Can i reduce HbA1c naturally;

[alexco]

Hi,

I have recently been diagnosed with high HbA1c (8%) and i am very anxious.

My doctor recommended to start taking a pill for 3 months, and then check if the levels of HbA1c improved.

I am sceptical about the medication, as i usually avoid it.

Looking for alternatives on the web, i found several articles about the properties of extra virgin olive oil against diabetes.

Does anyone have experience in using extra virgin olive oil for reducing HbA1c?

Does anyone have used any other alternative medicine for reducing HbA1c?

I am concerned about my situation and looking forward for your answers.

Thanks in advance!

 

[porl69]

I really cant see how/why using extra virgin olive oil would reduce your A1C! Its going to be a diet choice I am afraid. What sort of foods are you eating at the moment? Low carb high fat comes up a lot on the forum and seems to work very well for a lot of people on here.

 

[alexco]

I really cant see how/why using extra virgin olive oil would reduce your A1C! Its going to be a diet choice I am afraid. What sort of foods are you eating at the moment? Low carb high fat comes up a lot on the forum and seems to work vbery well for a lot of people on here

I have a balanced diet that includes legumes, vegetables, greens, nuts, black bread,

 

[Tophat1900]

Here's a great write up on diet for reducing glucose levels and of course Hba1c levels.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/

 

[sally and james]

Hi @alexco and welcome to the forum.
As you probably know, an HbA1c shows you how much glucose has been circulating around your body over the past 3 months. To keep blood glucose levels down you need to reduce (often quite drastically) the amount of sugars and starches you put into your body. In practice that means avoiding all the obvious sugary stuff, plus pasta, bread, rice, pastry, potatoes, cereals, most fruit and fruit juices and moving towards a diet based around proteins and good fats. For most people I would recommend meat, fish, eggs, cheese, poultry, cream as a starting point, but I wonder if you are vegan, from the list of foods you mention. Not my specialist area, but generally recommended foods are avocados, olives, nuts, olive oil and above ground vegetables.
Olive oil will only bring down your HbA1c if it is replacing something sugary, on its own it doesn't reverse raised sugar levels.
Hope this is of some help.
Sally

 

[alexco]

Hi @alexco and welcome to the forum.
As you probably know, an HbA1c shows you how much glucose has been circulating around your body over the past 3 months. To keep blood glucose levels down you need to reduce (often quite drastically) the amount of sugars and starches you put into your body. In practice that means avoiding all the obvious sugary stuff, plus pasta, bread, rice, pastry, potatoes, cereals, most fruit and fruit juices and moving towards a diet based around proteins and good fats. For most people I would recommend meat, fish, eggs, cheese, poultry, cream as a starting point, but I wonder if you are vegan, from the list of foods you mention. Not my specialist area, but generally recommended foods are avocados, olives, nuts, olive oil and above ground vegetables.
Olive oil will only bring down your HbA1c if it is replacing something sugary, on its own it doesn't reverse raised sugar levels.
Hope this is of some help.
Sally

Hi Sally, thanks for your interest. Yes, i know that HbA1c shows how much glucose has been circulating around your body over the past 3 months. No, i am not vegan. On the foods you mention, I know what to avoid. I wonder if, if I take high phenolic olive oil, will I be able to continue eating as usual?

 

[sally and james]

if I take high phenolic olive oil, will I be able to continue eating as usual?

I very much doubt it, but if you prove me wrong, do tell us all about it.
Sally

 

[porl69]

I know what to avoid. I wonder if, if I take high phenolic olive oil, will I be able to continue eating as usual?

Something you are eating is raising your A1C. Using olive oil to lower your A1C is very doubtful BUT we are all different and it may work!!???

 

[ianf0ster]

as has been said earlier, it is most unlikely that any single addition to your diet will enable you to eat as you did before diagnosis (without ever increasing medication).

The part of the mainstream advice which is generally accepted by everybody is that High amounts of Carbohydrates cause High Blood Glucose, which the body then counteracts with high Insulin (since high Glucose in the bloodstream is dangerous).
However Insulin not only promotes the storing of blood glucose as Fat, it also inhibits the natural burning of body fat for energy. Once the main fat stores are getting full, Insulin is then pushing fat into and around internal organs (liver, kidneys, pancreas) which are not supposed to deal with it.
This is why most Type 2 Diabetics (unless caused by drugs or other conditions other than too many carbs in foods) are Obese (all sub-cutaneous fat cells well used) or TOFI - Thin Outside (not many sub-cutaneous fat cells in the first place) Fat Inside.

As I replied to you in another thread, there are natural (and Surgical) ways of taking Type 2 into remission, but as far as in known there is no cure. Where Cure means able to eat the same as before diagnosis without consequences.

 

[Alexandra100]

I wonder if, if I take high phenolic olive oil, will I be able to continue eating as usual?

No.

 

[Alexandra100]

No.

However, the news is not as bad as you think. Miraculously, and many others here will bear me out, as we begin to eat lower carb our tastes change and many hitherto unappreciated or even despised foods come to seem delicious. This process is helped by the fact that eating fewer carbs permits consuming more fats, and anything (eg spinach) fried in your best quality olive oil is transformed. NB IMO for excellent olive oil there is no need to look further than Sainsbury's. I use both their organic and non-organic extra virgin olive oil. It is delicious and very reasonably priced.

 

[Hotpepper20000]

I eat a all natural diet of meat and above ground vegetables with a few raspberries, cream, and cheese.
My A1C has been below 40 for 3 years.

 

[Resurgam]

I just went out to buy olive oil last night. I use both the light and extra virgin as part of my diet, but just because it is a good oil.
The extra virgin is mixed with various different vinegars and herbs to go on my salads - which most people think are huge - but if it is the only carbohydrate source for the day up to 40 gm of carbs means quite a lot of salad.
I eat only small amounts of peas or beans-in-pods as I react strongly to the carbs in them. Bread is low carb, 4 gm of carb per slice.
I use the EV olive oil when making scrambled eggs and might add a little to vegetables.
The light version is what I use for frying when the food doesn't have enough fat in it - meat is often trimmed of fat, and that is the only option.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. I'm afraid the extra virgin oil thing won't help at all. About the only thing that will help is reducing the carbs in your diet - simple but true.

 

[TriciaWs]

I agree with the others. The only way oil could help is if it replaced some of your carbs, by making you feel full after eating smaller meals.

It is possible lower carbs enough to reduce HbA1c results - it is just a little harder to get enough protein at the same time as legumes are relatively high carb.
Check the amount of carbs you are eating on an average day, and look at alternative foods to swap for the highest carb meals.
I use cauliflower rice instead of rice, and eat lower carb bread but only occasionally and just one slice. I do make 90 second low carb bread (and you can use milled flaxseed instead of eggs in the recipe).

The low carb program does have a weeks menu of vegan meals, and several vegetarian meals plans, if you don't eat meat.

 

[bulkbiker]

I have a balanced diet that includes legumes, vegetables, greens, nuts, black bread,

You also say you have an elevated HbA1c so maybe your diet isn’t quite right for your T2?

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome,

Do you regularly test your blood sugar levels? I suggest you try testing before and two hours after one of your well balanced meals- add some extra virgin olive oil and see what happens to your blood sugar levels. If they rise more than 2 then the meal did not agree with your body. I don't think adding olive oil (of whatever variety) will recur your hbA1c unless it contributed to you consuming less carbohydrates.

I personally love carbs and would really like it if there was some magic cure that didn't involve eating less carbs- I personally do not believe there is- if consuming more olive oil works I'd be willing to try that. Let us know how the testing goes.

Read around on the forum- there are a lot of ideas here for alternatives for foods that are lower carbs if you find that your meals are causing spikes.

We all do understand your anxiety about have diabetes and the necessary diet changes as we have also had that worry. Stick around, read around and let us know how you get on.

 

[alexco]

I really appreciate everyone's input

Hello and welcome,

Do you regularly test your blood sugar levels? I suggest you try testing before and two hours after one of your well balanced meals- add some extra virgin olive oil and see what happens to your blood sugar levels. If they rise more than 2 then the meal did not agree with your body. I don't think adding olive oil (of whatever variety) will recur your hbA1c unless it contributed to you consuming less carbohydrates.

I personally love carbs and would really like it if there was some magic cure that didn't involve eating less carbs- I personally do not believe there is- if consuming more olive oil works I'd be willing to try that. Let us know how the testing goes.

Read around on the forum- there are a lot of ideas here for alternatives for foods that are lower carbs if you find that your meals are causing spikes.

We all do understand your anxiety about have diabetes and the necessary diet changes as we have also had that worry. Stick around, read around and let us know how you get on.

Hi @VashtiB, of course and i measure my blood sugar levels daily. Your suggestion to measure them with oil is very good. I'll get started and let you know.