glycemic index reveals all, simply plug in the name of vegetable and answers will be forthcomming:

http://www.glycemicindex.com/

Some potato's can be as high as 100 on the scale, carrots can be as high as 92, depends on the type, note: 1 is good, 100 is pure sugar.

Edited November 3, 2013 by chiang mai

[JSixpack]

During the initial weight loss phase, I'd avoid all grains and grain-based dishes, all starches, and any form of sugar, such as fruit or honey.

Don't strain yourself w/ the exercise. Do some, of course.

But I'm not getting involved here to shock and outrage anyone's biases with newfangled notions (actually old notions that became unfashionable).

Do listen to chiang mai and Tolley, both extremely knowledgeable. Follow them and you'll surely achieve your goal. Glycemic index! Critical concept indeed.

Edited November 3, 2013 by JSixpack

[Showbags]

Check this out re sweet potato...never knew this.

Lucky because we found a new reliable shop today that has the white one, when cooked flesh comes out light yellow or orangish.

http://www.naturalnews.com/031543_sweet_potatoes_minerals.html#

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/how-eating-sweet-potatoes-can-help-you-lose-weight.html

[chiang mai]

During the initial weight loss phase, I'd avoid all grains and grain-based dishes, all starches, and any form of sugar, such as fruit or honey.

Don't strain yourself w/ the exercise. Do some, of course.

But I'm not getting involved here to shock and outrage anyone's biases with newfangled notions (actually old notions that became unfashionable).

Do listen to chiang mai and Tolley, both extremely knowledgeable. Follow them and you'll surely achieve your goal. Glycemic index! Critical concept indeed.

That's very kind JS, thank you, but in truth there's loads of very knowledgable people out there on this subject. And what you don't know is that it was you who started me off on a low carb diet, I wanted to go exclusively down the low glycemic road and in a post on the subject where I was battling a little with Tropo and Roblock (both expert in the treatment/management of diabetes), you wrote, "why waste time" - that stuck with me and next day I started to low carb, so thank you again.

[Showbags]

During the initial weight loss phase, I'd avoid all grains and grain-based dishes, all starches, and any form of sugar, such as fruit or honey.

Are you serious?

What else is left?

If what you recommend is correct, then what I have been eating last 3 days should be all tossed out the window.

[chiang mai]

Eggs, omlettes, the oatmeal is OK as long as no more than half a cup.

Pork loin, chicken breast, salmon, tuna - grilled in olive oil

spinach, broccolli, mixed salads, cauliflower, green beans.

unsweetened green tea.

Perhaps see if you can find some low sugar meusilli.

That should keep you going for a few days whilst you research other things you can eat.

[Showbags]

Eggs, omlettes, the oatmeal is OK as long as no more than half a cup.

Pork loin, chicken breast, salmon, tuna - grilled in olive oil

spinach, broccolli, mixed salads, cauliflower, green beans.

unsweetened green tea.

Perhaps see if you can find some low sugar meusilli.

That should keep you going for a few days whilst you research other things you can eat.

Lol, thanks.

I thought eggs were out ?

All the others good to know, have a pork and lamb bbq next weekend, cannot miss that, but will downsize and not eat the fat this time.

I have been eating the 'Hahne' brand muesli, might go and research how to make my own.

[chiang mai]

a couple of eggs twice a week is OK, remember, cholesterol is mostly naturally ocurring, your own body makes it, cholesterol from foods is only about 10% of the total.

Check the label on the Hahne Meusilli, I believe you'll find it's sugar heavy! Sorry.

Yup, portion size is very important.

[Showbags]

I stopped in our local health food shop today, lucky we have one actually. Got some nice yoghurt and they said it can be freezed no problem, so hope correct.

Also bought a whole village chicken, not the farm raised hormone fed monsters. These are always a little chewier, but have a nicer taste I think. We had that for dinner in tom yum soup, no skin.

So is wild chicken....I like the sound of wild chicken...even better than any other type, should be when you think about it, much leaner and fitter.

[chiang mai]

Watch out for sauces and Thai food in general, it usually contains loads of sugar and salt. If you go to a restaurant where they cook the foood from fresh, ask them not to put any in and they'll usually oblige.

[crumpled]

And buy your self a good blood pressure monitor because one off tests done by doctors may not be indicative of true blood pressure levels.

Very very true, when I test at home I'm always around 124/75, in a doctors office or a hospital I'm always north of 145/x, often substantially so.

I too would be very wary of the BP test done in some of the hospitals. Whenever I visited my BP was between 130/80 and 170/90. They had me on meds for a long time and it was still way too high. Odd then that since I have been in the UK over the last four months and had 3 BP tests not one has been over 127/75 and that is without any meds. One was even down to 116/70.

I would get a BP monitor yourself and check.

[canman]

An alternative to big pharma statins is red rice yeast taken with co-enzyme Q10.

I am not suggesting anyone comes off of doctor suscribed statins but if you are not on statins yet and trying to reduce cholesterol it may be worth a try.

My last medical revealed some concerning cholesterol & triglycerides numbers. As well as fixing up my diet and getting more excercise I am taking the following supplements:

Red rice yeast taken with co-enzyme Q10

Multi B

Pomegranate extract

Cod liver oil

Fish oil

Flax seed oil

Lost 10Kg in the last 3 months and plan on losing another 5 before my next visit to check the numbers in 3 months. Hopefully I will see an improvment.

[JSixpack]

During the initial weight loss phase, I'd avoid all grains and grain-based dishes, all starches, and any form of sugar, such as fruit or honey.

Don't strain yourself w/ the exercise. Do some, of course.

But I'm not getting involved here to shock and outrage anyone's biases with newfangled notions (actually old notions that became unfashionable).

Do listen to chiang mai and Tolley, both extremely knowledgeable. Follow them and you'll surely achieve your goal. Glycemic index! Critical concept indeed.

That's very kind JS, thank you, but in truth there's loads of very knowledgable people out there on this subject. And what you don't know is that it was you who started me off on a low carb diet, I wanted to go exclusively down the low glycemic road and in a post on the subject where I was battling a little with Tropo and Roblock (both expert in the treatment/management of diabetes), you wrote, "why waste time" - that stuck with me and next day I started to low carb, so thank you again.

Ha! chiang mai, you've MADE MY DAY! Got a big smile on my face as I type.

I'm glad to know I had some effect here on the diet issue. It's very tiresome to try to overcome all the static; hence I maintain a lower profile.

Somebody once said that every man however uneducated considers himself an expert on politics and economics. So true. But reading the posts on the forum I've learned to add "diet" to the list.

[GarryP]

BP = lose weight if needed, exercise regularly and minimize sodium intake (no added salt, and avoid processed foods)

Note that even with this, some people -- many in fact, especially among the over 5 crowd -- cannot maintain a healthy BP without medication.

Cholesterol = would help to know exactly what you HDL and LDL levels were 9total cholesterol is not meaningful). Avopid all fried foods at the market/restaurants (they use the worst kind of oil) and use only healthy oils at home (canola, olive, sunflower etc). Take in as much fiber as you can. Keep red meat to a minimum, ditto cheese. Avoid processed carbs but it sounds like you already do. Fish oil supplements.

"cannot maintain a healthy BP without medication."

Is it true that if you start on BP medications that you have to continue for life?

Did anyone answer this question? When I spoke to my doctor about this, he said that it is possible to no longer need meds to control BP, however, it was not common. I did not question him any further on the subject.

What I do note from my visits to the doctor is that he does not rely on the results from the digital BP measuring machines but always rechecks using his own mercury sphygmomanometer. The reading on the latter is always somewhat lower than the digital ones at the hospital I visit.