High BP, Pre-diabetic. WHAT THE F*CK AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT????????????

[qwlauren35]

At my last check-up (I put it off for four years. A lot can happen in four years, right!) I found out that I had high blood pressure, and was pre-diabetic. Out of his great love for me, my dearest husband went through our house and threw out every box of cookies, crackers, every high sodium soup, TV dinner, all sweetened yogurt, my Capn Crunch cereal, my Jello. Gone. All gone.

WHAT THE F*CK AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT????

I hate cooking. I have discovered, after buying 15 of them, that I hate the taste of Greek Yogurt. I have some carrots and some corn. If somebody tells me that they have too much sugar, I will cry.

What can I snack on? Help!

[elleng]

1. Sorry I don't have an answer, qw,

but copying and posting in Cooking &.

Best wishes.

[Ocelot II]

2. String cheese and nuts are good low-carb snacks.

[Lulu Latech]

3. Hard Boiled Egg whites filled with hummus

Protein and fiber will keep you full and if you make the hummus yourself without oil or tahini it's fat free.

I also find protein drinks really helpful when I want a snack. I usually add some fiber and blend with ice for a thick shake.

Try making a batch of vegetable soup to keep in the fridge. Vegetable broth, tomato, celery, onion, carrot and lots of garlic

There are also high fiber tortillas that you can have with nut butter or chicken with some salsa.

[applegrove]

4. It takes a week of torture to get rid of sugar addiction. Just bear down

for a week eating no sugary things or carrots or corn. Then roast your asparagus or brussel sprouts in the oven and get your sugar that way. Carmelization. Balsamic vinegar. I or two berries at the end of a meal. They will taste sweet and divine. And you can add pumkin seeds to your greek yogurt to make it crunchy and delicious then.....when your sugar sensitivity has adjusted and is much higher you will enjoy good healthy greek yogurt or veggies cooked by roasting. Throw in some bits of coconut or blue cheese or sundried tomatoes to add flavour to your savory dishes. Lots of fresh herbs. It is a whole new world. But you have to get off sugar for a week to 10 days till your body adjusts.

[qwlauren35]

7. You know...

the third Greek yogurt was a weird turning point. I was so hungry that it tasted good.

The sad thing is that in addition to be pathetically overweight, I am also lazy, unmotivated and sedentary. Well, I'm motivated. But it's just so damned hard. I'm soooooooooooo hungry.

Luckily, I love asparagus. So I will take your suggestion to heart.

[applegrove]

18. Eat only healthy meats and fats and you will lose lots of weight. I went off

sugar and pop this week and have lost 5 pounds. But then i have also been grieving and taking the lesson of my brother not taking care of himself to heart. Eat a whole pile of asparagus with your turkey burger. It is a keto diet without the salty bad fat meats. No carbs. You can do this.

[Sogo]

27. Pop....

You must be from the Midwest....

Others may not know what you mean, but I do....Ha!

[applegrove]

28. I normally would say "soft drink" (canadian) but for some reason I said pop tonight. n/t

[ailsagirl]

55. My parents were Canadian

They never said “pop” or “soda”

It was always, and still is, “soft drink.”

I know that various parts of America do say “soft drink,” exactly where I don’t recall. Definitely in the minority.

[applegrove]

56. At birthday parties people used to get sift drinks from the Pop Shop.

That is the only time I heard it called pop.

[Luciferous]

58. If you eat things you don't like enough

times you might learn to like them. I didn't like asparagus but it's one of my kiddo's favorites so I just kept trying it and now I really like it.

[JohnSJ]

5. You should have your doctor recommend a dietitian

[gab13by13]

10. Our physical therapy class

was scheduled to meet with a dietician to discuss healthy eating. After about a half hour of lecturing the nice lady asked, "how do you know if you are eating healthy?" A nice older gentleman sitting next to me spoke out, "if it tastes good, spit it out."

[JohnSJ]

17. For me I would want a one on one appointment, not a group situation. Every case should be

individualized

The cynicism of some in a group situation can be unnecessarily demoralizing to others in the group

[Patterson]

29. Dietitians from the American Diabetes Ass'n recommend too many carbs.

[Lars39]

6. Kroger Carbmaster yogurt

You need to be referred to a Diabetes prevention program, with a nutritionist.

[bullimiami]

8. I feel for you. It's tough because so much prepared food is full of fat and sodium.

The stuff that makes it delicious.

I’ve gotten pretty used to it. low sodium, fat and sugar.
It takes a bit.

[padfun]

14. Fat and sodium are good for a high fat Keto diet

The problem is carbs. Type 2 diabetes is basically Chronic Carb Overdose Syndrome.

Its the carbs and unfortunately, too many med orgs are owned by the sugar industries and big Pharm.

[fierywoman]

34. Check out Dr Mark Hyman (books and tons of youtube). Also (Dr) Eric Berg (youtube)

on what's called clean keto. Dr Jason Fung (books and youtube) on intermittent fasting. THomas De Lauer (youtube.) There are TONS of interesting ways to eat (google, youtube) in this way -- and I actually like crazy keto friendly burgers wrapped in butter lettuce much better than on a bun!

[mnhtnbb]

9. Mix 1 tablespoon of sugar free jello pudding mix

into 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt. I use Fage. You will swear you are eating cheesecake. Chocolate and pistachio are my favorite.

[qwlauren35]

12. WOW!

That's creative.

Seems like cheating.

Worth a try, definitely.

Thanks!!!!

[Luciferous]

57. I eat a lot of Greek yogurt, so I'm going to

try this 🙂

[padfun]

11. A KETO diet

LOW carb and high fat. But make it good fats. No transfat, no industrial seed oils such as Canola or Vegetable Oil.
the best oil to use for a diabetic is coconut oil. It is great for cooking since it has a neutral taste and is good for a high fat diet.

You can defeat diabetes by doing this. I had A1C readings in the 12's and 13's for several years, despite being on Metformin and eventually both types of insulin.

I no longer take any meds and my A1C was 6.6, my PSA reading went down (for prostate cancer) and my blood pressure went back to normal.

It takes a bit but basically your diet will be meat, eggs, cheese and veggies. If it comes in a powder, throw it away. You need real food.

[qwlauren35]

13. Hmmm

I definitely like cheeseburgers. I'll just have to try onion powder instead of salt.

[padfun]

16. You will need salt (and potassium and magnesium) on this diet

Look up Jason Fung on youtube and he covers this quite well.

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. I agree. Sodium is really not an issue for most people

It is the BALANCE of sodium, potassium and magnesium that matters.

[padfun]

20. Yep, and magnesium is the key.

The other two dont get absorbed with low magnesium levels.

For vitamins, if you use Metformin, take a B12 supplement.
And everyone should watch their D3 levels, especially in covid times.

Edit: changing B3 to D3

[Patterson]

30. Eat a cheeseburger without the bun. Use a fork.

[fierywoman]

35. Get Redmond salt (good price at Costco.) You need the minerals that good salt has.

Throw away the stuff with the chick and the umbrella -- or use that to clean cast iron pans!

[CentralMass]

39. I have been on somewhat of a Keto diet with intermittent fasting.i

I ran into much of the same after a physical last August. I was 60 and had packed on a lot of weight. I hadn't been feeling good and hadn't had a physical in years. My border line bp and cholesteral levels and prediabetic status had hit critical mass. They also detected very high liver enzyme and ferritin levels.
So I ended up on a bp end and a statin and had a bunch of blood tests, liver scans and an MRI that took all the way up to February due to the pandemic. Fatty liver seems to be my main worry.
What I have been doing is more or less a keto style diet with intermittent fasting. I try and eat all my meals in a 6 hour window. Things that are bad are added sugars (particularly fructose) and bad carbs.. Ketchup is really bad. Throw it out. I'll have Spinach scrambled eggs as one meal. I heat up olive oil, add some garlic and the baby spinach. It wilts very quickly the I add the scrambled eggs and black pepper. I try not to add salt but do sometimes slip. With keto you can add cheese but I think in my case I have to limit it. No ketchup.
I don't eat bread. It is another food that I know pack the pounds on me. I think the idea that you can regularly eat cheeseburgers is probably not the way to go.
You can order burgers or grilled chicken sandwiches Ket style at most fast food restaurant. That is no bread, ketchup, or sauce. Carl's Jr/Hardees wrap the p hamburgers in lettuce. If the burger had cheese or mayo on it to begin with I think they leave that on unless you ask.
They aren't bad but I doubt they are healthy. A "Big Carl" keto style is about 512 calories, down from over 1000 die the normal burger. At McD's you mave have to ask for the lettuce wrap if you order no bread. You can ordersoft taco supremes , chicken or steak fresco style ar Taco Bell. The are low in calories 130/150.. the sour cream is replaced by pico degallo.

I've dropped about 35 lbs.

[cinematicdiversions]

15. I recommend this as well.

A great way to kick start is eggs. Fry a hamburger than make dirty scrambled eggs and put them on top. Add some nice sugar free hot sauce and enjoy.

[wryter2000]

22. Yes!

Eggs are great. Also popcorn with a moderate amount of melted butter.

[padfun]

23. Yep, the keto snack.

And real butter, which is a very good food for the high fat diet.

One guy who defeated diabetes and obesity has a YouTube channel. It's called "Butter makes your pants fall off"

[wryter2000]

44. I'm going to check that out

Remember when they thought fat made us fat? It was sugar.

[XanaDUer2]

50. this. I lost 50 lbs on keto, too

[Rizen]

21. You have to find what works for you

When I was in high school I got on a medicine that made me gain a ton of weight. I've lost 80lbs of it. Losing weight's hard. I also have high blood pressure and you'll need to cutback on sodium for that. There are several paths you can take but you have to be disciplined. I have a big sweet tooth so I still get deserts but I've cut back on the amount and cut out all other junk food. I get vitamin waters with 0 calories, have one of those a day instead of juice or soda and drink a lot of water. Water's big. I don't eat bread and try to eat lean meats and vegetables. I keep it simple by buying a pack of baby spring greens mix and cooking some meat like hamburger, fish, etc and just have meat and a salad. I also buy berry shakes with 0 sugar added. You have to be careful as even things like juice have a lot of sugar. Another big thing is watch your portions. Don't eat too much but eat enough. I always try to have meals ready and will make big ones and freeze part of it; that way there's less dishes and cooking. I'll do things like cook 2 packs of meat in the same pan and freeze one. I'm not big on cooking either but you have to do it at least a little. Make big healthy meals like a big pot of vegetable beef stew and have that one week. Frozen vegetables in steam bags are an easy way to get veggies. I also walk 3 miles a day. You can somewhat trade off exercise for eating unhealthy but if you want to lose weight you have to do both exercise and dieting. Celery with PB makes a good snack.

This is what's worked for me anyway and I am no longer at risk of diabetes. It might be different for you and work better to cut out sweets entirely. The important thing is for you to find a healthy lifestyle that you can stick with.

[padfun]

24. Exersize is healthy but its diet that loses weight.

Unless you've been fasting for 36 hours, your exercise will burning your carbs, not your insulin created fat.

You exercise for health but fasting and diet lose weight.

[wryter2000]

45. It's exercise combined with diet

Exercise keeps your metabolism up. You need to do both.

[highplainsdem]

25. Re cooking -- a couple of suggestions to make it much simpler:

Last edited Sun May 9, 2021, 11:59 PM - Edit history (1)

Get a crock pot or slow cooker. A smaller one if you're cooking for just two. Great kitchen appliance for making soups, stews and roasts, usually with very little prep, and without any great fuss when the meal is almost done.

And look up recipes for sheet pan dinners, one of the easiest ways to cook meat or fish with veggies.

For instance:

https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/sheet-pan-supper-recipes/


Some crock pot recipes:

https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/crockpot-recipes-for-two/


And a good nonstick skillet can help with cooking eggs, especially omelets. OXO's Good Grips nonstick skillets are supposed to be very good.

All of these will help put you in control of your diet, and without a lot of work.


Good for your husband for throwing out that junk food. (Maybe he'll help with the cooking, too?) Cookies, crackers, highly sweetened yogurt, sugary cereals, etc., can all contribute to diabetes and pre-diabetes, and the high-sodium soups and TV dinners to hypertension.

Most of the recipes you'll find for slow cookers and sheet pan dinners include both veggies and meat (or fish). Veggies are high in potassium, which also helps with blood pressure:

https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/changes-you-can-make-to-manage-high-blood-pressure/how-potassium-can-help-control-high-blood-pressure


Fruit is high in potassium, too, but as long as you're pre-diabetic you don't want to overdo it with fruit because of the sugar in it (and fruit juice contains a lot of natural sugar and no fiber). Fresh fruit can be a great dessert, though.

You can find lots of suggestions online for healthy snacks, too:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/29-healthy-snacks-for-weight-loss


But I think you'll find that if you start eating healthier and get away from processed foods, especially high-carb junk foods like cookies and crackers, you'll actually feel less of a need to snack between meals.

[NQAS]

26. It can be done

We don’t have the same issues, but we decided done time back to try to eat better.

My wife went cold turkey on added sugar a few weeks ago. It was awful at first, but it’s working.

Read labels. Reduce processed food.

Veggies can be your friend. Lentils.

We are chocoholics but stopped buying Lindt and ghiardelli bars. Just stopped. I miss them but I know it’s for the best.

Make your own yogurt. Find a yogurt you like and use that as the culture. See if you can find a brand called trimona. It’s from New York and is Bulgarian. It’s good. If the Greek yogurt isn’t working out, buy non Greek yogurt. Unflavored, unsweetened. You really can get used to it.

I make my own muesli. Oats, nuts, coconut flakes. I add raisins and apricots, but thats probably skirting your restrictions. But even without the fruit it’s not bad with the yogurt.

It’s not a diet, really. It’s a change.

Good luck.

[fierywoman]

36. BTW you can make crackers out of lentils, and it's easy.

[MFM008]

31. this is something you want to do

despite bariatric surgery to lose weight in 2016 I may have developed
non alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver due to being overweight and pre-diabetic for years.
I need more details but a CT scan needs more followup I hope anyway.
Ditch the junk.
Capt Crunch isnt worth it.

[Hekate]

32. KnR for a great thread!

[Rhiannon12866]

33. I'd ask your doctor for suggestions.

At my last checkup, I there were several notices in the exam room for a lecture/class for those with different heath conditions such as diabetes, etc. Ask if there are something similar in your area held by health professionals. Your doctor should be able to give you guidelines and suggest where you can learn more.

[padfun]

37. One more IMPORTANT thing..

You will need to give up grains. They are the biggest culprit that us diabetics have. That means sugar and flour.

NO BREAD. This is usually the hardest part for those who go LCHF (Low carb, high fat) diet. There are a few that are edible such as Ezekiel bread, or certain Rye's but for the most part, no cake, no donuts, no bread period.

I eat cheeseburgers all the time, but I eat lettuce wraps, and so I have hamburger patties, cheese, lettuce, mayo, tomato and pickles. I also like to make sure they use decent hamburger meat, pasture feed if I can. NO BREAD!

If you want to maintain health, then keep your carbs to under 50g per day.
If you are diabetic and want to defeat that, then you need under 20g per day for at least the first 6 months.
If you are obese and near death, then you need to get them under 10g of carbs per day and that is harder than one might think.

Oh, and did I mention NO BREAD?

[Grasswire2]

38. lucky you

You learned this before you are fully diabetic.

NUTS

You can eat plenty of unsalted nuts. Put them in a mix with a crunchy unsweetened cereal like wheat chex, and add some dried unsweetened pineapple chunks or other dry fruit. That makes a wonderful snack mix.

Unsalted homemade popcorn, no butter, but sprinkle with grated parm.

Celery stalks with nut butter, yum.

Veggies with dip like a bleu cheese or ranch. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, yes, celery, radishes, all kinds of stuff. Delicious, too!

There are plenty of sources of advice, and there are terrific cooking magazines in the supermarkets that will provide ideas.

And you can also ask your doctor for a referral to a dietician.

[Ocelot II]

40. I gave up carbs almost completely during the pandemic lockdown

and it was relatively easy because I was ordering groceries for delivery, and I didn't order any bread, potatoes, rice, baked goods, or anything with sugar in it. I wasn't diabetic but I'd let myself go since I retired and had become pretty chubby. So I've been living on meat, fish, cheese, nuts, eggs, and green vegetables, along with protein shakes, and I took up walking 2-4 miles a day. I've lost 52 lbs. since last March. Giving up carbs really works.

[multigraincracker]

41. Low sodium multigrain crackers.

Eat to live, don't live to eat.

[janterry]

42. Plant based diet

[Harker]

43. Hating to cook might be at the root of it.

Perhaps doing a little food preparation, with your health and happiness in mind, would reveal the chef within.

The 'out of control' feeling you're suffering from goes away when you take charge of your dietary needs.

You'll be great.

[elleng]

46. I checked with my friends in Cooking & Baking, and they came up with a few suggestions:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1157103720

Be well!

[GumboYaYa]

47. Eat food, not too much, mostly plants......

Time worn advice that is still good today. And focus on the first one. Eat real food, whole food made from fresh ingredients. Cut out as much processed food and added sugar as you possibly can.

[JuJuChen]

48. tons of fruits and vegatables

no doctor is gonna tell you you had too many cherry tomatoes or mandarin oranges

[XanaDUer2]

49. I'm so sorry

I'm blessed because my blood sugar went down. I was scared. Can you have diabetic candies?

Your husband loves you and he wants you to be around a long time? Also, can your health provider give you recipes, or check your library for cookbooks for pre-diabetics.? Is there a support group online to see others' experiences with snacks?

I'm also not fond of Greek yogurt. Good luck! I'm sure smart DUers will have some useful input!

[Niagara]

51. You're alright. It will a lifestyle change and you can do this.

You will have to adjust your way of shopping, cooking and baking. You can always pre-make meals, along with diabetic friendly desserts and store them in the freezer for later enjoyment. Being pre-diabetic doesn't mean that you have to miss out on enjoyable foods.





Here's a video with 2 recipes that I've been making this past week.

I haven't made this one yet, I'm trying to determine how long to bake in an oven instead of zapping it in the microwave. I'm thinking 20 minutes on 350F.

[roamer65]

52. Go after anything with refined sugar first.

I do that and my A1C usually drops by .4 or .5

Alcohol is really bad, sadly.

Are you on metformin yet? That may help.

[csziggy]

53. My husband was diagnosed pre-diabetic in 2001. He still is pre-diabetic.

We still eat some things with sugar, but have cut back.

We dumped most packaged products (but not all). Eat a lot of whole grain (brown rice, not white or riced cauliflower instead) and not much simple carbohydrates. Lots of salad, green vegetables. Most vegetables are bought frozen (no salt) and I nuke them with no salt. I cook with very little salt - salt added at the table is tasted more and we use less of it.

I cut back on sauces - rather than recipes with soup as a sauce, I now make plain roasted chicken with fresh herbs, or sauteed fish with lemon juice, for example. I recently tried a recipe for a lemon vinagrette dressing with fresh thyme that I didn't like, so I used it as a light sauce over some baked fish - it was delicious.

When I cook desserts, they are mostly fruit based, with little added sugar - or I use sugar substitutes.

It's a hard adjustment. One of the things that made it easier for us is that his insurance paid for a consultation with a diabetic dietician. We had two sessions with her, talking about life style, foods, and how to make the changes.

We didn't cut out ALL premade products - one of my husband's favorite snacks is raw carrots with peanut butter (:wtf . There are no sugar added fruit spreads - maybe try some of those mixed with plain yogurt to sub for your sugar added yogurts. Find changes you can make without cutting out all of what you do like. Don't try to do it all at once. Make small changes as you can.

All that said, I have the advantage that I do like to cook. Because sometimes my life gets complicated, I have learned to go for the simpler meals and not the gourmet ones.

The Cooking & Baking group could help a lot, even though there may be a lot of recipes posted that will be very tempting to make.

Good luck - it is a fight for your life.

[Kali]

54. it is easier and more psychologically satisfying to add things than to deprive yourself

start small with something easy so you have a success to build on. make habits, not restrictions. add a serving of healthy vegetables that you don't eat now once, twice or even three times a week. aim for eventually getting 4 or 5 servings (about a fistfull) per day. when you reach that habit level you will find that you are automatically eating less of the things that aren't so good for you. your energy level will likely improve too.

when you do eat things that aren't so good for your health, take the time to really enjoy them. turn off the teevee and pay attention to the food, the smell, the texture. enjoy every bite of whatever it is. get satisfied, don't feel guilty. deprivation just causes failure. go back to the healthier habit and forget about it. no guilt, fresh start - so that you don't fall into "oh fuck it I already failed might as well give up."

it takes 2 to 3 weeks to start developing a habit so make the effort to add some healthy foods for that long, see what works. play around. experiment. try new things. don't get bogged down in rules and restrictions. add, relax, small steps, and fresh starts when you feel like you have slipped.

[malaise]

59. Breadfruit chips

and lots of nuts and fruit