Q. I am an uninsured diabetic who just found out that I have high cholesterol as well. Because I have no insurance I see a sliding scale doctor. They pretty much diagnose me, prescribe medication and offer me little to no advice as to what to eat. Can someone offer me some advice on a diet that may work to lower my cholesterol as well as keep my sugar where it needs to be?
A. High LDL, low HDL, and high triglycerides are common in Type 2 diabetics, especially severely insulin resistant Type 2s. I have known individuals diagnosed with Type 2 whose triglycerides were off the charts (1000+).
The best way to lower triglyceride levels is to lower carbohydrates. I dropped mine from 115 to 70 by just cutting out starches and sugars. Most doctors will tell you to limit fat to drop LDL, but my diet is very high in fat (at least 60% of my diet on most days), including saturated fat (yes, butter - lots of butter), and my LDL fell to 81 from the high 120s and my HDL increased 13 points. A traditional diet to improve cholesterol is full of carbohydrates, like oats and low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese, and milk, but all those foods will raise your blood sugar and that will work against your cholesterol-lowering goals. Dietary fat is really not the enemy and I think a lot of confusion stems from the fact that lipids are known as 'blood fat.' There's this idea comes from equivocating different types of fat, assuming that dietary fat causes blood fat and body fat. I lost about 75 pounds eating more fat, my cholesterol improved by all measures, and my A1c dropped from over 11% to the low 5% range.
So, I would encourage you to cut back on your carbohydrates, especially grains, corn, oats, potatoes, rice, and sugar, even fruit, and to up your protein, healthy fats, including saturated, and non-starchy vegetables.
Exercise can improve HDL and omega-3 fish oil is great for lowering triglycerides, so these are some supplementary moves you can make along with dietary changes to improve cholesterol and trigs.
I'm sorry your doctor sent you home without more info. I, too, was seeing a sliding scale doctor after I was diagnosed and he gave me very few tips. I began panicking, searching the internet for help, and I talked to some great people who told me what to try. I haven't looked back. Low-carb diets are the way to go if you are a Type 2.
The best way to lower triglyceride levels is to lower carbohydrates. I dropped mine from 115 to 70 by just cutting out starches and sugars. Most doctors will tell you to limit fat to drop LDL, but my diet is very high in fat (at least 60% of my diet on most days), including saturated fat (yes, butter - lots of butter), and my LDL fell to 81 from the high 120s and my HDL increased 13 points. A traditional diet to improve cholesterol is full of carbohydrates, like oats and low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese, and milk, but all those foods will raise your blood sugar and that will work against your cholesterol-lowering goals. Dietary fat is really not the enemy and I think a lot of confusion stems from the fact that lipids are known as 'blood fat.' There's this idea comes from equivocating different types of fat, assuming that dietary fat causes blood fat and body fat. I lost about 75 pounds eating more fat, my cholesterol improved by all measures, and my A1c dropped from over 11% to the low 5% range.
So, I would encourage you to cut back on your carbohydrates, especially grains, corn, oats, potatoes, rice, and sugar, even fruit, and to up your protein, healthy fats, including saturated, and non-starchy vegetables.
Exercise can improve HDL and omega-3 fish oil is great for lowering triglycerides, so these are some supplementary moves you can make along with dietary changes to improve cholesterol and trigs.
I'm sorry your doctor sent you home without more info. I, too, was seeing a sliding scale doctor after I was diagnosed and he gave me very few tips. I began panicking, searching the internet for help, and I talked to some great people who told me what to try. I haven't looked back. Low-carb diets are the way to go if you are a Type 2.
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