help! high blood sugar & high triglycerides

ReginaM49
ReginaM49 Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been on my fitness pal and doing well. I've lost 27 pounds with about 25 to go. I'm exercising. Cardio and starting to add strength training. I've been so proud of my hard work and great results. Then I had a routine physical with routine bloodwork. My doctor called to tell me my blood sugar is high(160) and so are my triglycerides. She wants to put me on medication. I was shocked and upset. All this hard work and feeling like I'm getting healthy and am told this. I eat right..staying away from sweets and fatty foods. Can't see how I could improve much on that. I do drink alcohol often, however. Can this be causing it?

The doc said shell give me 6 months to work on it thru diet and exercise and retest me. Please offer your thoughts and advice. I don't want this to cause me to think negatively about the progress I've made and lose my motivation to continue. And I don't want to take meds.

Replies

  • lolapedia88
    lolapedia88 Posts: 178 Member
    Alcohol is very sugary so that could be contributing to high blood sugar
  • MerlinWilliams
    MerlinWilliams Posts: 92 Member
    Alcohol is very sugary so that could be contributing to high blood sugar

    If you actually looked at the OP's diary, you'd note that she's drinking dry white wines...and you can see that there's no sugar associated with them.

    Personally, I'd suggest going LCHF, and that's as much as I'll say on the subject.
  • lolapedia88
    lolapedia88 Posts: 178 Member
    Alcohol is very sugary so that could be contributing to high blood sugar

    If you actually looked at the OP's diary, you'd note that she's drinking dry white wines...and you can see that there's no sugar associated with them.

    Personally, I'd suggest going LCHF, and that's as much as I'll say on the subject.


    Well one glass of Chardonnay has 3-5 grams of sugar and she said she drank quite often
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    I lowered my blood sugar by limiting my carbs to 150 grams per day. That means that I eat more protein and more fat, however the effect on my triglycerides was, if anything, an even better ratio of HDL to LDL. Carbs raise your blood sugar every bit as much as sugar does, so I treat them the same way. It could be the chardonnay, but it could also be carbs, even healthy ones.

    The best way to find out what foods raise your blood sugar is to get a glucose meter, a bunch of test strips and test yourself when you eat. This guy's page goes into how to do it, in detail:

    http://chriskresser.com/how-to-prevent-diabetes-and-heart-disease-for-16

    Good luck! Even if you need medications, your diet can still help, especially with blood sugar.

    P.S. Congratulations on all your hard work so far. Taking care of your health is a process, and sometimes you have to adjust your plan.
  • JKDLady
    JKDLady Posts: 131 Member
    You are doing a great job! Don't be discouraged. What did you eat 24 hours prior to your tests?

    I know that when I have my blood work done I fast the morning of, which I think most people do. I also don't drink any alcohol for 24 hours beforehand.

    Good luck to you!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Without context (family history, past medical history, past blood results), you have to be a little cautious interpreting one set of results.

    A glucose meter would not be a bad idea--get a fasting level first thing in the AM, then check 2 hrs after each meal (yeah, you burn thru a lot of strips, but you would only be doing this for a week or two). To really understand the long-term effects (if any), you also need to have a blood test for hemoglobin A1c. This is a better indicator of whether your increased BG levels are something that is transient or more consistent.

    This is admittedly an observation from looking at 1 day on your food diary, but over 50% of your calories for the day came from "junk" foods---coffee creamer, wine, tostitos.

    If you really want to get some insight, I would recommend getting the Hg A1c test, cutting out alcohol, make sure protein intake is at least 100g per day, keep carbs to 45% of total calories, cut down one the use of "reduced fat" products that add extra sugar, avoid high-sugar peanut butters and increase fiber intake. And make sure you are lifting weights along with doing cardio.

    If you can optimize things and then compare the results, it can give you and your doctor something more substantial to work with. And if you have done the best you can and the numbers are still high, don't look at medication as a "failure". Bodies are made the way they are. Sometimes lifestyle change is not sufficient by itself--but you still will have better outcomes no matter what.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    http://www.lowcarbdiabetic.co.uk/

    Dry white wine is <1g carbs per 100ml say 2 grams per glass, so that's not the issue.

    Bread, potato etc are optional foods that will boost your blood sugar.
  • meeper123
    meeper123 Posts: 3,347 Member
    Bump my mom has problems with this will read later
  • strattonlouise
    strattonlouise Posts: 3
    For high blood sugar eat lots of foods high in potassium such as bananas, spinach, papaya, beets, cantaloupe, beans, avocado, red potatoes, and tomatoes. Drink 100% pomegranate juice, no sugar added. You can mix the juice with water. Drink at least 1/2 of your weight in ounces of plain water. Ex: If you weight 200 lbs, drink 100 oz of water per day. Both potassium and water lower blood pressure.

    Actually, if you change your diet so that the only thing you are drinking is water, you will be pleasantly surprised with the results. Too many calories are consumed through l

    iquids.

    For your high blood sugar, eliminate white flour and white sugar from your diet, as well as sugar substitutes.

    For both high blood pressure and high blood sugar, stick to eating whole foods only. You will drastically lower your sodium intake which will help with your blood pressure. You will also eliminate additives such as corn syrup and hydrogenated foods, both of which are highly toxic to your body.

    Think in terms of how people used to eat 100+ years ago. They only ate whole foods, meat, vegetables, fruit, and some dairy products. Eating USDA certified organic foods are even better, but to start out, just stick with the whole foods in general.

    I have lost 42 lbs doing this. I am not dieting. I have just changed what and how I eat.

    A regular exercise routine switching every other day with weights one day, cardio the next, six days a week will also keep your blood sugar and triglycerides in check.

    Taking fish oil supplements is also very helpful for high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

    Lastly, stay away from chain restaurants and fast food restaurants. They are unbelievably unhealthy.

    Good luck! My goal is a total of 100 lbs. Only 58 more lbs to go! :)
  • ReginaM49
    ReginaM49 Posts: 65 Member
    Thanks for all the posts. Im looking over my food diary and looking at the carb content and I can definitely reduce those numbers. And thanks for the kind and encouraging words.
  • Nancy_AZ60
    Nancy_AZ60 Posts: 99 Member
    Follow your Doctors advice, get on the Trilipix and get your numbers down while you adjust your food and calories add exercise.. Mine were at 350 then 491 the 687 the 790 now.. I am at 1300 they sent me to the ER last friday when they got the results. Then when you are normalized get with your Dr to tapper off the medication to see if you body can do it without them
    GOOD LUCK !! :flowerforyou:

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/triglycerides/CL00015/NSECTIONGROUP=2
  • runnermama81
    runnermama81 Posts: 388 Member
    How is your fiber intake? Sometimes that is an easy one to overlook.
  • Tigg_er
    Tigg_er Posts: 22,001 Member
    I lowered my blood sugar by limiting my carbs to 150 grams per day. That means that I eat more protein and more fat, however the effect on my triglycerides was, if anything, an even better ratio of HDL to LDL. Carbs raise your blood sugar every bit as much as sugar does, so I treat them the same way. It could be the chardonnay, but it could also be carbs, even healthy ones.

    The best way to find out what foods raise your blood sugar is to get a glucose meter, a bunch of test strips and test yourself when you eat. This guy's page goes into how to do it, in detail:

    http://chriskresser.com/how-to-prevent-diabetes-and-heart-disease-for-16

    Good luck! Even if you need medications, your diet can still help, especially with blood sugar.

    P.S. Congratulations on all your hard work so far. Taking care of your health is a process, and sometimes you have to adjust your plan.

    Very much ^ This
  • JaceyMarieS
    JaceyMarieS Posts: 692 Member
    Both blood sugar and triglycerides correlate directly to carbohydrate consumption. ALL carbs- not just added sugar, but also the natural sugar in fruits, the starch in grains and legumes - ALL carbs. Fat, on the other hand, doesn't raise blood sugar at all, so French fries are a poor choice, but bacon is not. I second a LCHF approach and normalized both blood sugar ( from an A1c of 7.3 to an A1c of 5.1) and triglycerides (from 169 to 62) by drastically reducing carbs and greatly increasing fat, even saturated. I also regularly drink alcohol, although i avoid cocktails and heavy beers.

    Getting a meter will definitely help you pinpoint how many carbs you can consume without an adverse effect on blood sugar. I highly recommend you check out www.bloodsugar101.com
  • Lizajayne23
    Lizajayne23 Posts: 123 Member
    It's crazy, but the more I exercise, make dietary changes for the better, and lose weight, the MORE problems crop up. Every time I go for a checkup, something different is wrong. I have a feeling blood sugar is the next hurdle even though I've drastically reduced sugar intake (drinks were killing me... coffee, sweet tea, iced coffee) and am trying to make small changes to reduce overall carbs. :-S One of my previous check-ups was high triglycerides, but I couldn't pay $200 for the prescription since it wasn't covered so I started taking Mega Red and a fiber supplement and that apparently worked.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    Get to know your good fats from your bad fats, too, imho. A lot of times at restaurants you can ask that something be cooked in olive oil instead, for instance. Eat some guacamole for a (high calorie) snack. That sort of thing :)

    You might also look at the glycemic index of foods instead of just assuming a carb is a carb. GI is the best way (other than self glucose checking) to know a food's effect on blood sugar. So you can eat a lot of carbs, I think :) You just need to watch the ones that spike that system.

    Good luck!
  • Darlekins
    Darlekins Posts: 44
    Both high triglycerides and high blood sugar are helped by lowering your carb intake. Ditch the grains. When you are diabetic, there are no "healthy" grains. Ditch milk and switch to heavy cream or a milk alternative like almond milk. Limit the fruit and eliminate fruit juice completely. Limit the legumes.

    Read up on ketogenic or low carb-high fat-moderate protein (LCHF) diet plans. You don't have to eat strictly keto for the rest of your life, but keto will lower blood sugar levels and improve lipid panels very quickly. Once your blood sugar is under control and triglycerides are lowered, you can experiment with adding things back into your diet in a portion size that a glucometer tells you is acceptable. Once you've found your "sweet spot", low-carb becomes a very satisfying way of life.

    "Good" fats v. "bad" fats - Bad fats are trans-fats. PUFA's are second on the bad list due to inflammation. Saturated and mono-unsaturated fats are your new best friends. You'll need to learn to disregard much of the health advice in popular culture as many still think that a low-fat diet is best for diabetics with a compromised lipid panel. The proof is in the pudding, though and LCHF is the solution for those with a metabolic disorder.
  • JADEPH0EN1X
    JADEPH0EN1X Posts: 162 Member
    By trying to keep my carb intake to 110/ 120 gr per day , changing the type of carbs I have and moving more , I have managed to half my blood sugars from 130 to 75 in a month !!
  • 1longroad
    1longroad Posts: 642 Member
    When I started in March, I was taking 40 units of Lantus insulin daily. I test twice daily and now I at times take 5 to 10 units a day. My average blood glucose is below 100. if it is over 110 I take 5 units of Lantus twice that day.

    I limit carbs to 100 or less daily, except in rare circumstances. Alcohol, hampers your bodies ability to burn fat for energy, as your body is trying to get rid of the alcohol first. It could be a small part of the reason your triglycerides are high.

    Good luck, you will find what works best for your body!! Don't be afraid to ask your doctor for help in regulating your diet also.
  • shcolton85
    shcolton85 Posts: 2
    I think I would try and stick to just drinking water. It will be a challenge, but I do want to live longer.

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