confused/help - low carb, low cholesterol, low calories??

abseil12

Member
Messages
15
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
SO...when they wanted to put me on metformin for T2, I asked to be given a chance to get my diabetes under control with diet. I went low carb and reversed my readings to a non-diabetic's. Then I stop watching my diet and the BG crept up so that I am now on metformin! So, I had been trying to go back to a low carb diet which was all well and good but my cholesterol zoomed upwards due to the higher fat content. Then I tried the low calories diet but just found that too hard - mostly because I am pants at planning. Then the diabetes dietician said I should have carbs to have a balanced diet, just not too much of them. I love pasta, potatoes, and rice, yet found I could give them up without missing them too much on the low carb diet but I compensated with cream as I don't like olives or avocado much.

I need to lose weight as well as get my BG under control so I have even contemplated the Newcastle diet - but that has mixed reviews on this forum too.

PLEASE, can somebody tell me, should I go back to low carb as it worked for me and if I do, how do I do it without raising my cholesterol? Or should I do a "normal" diet with just less carbs?

ARGHHHHHH!!!!
 

Lamont D

Oracle
Messages
15,796
Type of diabetes
Reactive hypoglycemia
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
What's a normal diet for a diabetic?
It's certainly not what the normal advice is!

It's a balance of low carb, higher fat, portion size and of course increasing your exercise. It all helps with blood glucose levels and weight issues!

Have a read of the success stories forum and that will give you some idea of how beneficial, low carb is! And if you get it right, it works!
 

Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I suggest you go back to low carb as it worked for you in the past, but this time remember it a lifelong disease and a lifelong way of eating!

In what way did your cholesterol go up? Was it just the total that increased, or was there a significant deterioration in the component parts (HDL/LDL/Triglycerides) ? It would help if you told us what levels these were.
 
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bulkbiker

BANNED
Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Personally I do ultra low carb and don't fuss about cholesterol unlike some on the forum.
I have made it very clear to my HCP's that I will not take satins under any circumstances and my cholesterol is exactly that.. my cholesterol. Cholesterol is essential for life and I reckon my body can moderate it better than a GP, especially when it is not being bombarded with carbohydrate.
 

Resurgam

Expert
Messages
9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Cholesterol is involved in moving fat around - if you have more fat to move, you need more cholesterol - I doubt it is something dangerous, and once your carbs are reduced to a beneficial level to control your diabetes you should see your Hba1c reducing.
Cholesterol reduction has never been shown to be beneficial in Humans - for women it is probably a good thing as it appears to reduce the mortality rate. I know this is something like heresy, but I am sure that if there was a study showing a correlation between reducing cholesterol and reducing deaths it would have been in the media - and I have never seen it.
 
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abseil12

Member
Messages
15
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
It's a little hit and miss with the stats. They didn't tell me my cholesterol before so I concluded it was OK or they would have said. The nurse I had at my last review was brilliant and told me what she could:

Total chol:
Sept 2015 5.8
Jun 2016 6.5

Jun 2016 LDL 3.2, HDL 1.3, Triglyceride 5.26

She told me I should be trying to reduce it - June 2016 was when I had been on the low carb diet and reversed my BG readings to non-diabetic but the consequence was my chol was higher and I should have been told. I am now concerned about going back to the low carb if it means my cholesterol will remain high or get higher.
 

Winnie53

BANNED
Messages
2,374
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
@abseil12 I've been on the low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (LCKD) for two years which is 50 g carbs or less. Here's two things that may be helpful to you regarding cholesterol: 1) as you're losing weight, fat is released into the blood stream and will temporarily raise cholesterol levels (which should stabilize after weight loss plateaus) and 2) dairy intake can push cholesterol levels up which was my experience in 2015.

There are three macronutients: carbohydrate, protein, and fat.

The LCHF diet/LCKD are both moderate protein, not high protein diets, which means we have to increase intake of healthy fats to replace the carbohydrates. Some people use the low carbohydrate diets to lose weight in addition to lowering and stabilizing glucose levels. In that case, it's important to monitor both your healthy fat and carbohydrate intake.

I try to limit myself to 1 - 2 one ounce servings of dairy a day.

I eat a mix of animal and plant protein and fat and have had good results. Here's some non-dairy foods to increase fat intake...

Make a salad of mixed spring greens and top with a vinaigrette (2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar, herbs and spices) every day or every other day. I top mine with a variety of vegetables and nuts: tomato and avocado sometimes with chicken or raw nuts; red cabbage and carrots, sometimes with mushrooms; and in the summer, fresh strawberries or blue berries. I use a variety of vinegars: red wine, white wine, and apple cider.

Make a tuna or chicken salad with mayonnaise. Try to find a mayonnaise made with avocado oil, not an industrial seed oil.

If you aren't keen on avocados, learn how to make guacamole. Avocados have so many health benefits. A simple way to remove them from their skin once ripe is to cut it in half, top to bottom, then use a non-sharp knife to remove the seed and to make 1/2 inch chunks by making vertical and horizontal cuts into one half of the avocado, then scoop out with a spoon to top your salad or make guacamole. I ripen avocados on the kitchen counter for 1 to 3 days, then store them in the refrigerator in a bowl to protect them from being bruised.

I eat raw nuts too.

As for animal sources of fat...

I personally have a slice of bacon each morning, and cook my egg in the bacon fat with butter.

I also top my steamed vegetables with butter and saute/steam vegetables with butter.

I believe that insulin resistance (worsened by sugar and excessive carbohydrate intake) are to blame for arterial plaque, not cholesterol. To learn more, this recent video by Ivar Cummings in January 2017 is quite good. He covers a lot of ground at a fast pace. I had to stop and read his slideshow, also stop an replay quite a bit to more fully understand what he was presenting...


Dr. Mercola's article provides a good summary of some of the points made in the above presentation... http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a.../insulin-resistance-causes-heart-disease.aspx

That said, there are a small subgroup of people who do have problems, so decisions around cholesterol need to be made after becoming fully informed on the science and getting additional testing.

Hope a few of the ideas are helpful to you. :)

Walking is a game changer, every day or every other day, particularly if you are concerned about the health of your heart and arteries. :)
 
Last edited:

abseil12

Member
Messages
15
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
@abseil12 I've been on the low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (LCKD) for two years which is 50 g carbs or less. Here's two things that may be helpful to you regarding cholesterol: 1) as you're losing weight, fat is released into the blood stream and will temporarily raise cholesterol levels (which should stabilize after weight loss plateaus) and 2) dairy intake can push cholesterol levels up which was my experience in 2015.

There are three macronutients: carbohydrate, protein, and fat.

The LCHF diet/LCKD are both moderate protein, not high protein diets, which means we have to increase intake of healthy fats to replace the carbohydrates. Some people use the low carbohydrate diets to lose weight in addition to lowering and stabilizing glucose levels. In that case, it's important to monitor both your healthy fat and carbohydrate intake.

I try to limit myself to 1 - 2 one ounce servings of dairy a day.

I eat a mix of animal and plant protein and fat and have had good results. Here's some non-dairy foods to increase fat intake...

Make a salad of mixed spring greens and top with a vinaigrette (2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar, herbs and spices) every day or every other day. I top mine with a variety of vegetables and nuts: tomato and avocado sometimes with chicken or raw nuts; red cabbage and carrots, sometimes with mushrooms; and in the summer, fresh strawberries or blue berries. I use a variety of vinegars: red wine, white wine, and apple cider.

Make a tuna or chicken salad with mayonnaise. Try to find a mayonnaise made with avocado oil, not an industrial seed oil.

If you aren't keen on avocados, learn how to make guacamole. Avocados have so many health benefits. A simple way to remove them from their skin once ripe is to cut it in half, top to bottom, then use a non-sharp knife to remove the seed and to make 1/2 inch chunks by making vertical and horizontal cuts into one half of the avocado, then scoop out with a spoon to top your salad or make guacamole. I ripen avocados on the kitchen counter for 1 to 3 days, then store them in the refrigerator in a bowl to protect them from being bruised.

I eat raw nuts too.

As for animal sources of fat...

I personally have a slice of bacon each morning, and cook my egg in the bacon fat with butter.

I also top my steamed vegetables with butter and saute/steam vegetables with butter.

I believe that insulin resistance (worsened by sugar and excessive carbohydrate intake) are to blame for arterial plaque, not cholesterol. To learn more, this recent video by Ivar Cummings in January 2017 is quite good. He covers a lot of ground at a fast pace. I had to stop and read his slideshow, also stop an replay quite a bit to more fully understand what he was presenting...


Dr. Mercola's article provides a good summary of some of the points made in the above presentation... http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a.../insulin-resistance-causes-heart-disease.aspx

That said, there are a small subgroup of people who do have problems, so decisions around cholesterol need to be made after becoming fully informed on the science and getting additional testing.

Hope a few of the ideas are helpful to you. :)

Walking is a game changer, every day or every other day, particularly if you are concerned about the health of your heart and arteries. :)


Thank you to the other contributors to the thread. I guess you can all feel my angst.
ABFAB reply Winnie53. Thank you so much for this. It makes total sense and is just the sort of guidance I need and it it motivational too. I will watch the presentation with interest. :D