High sugar and triglycerides

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cnjg6677
cnjg6677 Posts: 177 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My husband was just diagnosed with both and I’m trying to figure out what he can and can’t eat is there anyone here that can help?

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  • joyanna2016
    joyanna2016 Posts: 323 Member
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    I started intermittent fasting (16:8) along with a simple calorie restriction diet based on the number generated on MFP for a 1 pound/week loss. My triglycerides which every year at my doctors appointment were always around 200 dropped to 90. I know its the fasting aspect that has affected the triglycerides so much because other years in the past I have actually been calorie restricting but never saw the triglycerides level change. So, if IF is something your husband may want to try (along with keeping his calories at a level to lose weight) I think it would help him a lot. Of course, it has to suit him. If he doesn't want to fast part of the day then he shouldn't. I'm just telling you about my case study of 1 person. Of course exercising more is going to help too. I haven't got on an exercise regimen yet. Good luck!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    The two biggest things will be losing some weight and regular exercise. I had the same thing years ago when I was just starting...my triglycerides were so high that they couldn't measure my cholesterol.

    I worked with the two things I could most control first, and that was getting out for some regular exercise and making some changes to my diet nutritionally (more veg, more fruit, leaner proteins, whole grains, less fast food, less eating out in general, stopped full sugar soda consumption, etc). Both combined lead to losing some weight (about 20 of my total 40 Lbs) before I even heard of MFP or really even knew what a calorie was.
  • cnjg6677
    cnjg6677 Posts: 177 Member
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    Thank you for all the great answers!I truely appreciate all the help !!
  • foreverhealthy3
    foreverhealthy3 Posts: 107 Member
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    eating more protein for snacks, eggs, sandwich meat and cheese slice; walnuts/almonds; celery, peanut butter, with a couple of raisins;steel ground oatmeal for breakfast slows blood sugar, add nuts, no fruit as oatmeal already has carbs;
  • cnjg6677
    cnjg6677 Posts: 177 Member
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    foreverhealthy3 wrote: »
    eating more protein for snacks, eggs, sandwich meat and cheese slice; walnuts/almonds; celery, peanut butter, with a couple of raisins;steel ground oatmeal for breakfast slows blood sugar, add nuts, no fruit as oatmeal already has carbs;
    Thank you this is very helpfull
  • g2renew
    g2renew Posts: 146 Member
    edited April 2021
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    My 'two cents' and what I am doing: Familiarize yourself with the Glycemic Index of foods (GI). This is their 'sugar load'. I am doing :no added/hidden sugars, mostly whole foods-i.e., no processed or 'fast' foods, more fiber, more water, more protein, and more green leafy variety of veg (Root veg have lots of sugars). It is easier for me to concentrate on what I can eat, rather than on what I cannot. A list of foods and their glycemic index can be found on internet for examples, but if you look for 'green', 'leafy' to eat the most of, then I can have pretty much any of the other veg (largely staying away from roots). Easy peasy! For me, it is also easier to stay away from artificial sweetners as much as possible: having a 'sweet' taste in my mouth keeps me hungry for more! After about a week of no added sugars/sweetners of any kind, fruits and veg taste sweeter to me and are very satifying. As for fats, I eat whole eggs, avocados, real nuts-roasted and or raw almonds and walnuts mostly. Some pumpkin seeds. Butter, not margarine. Flaxseed and extra virgin olive oil-raw. Very little when cooking as there is some conceern with carcinogen factors when heated. Grains I rely on are oatmeal, buckwheat, amaranth. Quinoa and sea veg-kelp, nori, etc-give some interest and variety. Fruits are ok, but I usually limit these to 3 per day. Must be whole fruit-skin, too, for apples. Check GI list for the fruits you want to restrict. Berries are super good for sweet cravings! Strawberries and blueberries have lowest sugar load (GI). Do not fall into trap of thinking fruit juices are good for you or that dried fruits are ok. GI. When I am really struggling with sweet cravings, I eat apple slices with natural peanut butter, or Swiss Miss Hot chocolate no sugar added. I limit these treats to one per day. I did not eat any added sweetners of any type for 2 weeks in order to allow my body and tastes time to adapt to this (I was a junk food addict and drank full sugar sodas several times a day). This means diet sodas are a no-no for me, too. As cwolfman13 noted- 'lose weight and exercise' are main things to help. Exercise does not have to be going to gym: walking your block is a good start! If you cannot exercise yet, diet is best way to make a major change in weight and health. Best wishes!
  • cnjg6677
    cnjg6677 Posts: 177 Member
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    g2renew wrote: »
    My 'two cents' and what I am doing: Familiarize yourself with the Glycemic Index of foods (GI). This is their 'sugar load'. I am doing :no added/hidden sugars, mostly whole foods-i.e., no processed or 'fast' foods, more fiber, more water, more protein, and more green leafy variety of veg (Root veg have lots of sugars). It is easier for me to concentrate on what I can eat, rather than on what I cannot. A list of foods and their glycemic index can be found on internet for examples, but if you look for 'green', 'leafy' to eat the most of, then I can have pretty much any of the other veg (largely staying away from roots). Easy peasy! For me, it is also easier to stay away from artificial sweetners as much as possible: having a 'sweet' taste in my mouth keeps me hungry for more! After about a week of no added sugars/sweetners of any kind, fruits and veg taste sweeter to me and are very satifying. As for fats, I eat whole eggs, avocados, real nuts-roasted and or raw almonds and walnuts mostly. Some pumpkin seeds. Butter, not margarine. Flaxseed and extra virgin olive oil-raw. Very little when cooking as there is some conceern with carcinogen factors when heated. Grains I rely on are oatmeal, buckwheat, amaranth. Quinoa and sea veg-kelp, nori, etc-give some interest and variety. Fruits are ok, but I usually limit these to 3 per day. Must be whole fruit-skin, too, for apples. Check GI list for the fruits you want to restrict. Berries are super good for sweet cravings! Strawberries and blueberries have lowest sugar load (GI). Do not fall into trap of thinking fruit juices are good for you or that dried fruits are ok. GI. When I am really struggling with sweet cravings, I eat apple slices with natural peanut butter, or Swiss Miss Hot chocolate no sugar added. I limit these treats to one per day. I did not eat any added sweetners of any type for 2 weeks in order to allow my body and tastes time to adapt to this (I was a junk food addict and drank full sugar sodas several times a day). This means diet sodas are a no-no for me, too. As cwolfman13 noted- 'lose weight and exercise' are main things to help. Exercise does not have to be going to gym: walking your block is a good start! If you cannot exercise yet, diet is best way to make a major change in weight and health. Best wishes!

    Thank you so much very informative
  • g2renew
    g2renew Posts: 146 Member
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    @cnjg6677 How are things going? Hope things are becoming easier for you guys!

    Just an FYI- had my bloodwork redone last month and my A1c has dropped from a high of 6.8 to 5.7 this year. Most of the drop happened following what I outlined earlier. I am now at high range of normal for the first time in years.

    Trying Metformin to see if it makes a bigger, faster drop. I prefer to do without meds if possible, but willing to try for a short time, since my doctor wants more progress.

    It was amazing to me all of the positive changes that occurred when I stopped added sugars. I still really want a soda most days, but i feel just one would push me over that line and i would be back in a bad spot e gain. It is easier to keep on this way than to start over again.

    Almost half a year since I started watching sugars better. I will redo labs again in a few months to check progress.

    Wishing you luck in your journey!
  • g2renew
    g2renew Posts: 146 Member
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    Having trouble doing edit, so adding post on triglycerides:

    So excited by sugar drop, that i almost forgot you had asked about triglycerides in OP!

    These are normal now per doc, although i do not have counts to share. I will get these numbers at next lab. But it seems there is much scientific evidence that sugar and triglycerides are linked. So, taking better care of our sugar counts may very well help with triglyceride count. It appears to have helped me! We decided to see next labs to decide if meds are needed.

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