
Tips for Eating with High Cholesterol and Diabetes
If you have been diagnosed with both high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes, you may be feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of changing your diet. You should know that there is considerable overlap for how to eat with the two conditions and that it is not as difficult as you may think.
There are several things to keep in mind when it comes to your diet. Here are three first steps for managing high cholesterol and diabetes through your diet.
1. Increase Fiber
First things first. Eat more vegetables. There's a reason the diabetic plate method recommends filling half of your plate with nonstarchy vegetables: they're loaded with fiber. They're also super high in good-for-you phytonutrients, but fiber is the big one for both cholesterol and diabetes.
Fiber is the indigestible part of plants. Meaning, you eat it, it fills you up, but it doesn't add any calories. That's helpful for diabetes since many people with type 2 diabetes are also watching their weight.
Soluble fiber (the kind found in beans, apples, oatmeal) aids in lowering "bad" LDL cholesterol and also helps to keep blood glucose levels steady. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are the best sources of fiber. Aim to increase the amount of fiber you eat every day gradually, to at least 25 grams per day if you're a woman; 38 grams per day if you're a man.
2. Choose Good Fats Over Bad Fats
Another healthy change for both diabetes and high cholesterol is to swap the fats and oils you use.
As a general rule, you want to eat more monounsaturated fats (found in foods such as walnuts, avocado, and olive oil) and decrease
Continue
reading