Prediabetes and very high cholesterol

[AndyF70]

59 and just went for my first body MOT in years. Bit irritated that the scores on the doors are very high for prediabetes and very high cholesterol but there you go.

No matter - I knew I was a bit overweight (don't drink or smoke) so in the past couple of months had already begun to make lifestyle changes on the healthier eating and exercise fronts (lost 6 lbs so far). It'd been going well, no cream, cakes or chocolate, less bread etc, and actually easily doable but in light of the MOT figures, I clearly need to think more about the specifics.

I have looked at the Diabetes.org website but it really hasn't helped at all. It's far too chaotic. And you'd think Googling daily suggested quantities of sugars and carbs would be easy but it's a minefield! So can anyone recommend a plain English site or app whereby you can enter your day's planned menu and it spits out the numbers so you can see when you're near the any nutritional nastys limit for the day? Fitbit seems to be the nearest for logging nutritional info but isn't tailored towards specific conditions. Even more useful - how about a website where I put in everything in my food cupboard (currently full of what I 'think' is healthy food) which is then combined in a perfect 7 day menu of things I would actually eat - absolutely NO fish <where is your sick emoji Mumsnet??>, avocados and quinoa!

The best way for me to stick to a realistic diet for me is for it not to be 'a thing'. To that end I also have NO intention of attending any group sessions as suggested by my doctor 😒I'm sorry but I find the idea of being monitored, even semi publicly, abhorrent.

Just want to take the effort out of doing the right thing which means I'm more likely to stick to it because being good for 6 weeks then getting this news has been a real kick in the teeth!🙄

Thanks for any suggestions.

Afaia the group sessions are just education about the best things to eat to get your HBA1C back into normal range and prevent diabetes. They don’t monitor you, or was the dr on about a weight management referral? Maybe ask for clarification.
Blood tests are generally repeated after a minimum of 3-6 months for cholesterol so don’t be too downhearted that you have high cholesterol after lifestyle changes ofa couple of months. HBA1C looks at markers in the blood over a period of 3 months so a couple of months for that is also too soon so don’t be discouraged. The important thing is that you had already made changes. If you continue on with them then your blood tests results could be in the normal range if you have an annual or 6 month recheck.

Thank you TomatoSoupIsLikeVampiresBlood. I know it takes a while for these changes to kick in but even so, it left me so downhearted.

The referral was for the prediabetes, not weight loss. And yes I have another cholesterol test in November.

Thanks for cheering me up!🙂

Do double check the cholesterol ratio, the good to bad ratio, its not just your measurement overall

Do you want a specific meal plan or do you just want tips and ideas about how to incorporate dietary qualities that will achieve what you want?

I was only given one figure - 6.7 cholesterol.

I want a healthy meal plan but when I've tried various sites they all seem insistent that I eat fish (don't like/allergic to shellfish). So I say I'm veggie and it includes cheese, avocados and a tofu (yuk).

Really not remotely interested in tips at all (which in any case only suggest food I won't eat). The less I have to think about this, the more I'm likely to stick to it!

I've only got as far a listing water so far. Maybe having only that'll sort the weight, prediabetes and cholesterol out!

They should be breaking it down for you into good and bad cholesterol

I find that meal planners are full of food I dont eat or like!

Would it be better to make a list of foods you do like and that are ok for you to reach your goals and then you develop a meal planner, over a 4 week period so you dont get bored or waste food and just follow that every month

I know its quite a lot of work initially but once you've done it, its tailored for you, you then just follow it.

There’s lots of helpful info on this gp site op, there’s a specific pre diabetes bit too.
https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/

As a specific app to calculate what your intake is then Nutracheck is a great one. It’s uk based, so has a lot of shop bought products in its data base. I think you can do a 5 day free trial, but the app is a lot cheaper than the full membership, and still works fine (I say this as someone who has used it for a number of years and always found it useful personally).

Good luck op💐

I too have prediabetes and high cholesterol and high blood pressure

They have recently put me on statins for the cholesterol bit.

I also recommend the prediabetes programme if your area runs it. They talk about changing habits and the barriers to changing habits, stress, getting enough sleep, fitting a little bit more exercise into your week, all sorts of things you wouldn't realise affect blood sugar, but they do. It is worth a go, it's not like weightwatchers.

First off 6.7 isn’t that bad in the scheme of things, my TC was 11 at one point.
But yes they will want to put you on meds if you don’t get it down.

Problem 1, is that 25% of people have a genetic predisposition to high levels of a problematic type of LDL called LP(a). No lifestyle changes will affect if this is you, so try and get an LP(a) test - I couldn’t get one on the NHS but try.

They happily tested me for Familial Hypercholestemia (which came back negative) but won’t test me for the far more common cholesterol problem LP(a). So I’m going to get that tested privately.

There are some new medicines for LP(a) called anti-sense drugs (PCSk9 inhibitors) that can reduce LP(a) significantly but we don’t yet know how much doing so will help prevent heart attacks.

Problem 2, cholesterol isn’t itself a bad thing, you would die without it, that is why your liver makes it. If you have damaged arteries from smoking or decades of high blood sugar levels, then small LDL particles can get behind the walls of those damaged arteries in your bodies attempt to patch the damage - this leads to plaque and can sometimes lead to a clot. But remember 25% of people who have a heart attack have low cholesterol. Large LDL particles can’t get behind the artery walls, it’s only small LDL particles that are a problem. You can have lots of large LDL and no risk. Unfortunately the NHS don’t test LDL particle size either (LDL-p) : so that’s another test I’ll have to get done privately.

Problem 3, statins if you get prescribed them will lower your choelsterol and thereby reduce the number of heart attacks but they have never been shown to show an improvement to all-cause mortality. Basically statistically speaking they don’t make people live longer. Statins are good for reducing inflammation, and that is the real reason they reduce heart attacks. I’m on maximum dose statin, some people get side effects, but I have had none.

Solution 1, even the British Diabetes Association book I read in the local library once advocated a keto diet.

Solution 2, not as extreme, just give up flour and sugar to start with.

Solution 3, more to do with weight loss rather than cholesterol, do mild intermittent fasting, eat only between the hours of 12pm and 6pm for example.

Thanks for your reply. It looks like it might come to this.

Thanks so much - will definitely be checking this out 👏

Sorry but as I said, the very thought of being preached at in a group of people like me turns my stomach. Will never happen.

It might be helpful to have a blood sugar meter, then you can see how different foods affect your blood sugar.

Wow, thank you. Lots to think about there! Many thanks for the info. 👌

Thanks everyone for all your help. It's my first time posting on here and you've all been really helpful xx

It's taken me 2 years to adjust my diet properly, and I'm still trying to get there! Cholesterol has gone down from 6.5 to 6, blood sugar could be better.

What I've found:
Benecol was quite good for lowering cholesterol for me, but then it has sucrose and additives that aren't good for me so I had to stop.
Porridge, more vegetables, lentils, beans, more whole grains, more FIBRE of any kind you like is actually quite good for lowering cholesterol.

I started to eat too much protein, to avoid fats and dairy. But now have switched back to dairy as I got kidney stones from eating too much protein and not enough fibre and water!

It is good to get the weight down, but for me I wasnt' that overweight but it still is good to have your waist in proportion.

Basically I now eat the mediterranean diet, wholegrain pasta but plenty of vegetables and good oils, extra virgin olive oil and avocados. Fish or meat but only twice a week. My cholesterol isn't great still but it 6 or just under.

I was diagnosed as pre diabetic back in May. I didn't want the group referral but I chose the alternative app. You get an online nutritionist to support you weekly at first and you log your meals. You also have access to short lessons on what to eat and amounts. It's really helpful. I've lost two and a half stone since the end of May. I'm hoping to reverse the pre diabetes and lower my cholesterol. Ask your surgery if you can access the app rather than groups.

I also had prediabetes and high cholesterol. My cholesterol was 6.9 my GP put me on Astorvastatin tablets one a day and now it's 4.4 and it came down quite quickly over about 12 weeks. I've seen the dietician about prediabetes and she told me to cut down on fat also eat less sugary food. I was apparently eating too much fruit. Basically I can have low fat Greek yogurt and berries for breakfast. Raspberries/strawberries/blueberries but only one handful. I have a few of each. Alternatively I can air fry 2 low fat sausages, 2 hash browns and 2 scrambled eggs with fry light to stop it sticking to the pan. Then I just have a banana and a yoghurt for lunch. For lunch a sandwich or wholemeal roll with lean ham no butter or spread and a banana or apple. For dinner either steamed chicken with a few baby potatoes with carrots and peas or salmon cooked in lemon juice with a jacket potato and either baked beans or mushy peas or pork medallion a few small potatoes and green runner beans and carrots. Low fat sausages jacket potato and baked beans. Homemade vegetable soup I can have as much as I want just a vegetable stock cube half a chopped onion, 1 chopped potato, 1 large chopped carrot, a chunk of swede chopped up, a few bits of cauliflower and salt and pepper all blended up. I can have homemade lentil and tomato soup too, as much as I want. I've been having the soup for lunch in place of a sandwich. There are lots of other meals too but these are quick to do.

Each to their own, it did work for me though. All the best.

I'm in the same boat OP - 59, high cholesterol so on statins and have 3 months
To improve my blood sugar levels otherwise I will officially be diabetic type II and on meds. I have started the Michael Mosley plan - very low carb Mediterranean type eating plan. There is also a cook book and meal plans. So far so good. I have drastically reduced my alcohol but still have a couple of glasses of wine on a Saturday night. Have cut out bread, cakes, biscuits etc and replaced rice with quinoa so fingers crossed. I was also recommended the Glucose Goddess but found some of the info conflicting.