We’ve tried to save money on food, but whenever we do that, we end up buying produce with pesticides, meat with hormones, and food with additives that spike my blood sugar. We have decided to go 100% organic. My grocery bill has gone up 30% or more, but I’m losing weight without taking Ozempic(not covered by my insurance). Well, running has helped too.
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@coolguy40 -I lost weight by cutting out processed food. I think you are onto something.
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To minimize the impact on our food budget, I’ve been experimenting with the yuka app. While avoiding processed foods is ideal, if you find you must have a tortilla chip (or two), yuka can help evaluate the best choice. I haven’t been using it long so time will tell if I continue to find it helpful. Yuka - The Mobile App That Scans Your Products
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Happy to see nutrition and health posts here in addition to sweat. 
Something for everyone and everyone can have an interest or advice in something!
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Isn’t high HDL a good (or at least not bad) thing?
For many people, HDL goes up when increasing exercise.
Thanks - I downloaded Yuka app (the free version) - seems like a cool concept to compare food.
Was glad to see that Dave’s 21 grain bread that a lot of us like rates a stunning score of Excellent/100.
It will be interesting to think more on additives. Was surprised to find that my favored cereal (Fiber One Original; left in photo) only gets a score of Poor/49. The only “red”/bad item was Additives. The Fiber One Honey variety that I judge as much worse is Poor/45.
That’s why I swore off breakfast cereals and opted for homemade oatmeal instead. It has the same amount of fiber with none of the additives.
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I am at the stage of diet where I am trying not to look at items in isolation. If you like the cereal and it is a small component of your overall diet, particularly given your vigorous activity level, I’d continue to enjoy it. For myself, the harder I try to have a “perfect” diet the more likely I am to eventually have an eating binge of a high carb or high sugar item.
I haven’t been able to tolerate the new semaglutide medications (or Metformin for that matter) so wear a glucose monitor to evaluate the impact of different foods on my blood sugar. When I meet with a diabetes educator, she always reminds me that it is okay to go out of range occasionally - perfection is never the goal and I think that’s good advice for everyone. Eating healthy is important, but enjoying your food is also important!
HDL that is higher than normal can contribute to inflammation in the body. It can also indicate a genetic defect or other disease. What To Know About HDL Cholesterol: The "Good" Cholesterol
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I agree that avoiding foods that spike blood sugar (particularly ultraprocessed foods) can assist with losing weight. Many studies have found similar conclusions. However, there are many ways to eat less processed foods that do not involve an especially high grocery bill.
For example, my least expensive regular meal is one that involves natural foods with little processing and no additives. One serving of brown rice mixed with dried beans costs only ~25 cents. My most expensive regular meal with salmon + fresh fruit + frozen vegetables costs approximately $2.
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Yes, that’s my intention. I’m not one who can do the same thing every day, so the Fiber One original (with hefty 18g fiber, plus banana or berries) is only about 3 or 4 days a week. Other days are oatmeal, egg, sometimes toast or bagel or waffle etc
Still I am interested in learning more about issues with additive. The Fiber One Original cereal ingredients seem reasonable (as compared with some junk foods I’ve looked at) - Whole Grain Wheat, Corn Bran, Modified Wheat Starch, Color Added, Guar Gum, Cellulose Gum, Salt, Baking Soda, Sucralose. I assume the color and gums are the “additive” issue?
Interestingly my MyNetDiary food app gives an “A” to both Fiber One Original and the honey version that has half the fiber and I think has too much sugar. (Husband’s favorite Life Cereal, 36 on Yuka, is a “B”… not surprised by that.)
I do like the way the Yuka apps makes other sugggestions. It didn’t like my Lucerne store brand fat free cottage cheese (Poor/49, due to sodium and additives; sodium is non-issue for me but critical for many people… additives I’m starting to ponder). But it did recommend Daisy low fat cottage cheese (84) and Good Culture low fat cottage cheese (84) and others.
Sucralose may be the biggest issue, since some research indicates that sweetness without calories may increase hunger.
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Be aware of its rating system, described at How are food products rated? - Yuka - Help .
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There is a fairly heavy weight given to additives, but that is important to me. It may not be to others.
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The app does not allow you to look up foods for free, so this is mostly speculating. Yuka says 60% of score is based on Nutra-Score, which is described at Nutri-Score - Wikipedia . Example Nutri-Score’s of different products are below. Less processed foods do well. For example, Shredded Wheat had a higher grade of ‘A’ than Fiber One’s ‘C’. Shredded Wheat’s ingredient list is Whole Grain Wheat + BHT for freshness. The A grade foods often have a single ingredient like this – notably different from the ingredient list you posted.
A (Best) – Fresh Apple, Black Beans, Quaker Oats, Salmon, Shredded Wheat Cereal
B – Brown Rice, Milk (most varieties),
C – Fiber One Cereal*, McDonald’s French Fries, Frozen Pizza
D – Honey Nut Cheerios, Pringles, McDonald’s Burger, Chunky Monkey Ice Cream
E – Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, Coca Cola, Twinkies
*Using General Mills version
I wouldn’t take such ratings as gospel and would suggest instead focusing on how the food aligns with your nutritional goals, including the rest of your diet.
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My HDL is very high but my doctor thinks it is good, wishes hers could be 100. I’ve read that they think there might be a link between high HDL and dementia? I made that comment and she basically nicely stated to stay off the internet for medical analysis.
There are many methods and tools for achieving better nutrition and health.
@sabaray recommended one. Let’s not knock what is working for someone. Take it or leave it but let’s take all tools offered as options - people can decide if it’s for them or not.
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@coolguy40 can you give some examples of what you cut out of your diet in this process?
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Absolutely, We cut out processed food, corn syrup, and anything with dextrose/maltodextrin in it. Also, we buy only high quality organic produce, and whole grain bread from the store bakery. We instead decided to make simple meals from scratch. We both work career jobs, so meals are definitely simple. Some days, we’ll have baked salmon on a bed of brown rice. Other days, we’ll have taco salads with spinach. We have a good rotation of recipes to use. On hectic days, I can buy a rotisserie chicken on the way home. HEB has a “natural” version. It’s cheaper than pizza and a heck of a lot more nutritious. The leftovers make excellent dog food for our chihuahua.
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I think when HDL is “very high” it means different things to a physician and a patient. Per my cardiologist, an HDL of 150 or higher merits further investigation. He too would think 100 is great!
Retirement has been a real positive for our cooking, eating and exercise habits. While I love baking, baking means I’m not eating grocery store baked goods, I’m enjoying a clafoutis. It’s all about balance and for us, a healthier lifestyle rather than a diet. Previously losing 100+ pounds definitely helped me delay some real health issues. I suspect some of my issues now are the result of menopause and genetics.
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