Double whammy: high blood sugar and high cholesterol

[Contrary Housewife]

DH has been told by his doctor to adjust his diet. He has borderline high BS and the wrong balance of cholesterol levels.

I think we eat pretty good: fresh fruits and veg, fish when I can afford it, no added salt, only 100% juice, no processed food, no fast food, etc. but apparently I have to take it farther. DH's weakness is for sweets. He is, IMO, an addict. He doesn't like artificial sweeteners, either.

Anybody else facing this? What sorts of things did you change? I'd love some tips about what worked for you and what didn't, some favorite "good" recipes, etc.

[lisaflex]

get rid of the 100% fruit juice. fruit juice is lots of sugar. replace juice w/ good ole water.

eat salmon and lots of it! grill it...oh so good.
brown rice
veggies and lots of them
at least 2 apples per day
oatmeal (not instant...)
blueberries

[imagine]

The first thing I see is the juice even though it is 100% juice it is still not good for blood sugars. So cutting that down watering it down cutting it out completely would be a good thing.

[imagine]

exercise is good

"Exercise. The human body was meant to be active. Exercise strengthens the heart muscle, improves blood flow, reduces high blood pressure, raises HDL cholesterol ("good" cholesterol), and helps control blood sugars and body weight."

Heart-Healthy Diet For High Cholesterol: What To Eat

[brennasmom]

Exercise for sure. Also, how about some fish oil supplements?

I am working on this myself. Trying to walk at least 2 miles per day

[Contrary Housewife]

Exercise, yeah the doctor told him to do that too. Whole different battle.

I almost bought some salmon today, then I noticed it was $19 a lb. They had small steaks cut, too. Only $22 a lb. I'll be getting some tilapia this weekend, I can get a 2lb bag of filets for $6.99 here.

Good point about the juice, we will be cutting back (well, HE will be) although he was also told to drink grape juice.

He's already started fish oil and baby aspirin per Dr's orders.

Anybody have any good not-sugary muffin or cookie type snack recipes?

[Spirit Deer]

Having been down this road myself, what I've found is it's difficult to try to replace things like cookies with substitutes. Frequently (not always) the subs aren't going to be as good, particularly when people still have a taste for the original. You're better off to just eliminate it and find a sub that's something completely different. Like when I had to quit drinking Mountain Dew. Diet Mountain Dew does not taste like Mountain Dew, so I went to Sierra Mist Free instead. Same food group (junk) but a different taste so my brain wasn't disappointed when it expected Mountain Dew that it didn't get.

Try to eliminate most anything white, like white flour, sugar (don't forget brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses in it), white rice, white pasta, etc.

Keep in mind it's not just refined sugar in foods that'll spike blood sugar. Eating breads, rice, potatoes, muffins, all kinds of starches, not just sweetened ones, will raise it too.

Try to sanitize the house as much as possible. If it's not there to eat, the odds are better of not eating it. Most people won't crave something so much it's worth a special trip to the store.

You can't make your husband do anything. Most likely he's in denial right now. Just keep offering him foods he should be eating, and be encouraging. Gently remind him what's at stake and the consequences if he can't start eating better. Use Weight Watchers and other healthy eating cookbooks and don't bother mentioning to him it's 'diet' food. It'll take some time for him to re-train his palette so he doesn't constantly crave the bad stuff.

You may want to get the South Beach Diet cookbooks from the library and study those. That diet is excellent for helping to control blood sugar because it limits sugar-spiking carbs, and since the proteins suggested are low fat, it would help fight cholesterol, too.

Good luck. Not fun.

[TigerGirl1226]

My mom had a similar diagnosis to you DH and asked her doctor that she be allowed to try to control it with diet as opposed to meds. She is using a South Beach style plan that still allows for some fruit which she loves. You can go a google seach and come up with muffin recipes that follow this idea. (Beware, my DH calls them roto-rooter muffins, lol). Many of them are sweetened with apple sauce as opposed to sugar. They are sweet, but just not super sweet.

She just had her follow up appointment and both her blood sugar and cholesterol are now well within normal range.

ETA: This sounds like the muffins my mom makes. At the bottom they list all the variations they can make.
http://www.south-beach-diet-101.com/...in-recipe.html

[imagine]

Exercise, yeah the doctor told him to do that too. Whole different battle.

I almost bought some salmon today, then I noticed it was $19 a lb. They had small steaks cut, too. Only $22 a lb. I'll be getting some tilapia this weekend, I can get a 2lb bag of filets for $6.99 here.

Good point about the juice, we will be cutting back (well, HE will be) although he was also told to drink grape juice.

He's already started fish oil and baby aspirin per Dr's orders.

Anybody have any good not-sugary muffin or cookie type snack recipes?

Aldi's has wild caught salmon for way cheaper than that a pound I'm thinking it was close to $4 ($3.99) I believe. They have other varieties of fish too. They are in the frozen section. TheSea Queen brand ? the grandessa brand is like $7.99 a pound.

[frugalwarrior2]

Yeah just got diagnosed w/ BS. No juice as it metabolizes too fast. Green beans are great for blood sugar. Lots of veg.salads.
Chicken and fish. some fruits. No sugar,very little rice or pasta. Dreamfield makes a pasta for diabetes friendly eating.
If he's over weight he has to lose. He has to excercise. And you don't get over it. Telling him he killed his pancreas w/ sugar is a start.
I wish him well. I hope he gets serious because sticking yourself SUCKS 4x a day.

[brennasmom]

How about flax seed?

You can buy it ground and mix it into a lot of foods . I buy a large bag and store it in the freezer. Good source of the omega 3 fatty acids.

[zakity]

As for the walks, ask him if he would accompany you. That way, you are going to for the walk and he is just going with you to keep you company. He really isn't going for a walk.

[Palooka]

Yep, I was going to suggest Aldi for fish. Costco or Sam's has tons of varieties for a good price too.

[3tomboys]

Its interesting you posted this thread. My DH has been borderline for a while now. We did pretty good at first, but slid back into old habits. We see the same MD and had seperate appts today. The MD suggested that I try to eat the way he needs to eat. I admit that I am the one that shops, so I am the guilty one bringing in things he shouldn't eat. Its not fair to him to have things in the cupboard that he can't resist. The MD suggested that if I have a craving I eat it at lunch when I am at work. Since we only have 1 DD left at home she can have her treats outside of the house as well.
Some might see this as us giving up things that we enjoy, but after I talked with the MD today I see a different side. If we all do this together in the end we will all eat better and be healthier.

[goldeneyez]

My daughter has been Type 1 diabetic since she was 18 months old. She is now 17. We have had to eat this way for a long time. The juice is one of the things she hasn't been able to have. When she was younger, we watered it down quite a bit. There are a few websites around that will help you change your favorite meals to low fat/low sugar. I have used them to change our meals so that she can eat what we do. It is way too hard to make 2 different meals. About.com has a good group of sites that has both of these type recipes in them. You can google low fat/low sugar recipes and there are tons of different sites to look at. He is probably in denial right now and hopefully it won't be too long before he decides for himself to follow what the dr has told him is best for him.