Newbie in need of some advice please.

Hello.

I'm a 36 year old female. 5ft and 116lbs. I had tests in September for diabetes due to fatigue (turns out my thyroid is subclinical hypothyroid). My hba1c was 38. In December I was unwell with stress, my son was being bullied and was suicidal. Life was hell taking care of my son crippled by panic attacks and depression. I ended up bed bound with fatigue and stress at one point. My gp ran a huge list of bloods, one being my hba1c and cholesterol. Hba1c was 40. Total cholesterol 6.9. HDL 1.6. LDL 3.9 and Triglycerides 3.0.

I didn't fast and my bloods were taken straight after a meal at 1.30 pm. I've read triglycerides would be high and I should have fasted.

My gp wasn't concerned at all he said just eat lower fat and lower carbs to reduce sugar in the diet. Now my concern is this. Is my hba1c something to worry about? My fear is it could now be higher as it went up by 2 in 3 months. Everytime i feel tired or have a dry mouth I worey if i am diabetic. It's triggered anxiety in me terribly having all these bloods being a little off.

My gp said my hba1c is normal and they will just test it annually so not to be anxious. He said my cholesterol is up but that at my age I've low risk so at this point it's just annual bloods to check it.

Both these health issues are worrying me silly. I've 3 children and I keep worrying why I have these health issues. There is high cholesterol in my mum's side throughout them. Her brother had a heart attack at 51 they say sue to a cholesterol level of 7! Mines 6.9! There's no diabetes in my family at all so my gp isn't concerned.

My fear is if I'm now in the pre diabetic range how can I get it down because I have a good diet. I'm not a meat eater but revently I've allowed fish into my diet to try and help my cholesterol. typical day for me is....
Breakfast - oats with almond milk and berries. Lemon and honey in hot water to drink.
Mid morning banana or oatcakes with homemade red pepper hummus.
Lunch is mackerel with vegetables. seeded toast or veggie sausages with veggies.
Afternoon snack is fruit or rice cakes.
Dinner - salmon with veggies and new potatoes or sweet potato. Quorn chilli with homemade guacamole. That kind of thing.

I am trying to have 1 meal a day low carb to see if it helps bring my hba1c down. I was having carbs at each meal until recently.

I've cut out all biscuits since december test that showed my hba1c was 40. I eat a square or 2 of dark choc ever other day. I never ate bad before but I'd have a biscuit a day and maybe oven chips, cheese, coconut milk, coconut oil eggs. Now I've cut out eggs. I rarely eat dairy as I was told to cut down on it and go half fat dairy but that's loaded with sugar. No butter or coconut oil. I drink a plant sterol drink daily.

So with these 2 issues I'm puzzled. I have to cut fat to lower the cholesterol but lower carbs to lower the hba1c. I can't because if I lower my carbs I need to increase fats for energy and I can't do that because of my cholesterol being high. Any advice? I'm puzzled as what to do diet wise. Someone suggested lchf diet but surely that would be a bad idea with my cholesterol? And can a vegetarian diet make things worse as it does include grains and beans. I have even considered going fully vegan.

Any advice appreciated.

Thank you.

JuliE

Thank you for your help.

My gp said under 42 is non diabetic. 42-48 is pre diabetic so he told me at 40 I am fine.

At the time I had that test I was eating alot of carbs. I'm trying a low carb high boat diet and hitting around 100g carbs a day. But I am worried all the coconut oil, full fat Greek yogurt and soured cream is bad for cholesterol.

I didn't fast for either of my tests but I will next time.

It's bizarre I am almost pre diabetic. I've no family history. I'm not over weight. I don't eat much rubbish at all.

I am very concerned but also confused as to what diet would be best for me to lower both cholesterol and hba1c.

Thank you for your reply and I shall read the link.

Julie

Daibell said:

Hi and welcome. That HBa1C level is pre-diabetic i.e. you need to be at least 45 to be defined as diabetic so no worry currently on that score. Your total cholesterol figure has no real relevance but the LDL, HDL and Trig ratios do. Your current ratios could be better. See this link for good ratios:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/Diabetes-and-cholesterol.html

You currently have quite a bit of carbs in your diet which it would be good to reduce but don't worry about the fats as they don't essentially deposit stuff in the arteries but the liver does if you have too many carbs. A low-carb diet may not change your total cholesterol but it normally improves the ratios. Yes, a fasting test is really needed to get accurate results so fast next time. Any food from grains or tropical fruit is not ideal for us so try to keep them down. Go for a daily total of carbs below 200 gm and perhaps less. Any protein is good as well as a sensible level of fat e.g. dairy. I have Dark Chocolate (85%) which is not a problem. Hopefully your ratios will improve and so will your HBa1C.

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Thank you.

My gp said he didn't know why i was worried because 40 is normal range. I think I was worried as it was 38 3 months earlier.

My gp says he will test annually and the same for my cholesterol. He wasn't concerned about my cholesterol t my age but I know triglycerides are dangerous if high. Mine are 3 and I think they should be under 1.7. He wasn't concerned as my good cholesterol was 1.6. I also read non fasted triglycerides can be high anyway so maybe that's why mine were so high.

I am just worried as my diet is quiet veggie and you consume alot of carbs. So I've even brought fish and chicken into my diet to help bring carbs down and up the protein. Not something I wanted to do.

Thank you for your help.

Julie

Squire Fulwood said:

I don't think your Hba1c is anything to worry about since the range of 42 to 48 is considered pre diabetic. There are some opinions that cholesterol is not the demon it is made out to be. There is a WHO graph that shows that more people die with low cholesterol and there is Dr Kendrick who says that cholesterol was all a con anyway.

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Thank you.

Yes I've been concerned as my gp told me to go low fat to get my cholesterol down. My LDL and triglycerides where both high. I read about the LCHF diet and have been trying to follow it but concerned eating fats incase I am damaging my cholesterol even more. I've found it very confusing ruing to bring both tests down.

My gp says he will test my hba1c and cholesterol in about august/September time. I may go private though to test both myselF sooner.

Thank you.

Daibell said:

Hi again. Try to avoid root veg which are high carb but other veg can be quite good. Have raw carrots instead of cooked etc to reduce the GI and smooth absorption. It's still carb but reduces spikes. Yes, the thought of having fatty foods after having been told for so long that they are bad is not easy to take on-board until you realise that much of the advice and research is flawed. Fat doesn't make you fat or clog the arteries unless in excess together with carbs. Google the web for explanations of how the body deals with the fat you eat compared with carbs and how the liver stores glucose as fat when in excess. I'm simplifying things as the processes are complicated. Anyway the proof is in the pudding (low carb of course!) and try some diet changes and have your cholesterol checked again. Get hold of a glucose meter to see how your blood sugar is from time to time. BTW Dr Kendrick's two books are a revelation - have a read if you have the time.

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muzza3 said:

Welcome @jingyd36

I think you will be fine. If you keep an eye on your carbs you should have no problems at all.

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Thank you. I hope so. Maybe i have just been eating way too many carbs as I was unwell and eating easy things I could grab. I am hoping it's just a case of lowering my carbs and things will get better.

Well I did the lchf all week and felt very unwell by Thursday. Weak and fatigued beyond belief and I have cfs. I felt so poorly and my head was throbbing.

I've increased my carbs to see if I feel better which I am slowly.

I'd cut my carbs to 100g fat around 80 and protein was 90 ish a day.

Now I'm a little confused on how to eat to reduce my hba1c if I can't do low carb.

muzza3 said:

Can you give us an example of what you ate for a day on LCHF so we can give you some feedback

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OK.

Breakfast- Low carb oats. 300 oats, 22nd flaxseed, 22nd chia seeds, 30pml almond milk and blueberries. I put some full fat Fage on top.

Snack - babybel.

Lunch - omelette with mushrooms, spinach and cherry tomatoes. Or tuna with veggies with a dollop of full fat soured cream.

Snack - banana or Fage yoghurt with berries and little honey.

Dinner - salmon fillet with sweet potato mash, broccoli and kale with some soured cream. Or 40 brown rice pasta with tinned tomatoes, mushrooms, courgettes and full fat mozarella.

I was having some carbs in the evening and my carbs were 100g a day. Prior to that they were probably 200g.

PenfoldAPD said:

@jingyd36 I've done LCHF for around 10 weeks since diagnosis - my cholesterol came down from 6.7 to 3.7, I've read many have had the same results.

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That's reassuring.

I'd like to try lchf again but not keen on how ill I felt doing it. I felt so fatigued and weak.

muzza3 said:

Looks pretty good
You are probably suffering a bit of a withdrawal from the carbs (some call it carb flu) and will probably get over it in a few days keep it up

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Thank you for your help

I just hope this high fat isn't damaging to my already high cholesterol.