Sodium and cholesterol too high..

jasummers76

I am a big fan of fish and shell fish along with chicken breasts cooked on the George Foreman Gill. My lbl is high and my good cholesterol is low. Now my problem is I cannot afford fresh fish and chicken breasts in all the time. They are both frozen which the manufacturers add sodium to help preserve. I always trim my chicken and rinse my fish to get as much sodium as possible off I just do not know how much it is really be helping. Now the cholesterol is high in both of these foods. I am kinda lost. I am a diabetic so I really have to watch my carb and sugar intake. Any ideas

lorrpb

How much sodium does one serving of these contain? How much sodium does doc want you to have per day?

Psychgrrl

Trader Joe's has chicken breasts without a lot of sodium. I also like tuna in water.

Discount markets usually have fresh at great prices. You could buy in sale and then freeze them yourself.

Talk to your doctor, but dietary cholesterol usually doesn't impact cholesterol levels in the body like people used to think. Most high cholesterol is hereditary and affected by weight gain (like many health markers).

JeromeBarry1

Depending upon just exactly where you live, you may have a Whole Foods, a Sprouts, or a Wal-Mart nearby. The Sprouts sells all their chicken without the saline injections, and charge $1 per pound more than Wal-Mart charges. Yes, you can get non-injected chicken at Wal-Mart, but it's going to cost more than the frozen chicken. I'm pretty confident I can say that Whole Foods also has non-injected chicken, but I've never bought any from them.

Shell fish ... Are you talking about shrimp? At my local Wal-Mart, they do offer frozen shrimp taken from the Gulf of Mexico and processed without the high saline solution used by processors in the rest of the world. I don't know if this is available to you in your area, but if you can find Gulf Shrimp labeled as a product of USA you should carefully read the nutrition facts label. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Cholesterol is in all animal cells. You almost have to go vegetarian to get completely away from cholesterol.

I'm not trying to be mean, but I thought diabetics had to worry about sugar and carbs.

xvolution

Depending on where you get it, frozen fish can have a relatively small amount of sodium per serving. I usually get a pack of frozen swai fillets from Kroger and they only have 40mg sodium per fillet.

fr33sia12

Have a look at everything else you're eating and how much sodium is in it. See if you can cut down your sodium elsewhere.

jgnatca

@JeromeBarry1 since diabetes comes with higher risks for heart attack and stroke, the acceptable cholesterol levels and BP numbers are lower than for the general population.

HeidiCooksSupper

Watch for sales for the chicken without the saline. Our local supermarket has been having 10-pound bags of fresh chicken legs as low as $0.48/pound. Also, remember that with the frozen stuff you are paying for the water they put in them.

The other thing you can do (while watching the effect on your blood sugar, of course), is add bean-based meals to your diet. A bag of beans is very cheap and can be boiled without salt. You can freeze the cooked beans in meal-sized portions so you only have to do the boiling once.

Dietary cholesterol has very little impact on blood cholesterol for most people. (There are exceptions but your doctor would diagnose it if you were one of those few people.) The most impactful way to reduce cholesterol is through exercise. For couch potatoes like me, that's a sad truth.

Here are a couple pages with good info on cholesterol:

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/cholesterol/
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/

jasummers76

Thanks everyone for the comments.

I am 41-year-old male 5ft 9.5 inches weight this morning was 270.5, down from 350 lbs over the past 2.5 / 3 years. I have talked with others on Instagram who are trainers and nutritionists, who said my cholesterol will lower as my body fat lowers and allows my liver to better function.

I am diabetic and therefore have to watch my carb and sugar intake. It is however under control with a recent A1C reading of 6.1

I am concerned with the cholesterol because last lab work "1 month ago" had was about twenty points to high on the LDL and low on the HDL. In the past, my Dr gave me two different types of statin drugs both of which caused my liver enzymes to skyrocket where even at a lower dose the doctor did not feel she could recommend it. I am trying to eat more fiber as my nutritionist said that can aid to a point. But to be honest I do not care for healthy salads, some people will say you need to eat them, I know but I know in my heart of hearts it is not something I will do for the long term which this journey is all about. I will eat a couple servings a week of broccoli and cauliflower so I know I am lacking fiber in my daily diet. There still seems to be a lack of evidence on both sides of fiber supplements for lowering cholesterol, although I still think I am going to try it. What can it hurt right? I have also read articles about large doses of Niacin but they all said to consult with a doctor prior. Which I plan on doing at my next appt on the fifth. Reason for concern is my father has had three clogged arteries taken care of in his mid to late sixties. Which he would not even have noticed or had taken care of without the insistence of my mother badgering him to get a checkup. Which could have been a death sentence with no symptoms. Heart disease runs on both parents sides.

The sodium is me taking preemptive action. High blood pressure runs in my fathers family. I go to the doctor at least once every two months for a check up due to my diabetes and to monitor my weight loss, and have never had a blood pressure high enough where they mentioned it to me during the exam.

I get conflicting information at times from my Dr who I usually go with and my nutritionist who I love. He does not push many supplements like I have heard people say some trainers and some nutritionists do. He recommends taking a multi-vitamin/mineral daily and Omega-3 supplement which my doctor also agrees with. For protein, he does not see a need for any powders at this point in my journey as I am consuming enough to maintain the muscle mass I do have.