High blood pressure / Hypertension

[braumeister]

My A1C was 5.3 and has gone down to 4.9 on this diet. That may not mean much.

That's excellent.

 

[Freedom56]

Has anyone tried eating plain sugar fee oatmeal (3/4 cup with hot water) every day? I'll admit it's not as tasty as Lucky Charms or Captain Crunch but it is very effective at dropping blood pressure, cholesterol, and your resting pulse. In my case it dropped my blood pressure down from 128/75 to 108/62 and my resting pulse from 68 down to 61 in about a week.

 

[Dash man]

Has anyone tried eating plain sugar fee oatmeal (3/4 cup with hot water) every day? I'll admit it's not as tasty as Lucky Charms or Captain Crunch but it is very effective at dropping blood pressure, cholesterol, and your resting pulse. In my case it dropped my blood pressure down from 128/75 to 108/62 and my resting pulse from 68 down to 61 in about a week.

Try adding some blueberries to give it a better flavor.

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

I have steel cut (aka chopped or Irish) oatmeal every morning, with frozen berries (usually blueberries) and some Greek yogurt on too. I set up a small crock pot and a timer and cook overnight, so it's simple. It's whole grain and the only sugar is from the yoghurt. I started doing this to lower my cholesterol, and I think it helps.

 

[Freedom56]

Try adding some blueberries to give it a better flavor.

I tough it out with plane oatmeal made with whole oats. I don't like anything sweet first thing in the morning. Although blueberries are not that bad in terms of sugar content. Oats are also good for your digestive system.

 

[googily]

I have steel cut (aka chopped or Irish) oatmeal every morning, with frozen berries (usually blueberries) and some Greek yogurt on too. I set up a small crock pot and a timer and cook overnight, so it's simple. It's whole grain and the only sugar is from the yoghurt. I started doing this to lower my cholesterol, and I think it helps.

I found a recipe to soak steel cut oats overnight in a mix of almond milk, chia seeds, Greek yogurt, and protein powder. Then the next morning I stir in some almond butter. I like it without too much milk, and so it basically turns into a granola cluster consistency. Feels like a real treat.

 

[RAE]

What I am gathering is that tracking fasting insulin is the direct way to see and possibly get a jump on the problem, rather than wait till it shows up more globally.
My A1C was 5.3 and has gone down to 4.9 on this diet. That may not mean much.

An A1C of 4.9 is excellent. Whatever you are doing seems to be working. As others have mentioned, if you want another indicator of insulin resistance, monitor your triglyceride/HDL ratio. Under 2.0 is good, but if you are closer to 1.0, your metabolic health is probably very good.

 

[RAE]

Has anyone tried eating plain sugar fee oatmeal (3/4 cup with hot water) every day? I'll admit it's not as tasty as Lucky Charms or Captain Crunch but it is very effective at dropping blood pressure, cholesterol, and your resting pulse. In my case it dropped my blood pressure down from 128/75 to 108/62 and my resting pulse from 68 down to 61 in about a week.

Be careful with oatmeal. It is a high-carbohydrate food, and can raise blood glucose levels quite a bit in some people. You may want to monitor your blood glucose after eating oatmeal to see if it affects you in that way. Personally, I prefer to eat a breakfast that is higher in protein and healthy fats, as I know that will not spike my blood glucose.https://diabetesmealplans.com/18103/oatmeal-raising-my-blood-sugar/

 

[skyking1]

An A1C of 4.9 is excellent. Whatever you are doing seems to be working. As others have mentioned, if you want another indicator of insulin resistance, monitor your triglyceride/HDL ratio. Under 2.0 is good, but if you are closer to 1.0, your metabolic health is probably very good.

I'm on a doctor supervised Very Low Calorie (VLC) diet, so this is more of an anomaly than a real data point. The A1C of 5.3 is more representative.
My triglyceride/HDL ratio is indeed close to 1 but this is some extreme conditions.
My latest total cholesterol is only 88
That's just crazy talk right there.

 

[Turbo29]

An A1C of 4.9 is excellent. Whatever you are doing seems to be working. As others have mentioned, if you want another indicator of insulin resistance, monitor your triglyceride/HDL ratio. Under 2.0 is good, but if you are closer to 1.0, your metabolic health is probably very good.

My trigliceride is 48 and my HDL is 80 so my ratio is 0.6. Yet my total cholesterol is 220. Depending on which practitioner I get at my PCP's office they either like it because of the high HDL or complain about the high total cholesterol and want to give me a "low dose of statins."

 

[euro]

My trigliceride is 48 and my HDL is 80 so my ratio is 0.6. Yet my total cholesterol is 220. Depending on which practitioner I get at my PCP's office they either like it because of the high HDL or complain about the high total cholesterol and want to give me a "low dose of statins."

Your numbers are about as perfect as you could want. The people suggesting a statin in this context may be well-meaning but are dangerously misinformed. This borders on malpractice - well no, it IS malpractice in my opinion. Don’t just ignore them, run away from them.

 

[street]

It's looking like another early detection option without extra tests for metabolic syndrome is the Triglyceride/HDL ratio. Just divide TG by HDL and if it's under 2, you're good. 2-4 is warning territory, and above 4 is not good.

Note that LDL and total cholesterol aren't mentioned.

Good piece on it here, but googling will give lots of links to papers on it.

https://www.cooperinstitute.org/201...or-determining-risk-of-coronary-heart-disease

(Might be worth a separate thread)

Interesting and Thanks. I just did the math from my test in Dec. and I'm 1.21. My Cholesterol was 240 at test date and was higher than normal.

 

[Freedom56]

Be careful with oatmeal. It is a high-carbohydrate food, and can raise blood glucose levels quite a bit in some people. You may want to monitor your blood glucose after eating oatmeal to see if it affects you in that way. Personally, I prefer to eat a breakfast that is higher in protein and healthy fats, as I know that will not spike my blood glucose.https://diabetesmealplans.com/18103/oatmeal-raising-my-blood-sugar/

I'm going to get a blood test in July. I didn't have issues with my glucose levels last test but I can see if oatmeal impacts it. In general we eat bread only about once a week and it's a mix of AP, whole wheat, and oats. We keep our BMI in the 22-23 range. During sleep my heart rate drops down to the low 50's. I run ECGs every two weeks and the rhythm is indicated as normal. We still run, hike, rock climb, and bike to stay fit.

 

[RAE]

Your numbers are about as perfect as you could want. The people suggesting a statin in this context may be well-meaning but are dangerously misinformed. This borders on malpractice - well no, it IS malpractice in my opinion. Don’t just ignore them, run away from them.

+1, I agree completely. I would never, ever take a statin drug if I had your numbers. It is insane how statins are still pushed on people that absolutely do not need them.

 

[RAE]

Interesting and Thanks. I just did the math from my test in Dec. and I'm 1.21. My Cholesterol was 240 at test date and was higher than normal.

The medical community is STILL trying to get people with cholesterol levels like yours to lower it (with statin drugs, usually), when the evidence (from many studies) is that people with cholesterol around 240-250 actually live LONGER than those with lower cholesterol levels. The author of the article linked below quotes several of those studies, and more have been done since then that found the same thing. And actually, cholesterol is a fairly useless indicator of heart disease risk, even though many doctors seem to focus on it. Triglyceride and HDL are much better things to look at to determine your risk for heart disease, and fasting insulin is also something important to monitor.https://medium.com/the-mission/higher-cholesterol-is-associated-with-longer-life-b4090f28d96e

 

[audreyh1]

I'm going to get a blood test in July. I didn't have issues with my glucose levels last test but I can see if oatmeal impacts it. In general we eat bread only about once a week and it's a mix of AP, whole wheat, and oats. We keep our BMI in the 22-23 range. During sleep my heart rate drops down to the low 50's. I run ECGs every two weeks and the rhythm is indicated as normal. We still run, hike, rock climb, and bike to stay fit.

The best way to find out why various foods do to your blood sugar is to wear a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) for a couple of weeks. This requires a prescription, but there are various online services that can help you out. Your regular doctor probably wouldn’t prescribe one unless you are already diabetic.

 

[street]

The medical community is STILL trying to get people with cholesterol levels like yours to lower it (with statin drugs, usually), when the evidence (from many studies) is that people with cholesterol around 240-250 actually live LONGER than those with lower cholesterol levels. The author of the article linked below quotes several of those studies, and more have been done since then that found the same thing. And actually, cholesterol is a fairly useless indicator of heart disease risk, even though many doctors seem to focus on it. Triglyceride and HDL are much better things to look at to determine your risk for heart disease, and fasting insulin is also something important to monitor.https://medium.com/the-mission/higher-cholesterol-is-associated-with-longer-life-b4090f28d96e

I appreciate that very helpful information. Thank you very much!

 

[braumeister]

cholesterol is a fairly useless indicator of heart disease risk, even though many doctors seem to focus on it.

In the only large study of its kind ever done, people admitted to hospitals with heart attacks had their cholesterol levels checked on admission.

Researchers analyzed data from 136,905 patients hospitalized for a heart attack nationwide between 2000 and 2006 whose lipid levels upon hospital admission were documented.

“Almost 75 percent of heart attack patients fell within recommended targets for LDL cholesterol”

72.1% of those with no prior CV disease were under 130.

50% of those with a history of heart disease had LDL under 100
and 17.6% under 70.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of drugs to lower your level, is it?

https://www.uclahealth.org/news/most-heart-attack-patients-cholesterol-levels-did-not-indicate-cardiac-risk

 

[RAMingione]

BP readings

Like you, I exercise regularly at age 68
and sometimes get BP readings like yours 150/75, etc.
I started checking a few times per day and find that BP varies a lot. After exercise, I generally get 115/70 but much higher other times. Doctor indicates no worries (yet anyway) as long as I am able to get normal/low readings regularly. Is your resting heart rate very low? I find that I get best BP readings after exercise while my heart rate is still elevated (to a "normal" range) at 70-90 bpm.
Keep monitoring - may help you stay off meds.

 

[Ronstar]

Like you, I exercise regularly at age 68
and sometimes get BP readings like yours 150/75, etc.
I started checking a few times per day and find that BP varies a lot. After exercise, I generally get 115/70 but much higher other times. Doctor indicates no worries (yet anyway) as long as I am able to get normal/low readings regularly. Is your resting heart rate very low? I find that I get best BP readings after exercise while my heart rate is still elevated (to a "normal" range) at 70-90 bpm.
Keep monitoring - may help you stay off meds.

Yep I was about 121/70 a few days ago after running. Resting heart rate is upper 40’s to low 50’s now. Was in the 30’s when I ran more.

Average over the past 10 days is 140/80. I get around 150/83 if I have salted popcorn the night before. So the numbers vary big time depending on salt intake and when bp is taken.

 

[Alan]

I started on 5mg amlodipine today. In 4 weeks time I have to do another week of 3 times a day home BP monitoring. A useful thing on my visit with the GP is that I took my own BP with my machine and she also took it with her machine and the results matched almost identically.

Looking at the GP visit record online I see that the doc has assigned me a QRISK score of 26.3%. I looked up what it means and calculated it myself and got exactly the same result if I mark myself as having AFIB and my BP at 144 even though I haven’t had a single instance in the 42 months since my ablation. I guess that once you have had AFIB you are always considered to have AFIB. If not for the AFIB my “heart age” would be 6 years better off. If the BP meds lower my BP to 110 then it will knock 4 years off my “heart age”

https://www.qrisk.org/2017/

If I leave the UK post code blank it adds a year to my heart age, if I put a London (Wimbledon) post code it adds 2 years. I guess living where I am (on the edge of the North York Moors) is statistically better for cardiovascular health.

 

[REWahoo]

I guess living where I am (on the edge of the North York Moors) is statistically better for cardiovascular health.

Could that be because absolutely nothing exciting ever happens there?

 

[Alan]

Could that be because absolutely nothing exciting ever happens there?

Nailed it one as always

 

[skyking1]

Normal upper limits are given by labs as something like under 20 or 25 mIU/mL, but for good health according to many sources I have read it should really be under 10, maybe even under 8 to rule out insulin resistance.

Results are in, I am at 7.3. Thank you for suggesting it.
The doctor forgot to write it in, as it is a code that is not one of the default checkboxes. I looked it up while waiting and wrote it in myself

 

[skyking1]

I got to a high of 154/100 at my maximum HR of 159 on the stress test today. It was all good.