I have always had problems with high cholesterol and prediabetic.
it looks like my age finally caught up to me (early 30s) where my doctor is now having a closer eye on my health, as well as prescribing medication. (statin for the cholesterol).
i dont want to be taking medicine. so i finally got my mindset to start doing some light daily exercises. and more importantly, eating better.
however, idk what to be doing to eat better. nor know what what nutrients mean on the label.
for example, because i have high cholesterol, i should obviously avoiding food with a high cholesterol value. but there are also “Fats” nutrient value on the labels.
with being prediabetic, i should cut sugars (i do not eat desserts or drink alot of soda however). Does that mean watching out for “total sugar” on the label? or does that also include carbohydrates? what about rice? i know white rice is bad. but what about brown, barley, black, or a mix of them?
also i always heard that fish is good for you. looking at salmon or tuna, they have alot of cholesterol and fats as well. so i am very confused
The only easy answer is to cook and eat whole foods as much as you can and stay away from pre-made foods. This means cooking from the base vegetable, meat, fish, etc. Rice, pasta, noodles are okay but just not too big portions of them and always together with vegetables and a protein.
Honestly if you keep to this you’re likely to eat healthier than the vast majority of people. For fats, there are good fats and bad fats. In general if they are from plants they are good fats (except palm and coconut), from animals they are bad fats (except fish!). Yes, fish contains lots of fat but these are good ones that our bodies need and extremely beneficial. Just avoid excessive fatty cuts of meat, butter, duck fat, etc.
If you’re pre-diabetic this might mean want to lose a bit of weight and cut anything sugary. The easiest way to lose wights is portion control, so just eat enough to feel full but not overly so.
Then when you want to know more try to read up on the subject and find your preferred way of learning whether it’s books, youtube, articles, or podcasts.
There is so much to dig into but just keep it simple to start, any improvement is an improvement and it’s amazing how small changes can gradually improve your life.
How are animal fats bad for you? We literally evolved to eat meat. Most plant fat (e.g seed oils) literally didn’t exist 150 years ago before industrial manufacturing