Diet tips for high blood pressure and cholesterol...

[Tolley]

I will add my two cents in here.

I have never been overweight or had high BP or cholesterol and my diet has always been pretty good but I eat a bit of junk not fast food, but cakes and a couple of soft drinks a week etc

So i decided last week to cut out all sugar from my diet and absolutely no processed foods at all.

In just one week I lost 2 kilos so it really makes you think about how dangerous sugar is to the body. I am 78kgs the lowest i have been for 15 years.

[Showbags]

^^ well...lets start with breakfast....I used to have toast of some sorts every day pretty much, 2 or 3 pieces.

I changed that to making my own Muesli, make it rather than buy it as that really 'healthy' muesli is usually packed with crap and sugar.

I toasted bags of organic oats, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, chick peas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and bran. then added dried cranberries, sultanas, dried apricots, whole almonds, walnuts and then added fresh fruit each day, kiwi, apple, bananas etc and a tub of plain or natural yogurt with either normal milk or soy milk.

I found even just a small amount of muesli with all that added kept me full much longer.

So i have reduced bread intake, even though it was always multigrain or brown type breads, buy about 75%

For lunch I only eat it if hungry, if not I might have fruit in the afternoon or wait till dinner. But if I ate it was dry biscuits with avocado and tomato and a few times a week, gouda cheese also.

I cut out all sugar and salt, but had done that some time ago anyway.

We do not fry any food, no deep fried anything. When we use oil to grill or stir fry anything we use Olive or canola oil, usually Olive.

I cut all fat off everything meat wise and no skin on chicken.

For dinner we eat a lot more fish and salads or vegetables.....tonight for example we had roast turkey on the spit and roast veges, but cooked pretty much by themselves, no butter, oils etc.

I cut out ALL white rice, we now have a very nice mix of really dark brown and nut brown rice, organic when we can get it. I also cut down the volume of rice by maybe half.

No pasta, but I did buy whole wheat pasta to use when we do.

I am far more conscience of eating no fatty food while out or at restaurants will moslty order grilled fish and salads or such.

Over this 6 weeks I have also not given up everything. We had 2 parties where we had roast pork and crackling and lamb. The other was steak and vegies and several drinks on those nights, but not beer, spirits and soda. Even ice cream several times.

I do not drink much, never have, but stopped beer some time ago, spirits only.

As for drinks, herbal teas, water a lot and fruit juices as desired, lime juice, passionfruit, orange. Coffee infrequently and only when out and if anything requires sweetening, I use honey, but only half the amount I used to before.

I never drink soda type drinks such as pepsi, sprite or those ise teas or boxed fruit juices.

I can add that my exercise seems similar to yours, bike riding a few times a week only....I need to do more and dedicated type of specific exercises.

This all took place in last 6 weeks after several attempts to lose weight, but I made serious effort and it took a very short period to accept and actually really like the food changes.

I also did the fruit juice only diet for 15 days earlier this year and lost 7 kilos, but it all went back on months later.....now i believe because of doing it slower and by food choices, this will last as attitude has changed considerably and cravings or desires for less desirable foods are almost non existant.

Hope this helps.

[Showbags]

Today finally got to the pharmacy recommended to buy the blood sugar tester and got one.

Not a bad little machine and thanks to Chiang Mai for the information and recommendation.

Price was 1700b and the tabs were 800 for 50, plus 150b for the needles for 50.

Anyway, So I tested myself and the original test of 6 or 7 weeks ago was 109, just under the diabetes rating, but high enough to be a concern to tigger it.

Today it was 95.

Now i am wondering after reading some things in previous posts, that you cannot reverse the effect, just not let it get worse...so whats the go with it now being 95? Can it be reversed, or was the original test a croc...how accurate are these test machines?

Quite happy obviously...depending on the reality.

[Sheryl]

Small fluctuation from day to day are to be expected in blood sugar as in all body parameters.

With fasting sugars in the 95 - 110 range you are more likely "pre-diabetic" rather than diabetic. Proper diet (and weight loss if at all needed) may well prevent progression to full diabetes.

You may find it useful to do some checks after meals to get an idea how sensitive your body is to various amounts and types of carbohydrate. Some increase in blood sugar after eating is normal but if you see spikes close to 200 or more,, and/or if 2 hours after meals the sugar is still significantly over 100, the meal was inadvisable.

[mickjn]

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.

Can I have 4 eggs once a week???

[Showbags]

Small fluctuation from day to day are to be expected in blood sugar as in all body parameters.

With fasting sugars in the 95 - 110 range you are more likely "pre-diabetic" rather than diabetic. Proper diet (and weight loss if at all needed) may well prevent progression to full diabetes.

You may find it useful to do some checks after meals to get an idea how sensitive your body is to various amounts and types of carbohydrate. Some increase in blood sugar after eating is normal but if you see spikes close to 200 or more,, and/or if 2 hours after meals the sugar is still significantly over 100, the meal was inadvisable.

Yes I am going to re read this thread and do some tests before and after eating and then when a bit more knowledgable on it, just choose specific meas to check.

But what is the best time of day to check for just a normal every day type of check ?

The test the other day that came back as 95 was done about 3-4 hours after breakfast.

[Sheryl]

Small fluctuation from day to day are to be expected in blood sugar as in all body parameters.

With fasting sugars in the 95 - 110 range you are more likely "pre-diabetic" rather than diabetic. Proper diet (and weight loss if at all needed) may well prevent progression to full diabetes.

You may find it useful to do some checks after meals to get an idea how sensitive your body is to various amounts and types of carbohydrate. Some increase in blood sugar after eating is normal but if you see spikes close to 200 or more,, and/or if 2 hours after meals the sugar is still significantly over 100, the meal was inadvisable.

Yes I am going to re read this thread and do some tests before and after eating and then when a bit more knowledgable on it, just choose specific meas to check.

But what is the best time of day to check for just a normal every day type of check ?

The test the other day that came back as 95 was done about 3-4 hours after breakfast.

After breakfast??? I had assumed it was a fasting sugar as that it what you need to check for diabetes.

Take it in the morning first thing before eating. If the values of 95-109 you report were all non-fasting then it is entirely possible you have no problem at all.

[Showbags]

Small fluctuation from day to day are to be expected in blood sugar as in all body parameters.

With fasting sugars in the 95 - 110 range you are more likely "pre-diabetic" rather than diabetic. Proper diet (and weight loss if at all needed) may well prevent progression to full diabetes.

You may find it useful to do some checks after meals to get an idea how sensitive your body is to various amounts and types of carbohydrate. Some increase in blood sugar after eating is normal but if you see spikes close to 200 or more,, and/or if 2 hours after meals the sugar is still significantly over 100, the meal was inadvisable.

Yes I am going to re read this thread and do some tests before and after eating and then when a bit more knowledgable on it, just choose specific meas to check.

But what is the best time of day to check for just a normal every day type of check ?

The test the other day that came back as 95 was done about 3-4 hours after breakfast.

After breakfast??? I had assumed it was a fasting sugar as that it what you need to check for diabetes.

Take it in the morning first thing before eating. If the values of 95-109 you report were all non-fasting then it is entirely possible you have no problem at all.

No, the original blood sugar test which is what the OP was about, was at the hospital and a fasting sugar test, not ate for 12 hours I think...anyway it was 109....6 weeks ago

Now I have this home test kit and tested it the other day first time and it was as mentioned 3-4 hours after breakfast....and was 95.

[jeanpierre]

take look at this link

http://organicconsumers.org/organlink.cfm

[Showbags]

That was the other thing I forgot to mention above...we found a organic farm and a natural food shop nearby so we have been buying vegies and other items from them and I would say now we have maybe half of our vegie intake from organic items and hopefully they are what they say they are....so overall half our diet is now chemical free, much better than still all chemical inclusive, just need to reduce the other 50% now.

[hotrod4098]

hi have hi BP...exercise and loose weight...it does help a hell of a lot...

[Tolley]

That was the other thing I forgot to mention above...we found a organic farm and a natural food shop nearby so we have been buying vegies and other items from them and I would say now we have maybe half of our vegie intake from organic items and hopefully they are what they say they are....so overall half our diet is now chemical free, much better than still all chemical inclusive, just need to reduce the other 50% now.

I buy organic whenever I can.

In Oz you can get good quality organic meat,dairy and fruit and veg everywhere. Even the supermarket like Woolies here sell lots of organic stuff.

I am back in Pattaya on Sunday and I am going to miss my organic food specially the eggs and the meat.

[Showbags]

Need to study some more.

But this morning, before breakfast it was 101.

But the other day after breakfast it was 95.

Why's that...I would expect the opposite.

[chiang mai]

Need to study some more.

But this morning, before breakfast it was 101.

But the other day after breakfast it was 95.

Why's that...I would expect the opposite.

You haven't read those links I sent you, you need to do that!

Before breakfast means you were fasting (had no food or drink for ten hours), 101 is not a bad fasting reading.

But then you eat food (you don't say what) and then you test again (you don't say how long after breakfast) and your reading was 95, that's a good number as long as it was taken no more than two hours after breakfast.

All your test readings will vary from day to day, two days are rarely the same although the average over ten days usually remains constant.

After you START to eat a meal it takes on average, ninety minutes for food to reach the point of maximum absorption, for convenience we test post a prandial meal times at two hours (that's when you should test).

In some people, early morning fasting numbers can be quite high, the body plays tricks sometimes and dumps glucon into the blood stream in anticipation that energy will be needed, this is called Dawn Phenomenon and you'll need to establish if you have this or not, reading the links I sent you will be the easiest and best way to do this.

[Showbags]

Cheers...me and links don't work so good at times...but shall get onto them.

As for the 2 mentioned already....the 95 was 4 hours after breakfast and breakfast was muesli, yogurt, fruit.

I tested this morning again before brekky and it was 105......I shall see if I have Dawn Syndrome...another early morning problem to add to the list.

Thanks

[chiang mai]

Cheers...me and links don't work so good at times...but shall get onto them.

As for the 2 mentioned already....the 95 was 4 hours after breakfast and breakfast was muesli, yogurt, fruit.

I tested this morning again before brekky and it was 105......I shall see if I have Dawn Syndrome...another early morning problem to add to the list.

Thanks

Your post meal test needs to be no more than two hours after you start eating your meal, if you want a real eye opener, test also at one hour after you start eating, that may help you better understand the numbers and the process when you start to see a one hour reading of 180 or so!

The way to test for Dawn Phenomenon is to wake up around 2:00am and test, make sure you have a light meal early the night before. If you do that you should expect a reading of say 95, then test again when you wake up at your normal time of say 7am and if it's substantially higher, it could be dawn phenomenon. I went through a period where this was an issue and I was recording 135 at 7am but at 2:30am I was only showing 95, clearly, if you've not had any food between the time the two readings were taken then the answer is DP.

[Showbags]

Just had follow up blood tests re 3 months from the OP.

Quite happy with results, still fine tuning to do, but best thing to come of it was the diet change where l have found whole new foods l love and reducing, but not craving at all, the ones I still love but are supposedly not so great for you.

Results in.....all at same hospital, same machines etc

BP 3 months ago was 159/99....now 133/76

Weight 3 months ago was 83.5kg....now 77.6kg

Blood Glucose was 109....now 104

Cholesterol was 253.....now 196

Triglycerides was 181.....now 137

HDL was 46....now 40

LDL was 181.... now 134

Most of this was gained by diet alone which occured over a birthday party, another party and xmas and new year....and sporadic exercise.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Showbags

[Showbags]

By the way...blood test only at Bangkok Hospital...no doc...2100b...crikey.

I think I asked before somewhere....any hospitals in easy sukhumvit travelling distance to get bT only for the right price, might get them done regularly if not so much.

Thinking the convent or christian hospital on silom road might be a possibility.

Might also give our local thai hospital a go, but always scared about that place.

[chiang mai]

Just had follow up blood tests re 3 months from the OP.

Quite happy with results, still fine tuning to do, but best thing to come of it was the diet change where l have found whole new foods l love and reducing, but not craving at all, the ones I still love but are supposedly not so great for you.

Results in.....all at same hospital, same machines etc

BP 3 months ago was 159/99....now 133/76

Weight 3 months ago was 83.5kg....now 77.6kg

Blood Glucose was 109....now 104

Cholesterol was 253.....now 196

Triglycerides was 181.....now 137

HDL was 46....now 40

LDL was 181.... now 134

Most of this was gained by diet alone which occured over a birthday party, another party and xmas and new year....and sporadic exercise.

Good work but your LDL is way too high and your HDL is too low - just for reference, I would expect to pay about 600 baht for those tests (fasting blood glucose and lipids panel) at a hospital in CM.

[BoogerRed]

It's in your genes. Nothing you can do about it except medication.

Bad luck.

And good luck.

-says BoogerRed

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Showbags]

It's in your genes. Nothing you can do about it except medication.

Bad luck.

And good luck.

-says BoogerRed

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well...I think I just showed you can do something about it...so go suck on your meds elsewhere.

[Showbags]

Just had follow up blood tests re 3 months from the OP.

Quite happy with results, still fine tuning to do, but best thing to come of it was the diet change where l have found whole new foods l love and reducing, but not craving at all, the ones I still love but are supposedly not so great for you.

Results in.....all at same hospital, same machines etc

BP 3 months ago was 159/99....now 133/76

Weight 3 months ago was 83.5kg....now 77.6kg

Blood Glucose was 109....now 104

Cholesterol was 253.....now 196

Triglycerides was 181.....now 137

HDL was 46....now 40

LDL was 181.... now 134

Most of this was gained by diet alone which occured over a birthday party, another party and xmas and new year....and sporadic exercise.

Good work but your LDL is way too high and your HDL is too low - just for reference, I would expect to pay about 600 baht for those tests (fasting blood glucose and lipids panel) at a hospital in CM.

Thanks.

Yes ldl still high, but a lot better than before so presume current program will keep working, plus doing more exercise than before as found a small system i quite enjoy now...and hopefully will grow that rogram over time.

hdl I saw was low, so have to research what that means and why and how to fix it without any effect on the others I guess.

Yes Bkk Hospital is a complete ripoff, but for sake of ease at the time and convenience, had to do it there again....future ones I shall seek other options.

[chiang mai]

Just had follow up blood tests re 3 months from the OP.

Quite happy with results, still fine tuning to do, but best thing to come of it was the diet change where l have found whole new foods l love and reducing, but not craving at all, the ones I still love but are supposedly not so great for you.

Results in.....all at same hospital, same machines etc

BP 3 months ago was 159/99....now 133/76

Weight 3 months ago was 83.5kg....now 77.6kg

Blood Glucose was 109....now 104

Cholesterol was 253.....now 196

Triglycerides was 181.....now 137

HDL was 46....now 40

LDL was 181.... now 134

Most of this was gained by diet alone which occured over a birthday party, another party and xmas and new year....and sporadic exercise.

Good work but your LDL is way too high and your HDL is too low - just for reference, I would expect to pay about 600 baht for those tests (fasting blood glucose and lipids panel) at a hospital in CM.

Thanks.

Yes ldl still high, but a lot better than before so presume current program will keep working, plus doing more exercise than before as found a small system i quite enjoy now...and hopefully will grow that rogram over time.

hdl I saw was low, so have to research what that means and why and how to fix it without any effect on the others I guess.

Yes Bkk Hospital is a complete ripoff, but for sake of ease at the time and convenience, had to do it there again....future ones I shall seek other options.

HDL and LDL: high density lipo protein and low density lipo protein, the HDL is capable of removing the LDL hence the HDL number needs to be higher than the LDL number. LDL, if left to its own devices, forms plaque on arterial walls and causes CAD (Coronary Arterial Disease). What you need to do is to get your HDL UP to around 70 and your LDL DOWN to around 60, diet, exercise and weight loss will do the trick. That's the ten second explanation at the 30,000 feet level, others will be along shortly to provide chapter and verse at the detail level.

Triglycerides: typically caused by eating cakes/confectionery and/or by drinking alcohol, the body flushes with triglycerides for about thirty six hours after drinking alcohol and then returns to normal thereafter - it's a type of fat that is very damaging to arteries and causes strokes:

http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/tc/high-triglycerides-overview

Report back in thirty days and let us know what happened by way of change.

[Showbags]

Thanks...always appreciate your advice/info.

Did some research on hdl and ldl and how to raise one without the other.

Seems most things they mention to raise hdl...I am doing or have never done, so don't need to stop...ie smoking, losing weight, diet etc.

Many of the foods they mention good for raising hdl I seem to be already taking, ie almonds, dried cranberries, although they mention juice, but just yesterday tried to find some quality cran juice, one I found from a royal project I thought looked good until reading the back...cranberry all over the front...but 54% grape juice, 15% passionfruit and only something like 10% cranberry...and made with fructose syrup etc also.

Have cut out the fats, mostly, shall drop cheese altogether for awhile, cannot drop milk, already eat an avocado a day pretty much and just this morning added virgin olive oil to my homemade muesli...also only cook with canola or olive oils.

Exercise is one area that I can ramp up, so shall give that a try.

Anyone know if HONEY has any adverse effects here ...I know it is good for you, extremely good, but just wondering.

Also green tea, usually have at least 1 cup a day...

So, need to do some more research for dietary ways to help raise hdl relatively quickly if possible.

[Tolley]

On blood pressure since modifying my diet to completely restrict sugar, fried foods, alcohol, bread and all processed foods I have seen my blood pressure drop from around 120/80 to 110/70.

And this is with only doing a bit of walking and stretching as exercise as I was previously doing much heavier exercise.

[Kitsune]

[Showbags]

Might start a HDL specific thread.

[chiang mai]

Just got my results back, HDL = 76, LDL = 74, total cholesterol = 140, diet and fiber is the key.

[Showbags]

Just got my results back, HDL = 76, LDL = 74, total cholesterol = 140, diet and fiber is the key.

Bastard.

[partington]

Just got my results back, HDL = 76, LDL = 74, total cholesterol = 140, diet and fiber is the key.

Something wrong here.

How can your total cholesterol be 140, when your LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol added together make 150, and this doesn't include the cholesterol carried in your VLDL (triglyceride lipoprotein) which even in fasting individuals carries at least 10% of plasma cholesterol? Total cholesterol can't be less than your LDL and HDL cholesterol added together!

Admittedly an approximate calculation (based on directly measuring HDL cholesterol and plasma triglyceride, and applying the Friedwald equation) is often used to work out plasma LDL, rather than a direct measurement, and this does often slightly underestimate LDL.

It is still not possible for these results to be correct though.

An LDL of 74 is totally amazing- like a hunter gatherer in the rain forest so this would be the result I would suspect, but if true, congratulations!