Knowing Your Numbers; Now Let's Control Them

Outline

My name is Amanda, I volunteer with Mariana and RebelWell and I’m leading a discussion
today that’s piggy backing off of the one two weeks ago about Knowing Your Numbers. This
discussion will be Knowing Your Numbers, now let’s control them, using diet.

Feel free to stop me at any point with questions for me or Mariana.

The theme behind knowing your numbers, and why that matters is simply due to heart health,
and more specifically, artery health. We’re going to talk about high cholesterol, high blood
pressure, and high blood sugar, and controlling all of these is important so that our arteries stay
healthy.

First is:

High cholesterol:

Concern because of atherosclerosis

You can look at ideal numbers is this handout, but just a quick review is:

Total: less than 200

LDL: 100 and lower
HDL: Higher than 40 (men)
Higher than 50 (women)

Ways to keep cholesterol down is going to involve mostly fat:

1. Losing weight
a. Eating less
or
2. Physical activity
3. Eat less saturated fat
a. Healthy fats (handout)
4. Limiting cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg daily
5. Limit sodium to 2000 mg daily
6. Get 25 g daily for women to 30 g fiber daily for men
a. Fibers is good because it helps trap the bad cholesterol in your blood and then
excrete it
i. You can get fiber from whole grains, which is why they’re recommended
over white breads or grains, they still have that fiber in them
7. Foods to avoid (these will increase LDL):
a. Red meats/high fat meats, fully fat dairy products, solid fats such as butter, lard,
shortening, fat-based salad dressings, dipping sauces, mayo, alcohol
 8. Foods to eat more of to help increase HDL:
a. Fish, , polyunsaturated oils (olive, peanut, soy sunflower, canola)
i. You also want to make sure your getting increasing fiber with whole
grains, fruits and vegetables (steamed or baked)
9. Avoid tobacco

Basically – LESS sat fat, Cholesterol less than 200 mg!

Remember that saturated fat is going to have a stronger negative effect the cholesterol levels in
your body then the cholesterol that you eat will, so focus on less sat fat!

High blood pressure:

Concern because of hypertension

Numbers:
Want them to be 120/80 (that’s your blood pressure)

Can be bad if:

120/90
140/80

Ways to keep blood pressure down by diet is to essentially avoid sodium:

1. Diet: (if you already have or are at risk)

a. Keep sodium between 1500 - 2400 mg daily
i. Food labels %
1. Based on a 2000 calorie diet and a DRI of 2400 mg, so those
percentages will be on the top end of what you want to keep your
intake between
b. Avoiding processed foods ( reference Salty 6 Handout)
c. Lean meats/proteins – basically not processed meats, so a safe way to look at it is
meat that doesn’t look like it should, like chicken that’s not in a chicken breast
form
i. Unprocessed White meats like chicken and turkey, fish, beans and lentils
are typically lower in sodium,
d. Whole grains – arteries healthy
e. Fruits and vegetables – want to eat these because of potassium, it counter acts
sodium
f. High sodium vs low sodium foods
i. High is more than 20% DRI in a serving
ii. Low is less than 5% DRI in a serving
g. Review briefly the DASH diet (diet recommended by doctors and RDs for those
with high blood pressure) – most was covered already but here are the highlights
2. Tips:
 a. Avoid salting food at the table
b. Use herbs instead of salt when cooking
c. If you use combonation spice mixes, make sure they’re sodium free
i. Tony’s, salt free
d. Avoid eating out
i. Meal prepping
ii. Choose carefully if you do

High blood sugar:

A concern because of diabetes

Want it to be 100 mg or lower

Triglycerides to 150 or lower
Fasting blood glucose between 100 – 125 ml/dL
Hemoglobin A1c test: 5.6% or lower

Ways to keep blood sugar down (sugar): diabetes

Three things to know to control blood sugar:

1. Physical activity
2. Losing weight and

3. Diet:
a. Sugars are more than what they seem
i. Any carb will turn to sugar in your body, meaning bread, pasta, and other
starchy substances are going to count towards sugar
1. Reference serving sizes – be careful with werving sizes, but this
topic is so intricate itself that it can be really confusing as far as
controlling blood sugar, and if you guys are interested in learning
about carb counting then we can potentially focus on that for our
next meeting
2. As for today, it’s just important to note that
3. Complex carbs (fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes) are
generally better to consume than simple carbs (breads and pastas,
things known as refined grains) but you still want to make sure
you’re getting whole grains so that you’re getting enough fiber
a. Simple because they’re easy for your body to break down,
don’t do as much nutritionally for you
4. It is IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT just becuas eyou’re tyring
to control blood sugar does NOT mean that you shouldn’t eat carbs
at all. Your body needs them to function. If you’re trying to control
your carb intake it is much more important that you make sure
you’re picking carbs that are considered better for you, or
decreasing your intake. NOT just cutting them out entirely.
 ii. Carbs approximately 50% of diet or less, with fat less that 30%
4. Consistent meals are important, you do not want your body to be suddenly bombarded
with a ton of sugar because you only eat one significant meal a day.
a. Think of it as a fire, you need to consistently feed it in order for it to stay strong
and functional
5. Diet for hypertension is an option because many things align
6. Mediterranean diet
a. Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruit and vegetables, whole grains
legumes and nuts
b. Replacing butter with healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil
c. Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods
d. Limiting red meat to no more than a few times a month
e. Eating fish and poultry at least twice a week
f. Enjoying meals with family and friends
g. Drinking red wine in moderation (optional)
h. Getting plenty of exercise
7. Vegetarian or vegan
8. Low-carb or low-fat diets

Overview:

Fats and Carbs: it’s not about how much, it’s about the quality. You’re body functions best when
it’s been fueled by every macronutrient class, so completely cutting up fat and carbs is not
necessarily good for you. Limiting intake and making sure your choices are good is much more
important.