Anyone get a high CAC score and go for significant lifestyle changes

[alarmguy]

Medicare can cover Dexcom IF you are truly diabetic. I fought and lost a couple years ago. I am battling again, currently. We will see.

I bet the protein drink is pretty high carb and the rest are all carbs. ADA recommends 15gm of carbs max per meal. Just saying.

Yeah. I wasnt quite understanding the procedure. If you re-read that post. I do know you have to be diabetic. The reason for that one its minute by minute and can set high and low alarms. Some people, I saw it happen once with my brother, inadvertently blood sugar dropped so low he was about to faint. His wife ran to get a candy bar or something. My brother has to inject himself before a dinner.
SO he did that at the restaurant we were at, thing was he did it too soon not knowing the food was taking so long.

You know. I was wondering that too so I took a photo of that label, looking for all kinds of stuff but I dont think it was there. Maybe the apple and orange that I had after the drink? (edit ohhh, I just remembered the Almond Biscotti I had too, from Costco with the Choc bottom) I want to stress my reason for this trek I am on it to make sure I dont go up to the "next level" With the last blood results and a previous one showing my BG at levels I never had in my life, plus my 20 hour fasting diet I am loving this device as part of a whole take back my health thing, that is all this is about. Today on the scale Im down 20 lbs in not quite 5 weeks. I am going for another 30 lbs sticking with the fasting schedule. Even with the 20LB loss I am still just about 20 lbs more than I ever weighed in my life.
I still talk to my wife about it, even this morning. I was so "out of it" this year the weight kept piling up and the brain fog I honestly feel like I lost a year.. Honestly a lot weight gain was fruit and healthy stuff but even apes get heavy on that.

Thanks for the comment on Carbs. That will be next on my list, always aware of them but part of taking this to the next level will be that.
Here is a photo of the label. When I added the two spoons of powered that got mixed in with half milk and half water. I will say I was impressed how rapidly the BG declined after the rise. But I know NOTHING about this stuff, yet when I saw it, I thought that looked sort of impressive. (keeping what you said in mind) I stock up on these when on sale in Costco. I have 4 unopened ones, 2 choc and 2 vanilla. Plus two opened ones at least half full.

 

[alarmguy]

If your protein shake had a banana, those can really spike some people. I don't eat more than a half at a time after seeing how I react to them.

A banana is considered a tropical fruit which you should avoid if looking to lower BG. Orange or apple is the fine. As are berries.

Yeah, I remember believe it or not, a while back in a thread like this Pablo mentioned this. Since then I have less banana's in my house *LOL* (price has really gone up on them too, though still cheap close to at least 50% higher per LB)

 

[Pablo]

Protein powder is a rabbit hole that I really don't want to send anyone down. I quit the stuff and I will leave it at that.

 

[Donald]

Protein powder is a rabbit hole that I really don't want to send anyone down. I quit the stuff and I will leave it at that.

So HLTH (Google HLTH Code) sells a complete meal powder. Dr Ben Bikman (top research scientist on metabolic health) came up with the formula. They sell a few flavors. It's a complete meal powder. So more than protein powder. I typically use it for lunch most days. Amazon sells the product also.

 

[Donald]

Yeah, I remember believe it or not, a while back in a thread like this Pablo mentioned this. Since then I have less banana's in my house *LOL* (price has really gone up on them too, though still cheap close to at least 50% higher per LB)

I like banana and pineapple. But I save then for when I am on a cruise.

 

[alarmguy]

Well this is disappointing (feedback welcome)
My 20 hour fast ended about 330 today for a period of four hours. You could see the bump after 5:30 that was my dinner which was white rice with chicken in a coconut curry sauce, half cup of Greek yogurt and a green salad. I know you guys know white rice is a good test.

That second bump was close to the time (I guess you could call it dessert) I had a biscotti with a layer of chocolate on the bottom and an orange.
Is that why it bumped up to 182? (Gulp) after it seemed like it was settling down before that?

I think depending what you read 180 is the limit some call pre-diabetes. The only thing is last night right before I got up. I was actually at 92 and I was kind of low all day long.
I still think I’m in good shape but absolutely positively getting my weight down is the right thing and see if I can get these numbers down along with it.

I won’t play a doctor when the time comes once my weight is off I’ll get a A1c it’s just not the right time because I have things going on post drug therapy that seems to be slowly working itself out

Darn it still going up, crazy!

 

[Pablo]

Rice, sugar in curry, orange, chocolate, cookie, maybe salad dressing, yogurt if low fat

 

[ripcord]

I had curry tonight and instead of putting on rice, I had it over a bowl of roasted Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

You probably will need to skip the white rice altogether. Sorry to say, but the cookies gotta go, too. Maybe cut the rice portion in half and make it brown rice instead.

I just plugged your dinner and snack into my food app and I would estimate you had over 70 grams of net carbs. This is probably way too much for a insulin resistant person. You might need to keep it under half that amount to get stay below 140.

 

[#18FAN]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41387-022-00196-1
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26693746/
good info and i do it including potatoes.

 

[alarmguy]

I had curry tonight and instead of putting on rice, I had it over a bowl of roasted Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

You probably will need to skip the white rice altogether. Sorry to say, but the cookies gotta go, too. Maybe cut the rice portion in half and make it brown rice instead.

I just plugged your dinner and snack into my food app and I would estimate you had over 70 grams of net carbs. This is probably way too much for a insulin resistant person. You might need to keep it under half that amount to get stay below 140.

Yes, aware of the above. Previous posts I mentioned my wife and her family big on rice. I only have it on occasion when it's part of a meal kind of thing even if she has it many more times then me. I dont eat cookies or any snack foods in general but around the holidays since I dont eat them I cant resist the Almond biscotti that come individually wrapped in a big box from Costco as a treat once in a while and I only eat one. But now that might change too.

With all the above said, god I hope you are right, remember I only had this device only less than a week and being proactive instead of waiting for a doctor to do his job and look into why my BG ws 123 last blood test. Granted 2 months before it was 86. I have had 4 tests this year I think at least been all over the board due to my treatment.

What I am saying is I appreciate your input. After last night, Im not so sure if I am full blown diabetic or I am hoping just insulin resistant. I feel I can over come the resistant and not full blown. Your post gives me hope. I fought the last couple decades not to end up diabetic by doing what I thought was the right thing and seems like a might have blown it in less than a year. We will see.
I need to get educated on net carbs. I can do anything to prevent this or bring it down. Not sure if you know I was treated for prostate cancer the first 7 months of this year. The drug Orgovyx is a known side effect, elevated BG and even diabetes in people prone to it and then somehow being in a fog for 7 months orf this drug and radiation I was eating like a cow, healthy stuff, but still like a cow.
Put on a massive amount of weight 40 more lbs than I ever weighed in my life. Also known to happen with that drug.
Last days of Oct I went to set that right, I fast 20 hours a day now, one meal but last nights was a bit much of course. AS of today I am down 20 pounds and I will be down another realistically 15 this month and up to 15 more in Jan to be well within my BMI.

SO with that said, is "god" going to give me another chance?
This freaking device is the best thing to happen to me, smack in the face reality, instead of waiting for my next doctors appointment.
Still, once some months with all this behind, including steroid use, and the massive weight I gained lost. I will get my own A1C unless I see one of my doctors sooner which I can message to add that to the blood draw before seeing him.

REALLY appreciate your comments and what you think is the best food app.
A little history, My dad no longer on this earth died in the driveway of his home of a heart attack after a snowstorm at the age of 69. Ravaged by a quad bypass and diabetes and being modestly over weight.
MY brother same EXACT thing as the above, diabetes for 38 years, quad by-pass but modern technology has him alive today, with a device implanted in his body.

I SWORE I would not let this happen to be, and even though genetics have some plaque in my veins it is way below intervention levels observed by a heart angiogram. My BG was always good too... well I guess I blew it for the blood glucose and I get it, but if there is hope to get it back down by my menu choices that will be easy for me. I have done that my whole life and this will be the next level nto to go down the road my family took. I hope its not to late, I am STILL in disbelief. This year has sucked for me.

 

[alarmguy]

So HLTH (Google HLTH Code) sells a complete meal powder. Dr Ben Bikman (top research scientist on metabolic health) came up with the formula. They sell a few flavors. It's a complete meal powder. So more than protein powder. I typically use it for lunch most days. Amazon sells the product also.

I assume you are diabetic or pre?
I looked at the powder but I have another quest which is tricky, to keep fats as low as possible. At least right now as I work through reseting my whole nutrition life. Im down 20 pounds today and I am taking it down at least 30 more. Gods honest truth, I cant even believe I am typing this, my mind was in an alternate universe this year. Everything got so out of control.

BTW- Stelo - ok I have the phone app which is great, however I find the integration with Apple's Health App fantastic for Apple charting exact times of the day and some other stuff. I still have to learn more on it.

SO they both work well, the Stelo app is instant every 15 minutes. The Apple health app on the IPHONE only updates much later, maybe hour by hour or even more. But it's nice to be able to go back in the Health app to see what went on for the day.

I also installed the Stelo on my Apple Watch. So all I have to do at anytime is tap the watch screen, push a button and tap the Stelo app on the watch for a current read out the same as the Stelo app. I am loving this device and believe hopefully its not to late to get things under control. We will see.

This is a screenshot from the Apple Watch last night to show what it looks like. It's a static shot but can do a little more, again, just installed this stuff. Fantastic. I will be buying sensors as long as I have to in order to help me deal with this and get a handle on it and my weight. My weight is the easy part because I am really not a food addict. I dont know what happened to me this year.

(apple watch) instant read out every 15 minutes, not seen on screen you can choose 1hr, 3hr & 6 hr)

(Apple health app endless possibilities as far as I can tell, only did it yesterday and a lot to play around with)
Anyplace you tap, in this example I tap on the highest read of the graph and it gives range and time period. Unbelievable fantastic, gosh I love technology!!! Even though in this case it makes me depressed ..
This is just one screen shot of so many choices for criteria and also comments on what is going on... I cant screen shot them all, including "Show All" and "Show more Glucose Data"

 

[Donald]

I assume you are diabetic or pre?
I looked at the powder but I have another quest which is tricky, to keep fats as low as possible. At least right now as I work through reseting my whole nutrition life.

I am prediabetic. Or around there. Dr Ben Bikman says you cannot loose weight if your insulin level is high. If insulin level is high the fat cells are instructed to store glucose not burn fat.

Bikman also says don't fear the fat. Except seed oil. Avoid that. Omega 6. Your body needs equal amounts of Omega 3 and.Omega 6. Most people get 10X or 20X more Omega 6 than Omega 3.

Omega 6 is easily oxidized and that's where plaque starts. There is more on this if you are interested. Read or watch some of the Metabolic Classroom episodes on You Tube.

 

[alarmguy]

I am prediabetic. Or around there. Dr Ben Bikman says you cannot loose weight if your insulin level is high. If insulin level is high the fat cells are instructed to store glucose not burn fat.

Bikman also says don't fear the fat. Except seed oil. Avoid that. Omega 6. Your body needs equal amounts of Omega 3 and.Omega 6. Most people get 10X or 20X more Omega 6 than Omega 3.

Omega 6 is easily oxidized and that's where plaque starts. There is more on this if you are interested. Read or watch some of the Metabolic Classroom episodes on You Tube.

Thanks for that. I am impressed that you are working on it as I am going full into this.

 

[ripcord]

Yes, aware of the above. Previous posts I mentioned my wife and her family big on rice. I only have it on occasion when it's part of a meal kind of thing even if she has it many more times then me. I dont eat cookies or any snack foods in general but around the holidays since I dont eat them I cant resist the Almond biscotti that come individually wrapped in a big box from Costco as a treat once in a while and I only eat one. But now that might change too.

With all the above said, god I hope you are right, remember I only had this device only less than a week and being proactive instead of waiting for a doctor to do his job and look into why my BG ws 123 last blood test. Granted 2 months before it was 86. I have had 4 tests this year I think at least been all over the board due to my treatment.

What I am saying is I appreciate your input. After last night, Im not so sure if I am full blown diabetic or I am hoping just insulin resistant. I feel I can over come the resistant and not full blown. Your post gives me hope. I fought the last couple decades not to end up diabetic by doing what I thought was the right thing and seems like a might have blown it in less than a year. We will see.
I need to get educated on net carbs. I can do anything to prevent this or bring it down. Not sure if you know I was treated for prostate cancer the first 7 months of this year. The drug Orgovyx is a known side effect, elevated BG and even diabetes in people prone to it and then somehow being in a fog for 7 months orf this drug and radiation I was eating like a cow, healthy stuff, but still like a cow.
Put on a massive amount of weight 40 more lbs than I ever weighed in my life. Also known to happen with that drug.
Last days of Oct I went to set that right, I fast 20 hours a day now, one meal but last nights was a bit much of course. AS of today I am down 20 pounds and I will be down another realistically 15 this month and up to 15 more in Jan to be well within my BMI.

SO with that said, is "god" going to give me another chance?
This freaking device is the best thing to happen to me, smack in the face reality, instead of waiting for my next doctors appointment.
Still, once some months with all this behind, including steroid use, and the massive weight I gained lost. I will get my own A1C unless I see one of my doctors sooner which I can message to add that to the blood draw before seeing him.

REALLY appreciate your comments and what you think is the best food app.
A little history, My dad no longer on this earth died in the driveway of his home of a heart attack after a snowstorm at the age of 69. Ravaged by a quad bypass and diabetes and being modestly over weight.
MY brother same EXACT thing as the above, diabetes for 38 years, quad by-pass but modern technology has him alive today, with a device implanted in his body.

I SWORE I would not let this happen to be, and even though genetics have some plaque in my veins it is way below intervention levels observed by a heart angiogram. My BG was always good too... well I guess I blew it for the blood glucose and I get it, but if there is hope to get it back down by my menu choices that will be easy for me. I have done that my whole life and this will be the next level nto to go down the road my family took. I hope its not to late, I am STILL in disbelief. This year has sucked for me.

Wow, you sound super committed. I am a little concerned about what seems like the crash diet you're on. I'm no doctor, but is that sustainable? From my research, you are probably losing a lot of muscle mass by dropping that much weight that quickly. If you're pre diabetic, you need those muscles, as those are what absorb the most glucose out of your blood stream. I would strongly suggest that you try to loose no more than 1 to 2 pounds a week to minimize muscle loss.

I got the wake up call at the end of August that my A1C was the equivalent of an average glucose of 126, so I started down the same path as you. I'm going to get down to a lean body weight but I'm going to take about 6 months to get there. What has been working for me is tracking my macros (proteins, carbs, fats) with an app called Cronometer and by using an old fashioned blood glucose tester. I tested a bunch to figure out what I can eat and keep my glucose from spiking over 130.

Some of my keys: I try to eat at least 150 grams of protein a day and keep the carbs under 70. I don't worry so much about the fat. I'm not shooting to always be in ketosis but some days I probably am. I try to always eat enough calories to stay over my basal metabolic requirement. (You can find an online calculator to give you that number.) Going under that will guarantee that you are breaking down muscle for energy. Sometimes I have to go eat a snack at the end of the day to make sure I'm over that amount as I'm sometimes not that hungry due to the high protein meals.

Here's my basic eating strategy:

• Two and a half meals a day over about an 8 hour window. Cutting it shorter than that makes it hard to get enough protein and means that I have to eat bigger meals which spikes my blood sugar levels to a greater degree
• No processed/refined grains or sugar and very little whole grain foods
• No chips/soda/bagged snacks
• Lots of non-starchy vegetables. I eat a big salad everyday and focus on stuff like cabbage, greens, and non-root vegetables. I love daikon and Korean radish now. Rice wine vinegar and Japanese Furikake rice seasoning makes a killer salad dressing replacement.
• Curtailed my fruit consumption quite a bit and switched from bananas, mangos, melons etc to berries, avocados, and other low sugar fruit.
• Eggs!
• On most days I eat a serving of tuna, sardines or salmon (canned because I'm cheap)
• Replaced milk with moderate amounts of full fat Greek yogurt and cottage cheese
• Modest amounts of nuts
• Cut way back on legumes (no more than half a cup a day)
• Eat cheese and boiled eggs as a snack if I get hungry.
• I always log everything I eat in the Cronometer app. Just the hassle of doing this helps to cut down on snacking
• I aim for a daily 500 to 700 calorie deficit from what I would need for my normal activity level.
• Most weeks I walk between 5 and 10 hours and try to keep my heart range in Zone 2 a lot of the time as that is supposed to be the effort level that burns the most fat. I tend to walk in the evening when I would be tempted to snack.
• Walking after meals seems to cut glucose spikes way down and so does limiting the size of meals
• I take a fiber supplement with meals as that is supposed to reduce glucose spikes by slowing absorption.

It takes years or decades to develop metabolic disease so it's not going to resolve itself in a matter of months so it's better to plan for the long haul. It's going to take years to get back to a more normal state so I feel like sustainability is one of the most important factors. Losing about 6 to 8 pounds a month seems like a reasonable goal. More than that has too many downsides for a middle aged person in my opinion.

 

[Lubener]

My CAC score was high. Brother recently had a stroke. I am 72. I have been making small lifestyle changes but I think it's time to double down and really push myself.

And my Lp(a) is high risk. And thats generic.

If not now then when?

Anyone else heading down this path?

I had the same test. My hospital was doing them for free (to drum up business?). My score was above normal and my cholesterol has always been normal.. I am glad I had the test so that I could make life changes before the "big one".

 

[Donald]

I had the same test. My hospital was doing them for free (to drum up business?). My score was above normal and my cholesterol has always been normal.. I am glad I had the test so that I could make life changes before the "big one".

The majority of people with a heart attack have normal or low LDL.

The LDL that contribute to plaque are small particle LDL. Just LDL does not mean much.

Inflammation is what causes the plaque to break away and cause a blood clot and then a stroke or heart attack

So what life changes have you made.

 

[alarmguy]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41387-022-00196-1
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26693746/
good info and i do it including potatoes.

Wow, really interesting. I could test the theory with my glucose monitor

 

[alarmguy]

@ripcord
GREAT reading your post, When I have time, sometime in the coming days I will try to go some fine points of what I am doing. But wow, you got it together, well thought out. I am VERY impressed. I am just starting that process. I did want to comment on the fasting diet. There are a number of ways for a fasting diet. Keep in mind when I started to really get into it Im not even sure I knew how bad by BG was. I was starting this diet to get my weight back to where it was and well, read below.

Because I was treated for Prostate Cancer this year, I was invited to Duke Cancer Clinics conference on Prostate Cancer. It was an all day event, about 6 hours, fantastic experience and I will go every year. I can see you like being informed, I too and when I go with something I go all the way. At first I hesitated for the 3 hour car ride each way, then 6 hours of the conference, was a long day. I am so glad I went.

Ok, Fasting diet for me was for cancer cure and prevention, At the conference which was broken into segments. One segment was given by three Duke dietician's. Each in a different area for specific diets to achieve an outcome of helping to strave cancer. Keep in mind the diet was to be proactive during treatment of cancer and after treatment. Starve the cancer of its food source. IN this case its PSA but also (now dont quote me as anything here on is correct in the way I am stating it. I dont have my note book or time. I just knew what I had to do.
SO the expert on fasting is and has the most reliable data to achieve that goal, vs the others still being studied one of them was Ketosis.

Anyway, they highlighted all the facets of Fasting from the 8 hour window you are doing to fasting two full days a week with no more than a 600 calorie intake. SO I choose the fasting, I am pretty sure I was able to to less than 8 hours and I am doing 4. However this was to fight cancer and prevent it from returning. Ill be making up a story if I can describe the process in word but from what I remember the cavern can only use a certain sugar and when you dont eat your body goes into another mode that your normal cell can use for energy but cancer cells can not. Anyway, this is where my fasting thing came from. Cancer cells are extremely smart and can learn to get around problems, it's amazing, like it can learn to live without in this case its food = PSA. However its requirements are ridge and not as flexible as normal cells. For example, radiation kills cancer cells. cancer cells can not reproduce and repair themselves and why radiation works, Normal cells can repair themselves and normal cells can live on other than glucose. (it very well maybe related to muscle tissue) I cant remember.

Anyway, just explaining where my fasting thing came from. That ketosis thing you mentioned is also a diet plan under and presented by another in the group. BTW- I ws fortunate enough, in late 2024 to ahve had a team of 3 prostate cancer specialists review my case with my wife and I, even though I wasnt going to be treated there. They spent hours with us. One of them was the Director of Research (Andrew Armstrong) It was a very cool event. I am saying this, because I am going to get this glucose thing down and your posts as well as other in here is an incredible advantage for me. Remember I am jsut starting down this road.

Ill write more another time in a few days at most, got to watch movie with wife. (No time to proof read)

(below is one of three mentioned) (WARBURG EFFECT BELOW)

ANYWAY, ABOVE WAS THE DIET PART, OTHER PARTS VERY INVOLVED AND TECHNICAL.

Anyway, long explanation on where I got my fasting thing from. I do understand your point about muscle mass.
I'll write more when I can, I REALLY enjoyed reading all your post.

 

[ripcord]

@ripcord
GREAT reading your post, When I have time, sometime in the coming days I will try to go some fine points of what I am doing. But wow, you got it together, well thought out. I am VERY impressed. I am just starting that process. I did want to comment on the fasting diet. There are a number of ways for a fasting diet. Keep in mind when I started to really get into it Im not even sure I knew how bad by BG was. I was starting this diet to get my weight back to where it was and well, read below.

Because I was treated for Prostate Cancer this year, I was invited to Duke Cancer Clinics conference on Prostate Cancer. It was an all day event, about 6 hours, fantastic experience and I will go every year. I can see you like being informed, I too and when I go with something I go all the way. At first I hesitated for the 3 hour car ride each way, then 6 hours of the conference, was a long day. I am so glad I went.

Ok, Fasting diet for me was for cancer cure and prevention, At the conference which was broken into segments. One segment was given by three Duke dietician's. Each in a different area for specific diets to achieve an outcome of helping to strave cancer. Keep in mind the diet was to be proactive during treatment of cancer and after treatment. Starve the cancer of its food source. IN this case its PSA but also (now dont quote me as anything here on is correct in the way I am stating it. I dont have my note book or time. I just knew what I had to do.
SO the expert on fasting is and has the most reliable data to achieve that goal, vs the others still being studied one of them was Ketosis.

Anyway, they highlighted all the facets of Fasting from the 8 hour window you are doing to fasting two full days a week with no more than a 600 calorie intake. SO I choose the fasting, I am pretty sure I was able to to less than 8 hours and I am doing 4. However this was to fight cancer and prevent it from returning. Ill be making up a story if I can describe the process in word but from what I remember the cavern can only use a certain sugar and when you dont eat your body goes into another mode that your normal cell can use for energy but cancer cells can not. Anyway, this is where my fasting thing came from. Cancer cells are extremely smart and can learn to get around problems, it's amazing, like it can learn to live without in this case its food = PSA. However its requirements are ridge and not as flexible as normal cells. For example, radiation kills cancer cells. cancer cells can not reproduce and repair themselves and why radiation works, Normal cells can repair themselves and normal cells can live on other than glucose. (it very well maybe related to muscle tissue) I cant remember.

Anyway, just explaining where my fasting thing came from. That ketosis thing you mentioned is also a diet plan under and presented by another in the group. BTW- I ws fortunate enough, in late 2024 to ahve had a team of 3 prostate cancer specialists review my case with my wife and I, even though I wasnt going to be treated there. They spent hours with us. One of them was the Director of Research (Andrew Armstrong) It was a very cool event. I am saying this, because I am going to get this glucose thing down and your posts as well as other in here is an incredible advantage for me. Remember I am jsut starting down this road.

Ill write more another time in a few days at most, got to watch movie with wife. (No time to proof read)
View attachment 313619 View attachment 313620
(below is one of three mentioned) (WARBURG EFFECT BELOW)
View attachment 313621 View attachment 313622
ANYWAY, ABOVE WAS THE DIET PART, OTHER PARTS VERY INVOLVED AND TECHNICAL.
View attachment 313623 View attachment 313624

Anyway, long explanation on where I got my fasting thing from. I do understand your point about muscle mass.
I'll write more when I can, I REALLY enjoyed reading all your post.

It sounds like you have good reasons for arranging your diet the way you're doing it. I'm not a dietician and not trying to pretend to be but excited about the success I've been having.

 

[oil pan 4]

I'd say avoid living long enough to get cancer, dementia or need to live in a nursing home.
I figure on or about my 69th birthday I'll get a motor cycle, no helmet and a DNR tee-shirt.