Managing High blood sugar

Among the 3 diseases in our 3 “high” series, both Dr Wu and I would argue that Type 2 diabetes is the most complicated disease but probably the most preventable one. And it’s reversible if you catch it at an early stage! Dr Wu said, “if we eat healthily, exercise regularly, and keep our BMI (body mass index) within normal range, we can delay the onset and slow down progression of Type 2 diabetes!” In this blog, my cousin, Dr Wu , and I will discuss what we can do to prevent Type 2 diabetes.  

Understanding pre-diabetes

Definitions by blood glucose:

  • HbA1C (A1C) between 42 mmol/mol (5.9%) and 48 mmol/mol (6.5%)
  • Fasting blood sugar of between 5.5 mol/l and 7.0 mol/l

Risk Factors of pre-diabetes:

  • Genetics / Family history
  • Overweight
  • Unhealthy diet
  • Low levels of physical activity
  • Increasing age
  • Ethnicity
  • History of gestational diabetes

Good news is that most are reversible and preventable.

“Prediabetes is really common—more than 88 million US adults have it, though more than 84% of them don’t know they do. The good news is that prediabetes can be reversed.” ………CDC, Oct 2020.

1. Your weight loss goal

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No fat, low fat, I had enough! 「節食」不如吃得健康! Managing high cholesterol

Cholesterol – The next of 3 highs that my cousin Dr Wu and I will be discussing. She had set the scene for us at the end of her article Cholesterol – the good and the bad  – What can we do? “Now that I have confused everyone with all the alphabet soup, let me confuse you more with what we can eat! We used to say eating fatty foods is bad, to avoid oil, red meat, eggs, shellfish and so on. Although we haven’t really completely turned a 180, it is now OK to eat eggs, shellfish and butter! This part is where my cousin, Charmain dietitian can help and clarify.”  So here we go. 

Yes, as Wu said the recommendation for treatment and the diet has changed so much from ten years ago! Remember how much we were worried about egg yolks back then?! It took ages to convince people eggs are ok. By the way, I had addressed “egg” in my previous post I have high cholesterol, can I have muffins?

At the recent Nutrition Live Online June 2021, Choi and Jacobs reported that a “nutritionally rich” plant-based diet was associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease among adults, but a diet of mostly low fat foods was not!  So shall we put these no fat, low fat issues to the last and let’s focus our attention on a plant-based diet first? And let’s see how your current plate compares to the plate below?

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Managing Hypertension – Nutrition and Lifestyle

Hope you enjoyed reading our previous blog “3 Highs is not a death sentence” which I’ve teamed up with my cousin Dr Wu. This week we will focus one of the 3 highs: Hypertension. Dr Wu had explained Hypertension- the silent killer very well in her blog so I’ll jump right into the nutrition and lifestyle here.

Food is medicine. Diet plays an important role.

Apart from cutting down on foods high in sodium 鈉 (Na) as many of you already know, it’s important to increase intake of foods high in potassium 鉀 (K), calcium 鈣 (Ca) and magnesium 鎂 (Mg), as they help regulate blood pressure.  In short, an eating plan for hypertension should be as such:

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The 3 “Highs” is not a death sentence!

According to Dr Wu’s recent blog on 3 “highs” is not a death sentence, many of her patients believed that once they have the “3 highs”, they are on their way to their grave! Well, while there is some truth to it, the “3 highs” markedly increase one’s cardiovascular risk, but it is not a death sentence! 「3高」不是死刑!  The risk of cardiovascular death can be reduced with Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) and medications when needed.

Why do people fear the “3 highs”?

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World Obesity Day – You are not alone!

March 4th is 世界肥胖日❤️ To have a real impact on obesity, we need to work together to address its many root causes throughout society: Biology, food, genetic risk, healthcare access, life events, marketing, mental health, sleep, stigma. Simplifying the disease to any one cause can make treating it even harder. So we must raise awareness and improve access to the appropriate information. Please read more about Roots of Obesity by World Obesity Day.

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