Blood sugar, meals, and protein

Looking for suggestions on ways to increase my protein intake to around 170-180 grams a day.

47, male, 5’9", 235 pounds. Goal weight - 180ish.

After getting labs done, my blood sugar and cholesterol were extremely high. My testosterone and vitamin D were on the low side.

My doctor put me on ozempic and TRT. She also has me taking D3+K2, magnesium, red yeast rice, and CoQ10.

My meals look like
Meal 1: protein shake, 1 cup of blueberries - total protein 25 grams

Meal 2: 3 whole eggs, 3 egg whites, 2 oz turkey, 1 cup strawberries - total protein - ~ 27 grams

Meal 3: 6 oz of beef/chicken, 3 servings of vegetables - total protein: ~40 grams

Meal 4: 1 cup of cottage cheese, 2 servings of cashews/pecans/almonds - total protein: ~ 30 grams

The most obvious answer is to eat more protein. I’m not quite sure what you’re looking to beyond that.

If you insist on keeping your meals at around 25-40g of protein, you’ll need to add another meal. Otherwise, you’ll need to eat more protein per meal.

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Isn’t the answer pretty obvious here?

Add more protein to your meals, dude.

This is concerning to me. Its a tool that does nothing but reduce hunger and cause gastric distress.

I’m not sure that’s mechanistically true, but I can understand the concern anyway.

Was this all in one visit, after one set of labs?

I’m a little surprised statins weren’t in the mix, based on your post.

Why K2? Especially while trying to clean up your diet, which will typically come with a “more leafy green” recommendation. Is there something else going on there?

When you say your blood sugar was extremely high, are you T2D?

I’m not questioning your physician at all, and it would never be the Interwebz’ place to do so. In fact, she appears to be taking a relatively holistic approach, so I’m wondering if maybe it began a little more conservative than what we see here. I’m just checking if we have all the info. Like, if you’re diabetic, I’m not likely to recommend you have 8 boluses of whey.

I’m type 2 diabetic. My blood sugar was around 400 fasted. This has been relatively new.

She feels the vitamin D3 absorbs better with the k2 (and a fat source). She wants to avoid statins at the start and try options that have less potential side effects.

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Dude, wow. You’re in pretty high territory, as I’m sure you know. Are you sure she told you to increase your protein in absolute terms? Or was it maybe as a proportion of your meals/ total caloric intake? There’s a big difference between you’re undermuscled and need to add protein vs your blood is full of glucose (and it sounds like triglycerides), so let’s minimize offending macronutrients as much as possible. In the latter case, we just need to look at what’s on your plate each meal, rather than purposefully driving up your total protein feedings.

Makes total sense.

Applause! As a layperson that has no qualified opinion, her approach sounds entirely reasonable. Your job is compliance! Did she prescribe a dietician consult?

@QuadQueen as well.

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Yes, this. Since you are on ozempic and with fasting blood sugars as high as they are, I’d definitely recommend that you meet with a dietitian to monitor things and get some personalized diet recs.

Being on a GLP-1 protein intake is super important, so I do agree with bringing that up. I would suggest opting for food you can chew rather than liquid forms. Shakes are digested more quickly and may have a more profound effect on blood sugars. I would suggest balancing your meals a bit more. Keep the veggies high, have them at at least two of your meals (switch out the fruit at one of the meals for veggies) and make sure they’re non-starchy (no corn, peas, potatoes, etc.). Spread your fat out, adding a little to each meal instead of having two servings of nuts at night. To get your protein intake up, either increase your portions a bit at each meal - shoot for 40-45 grams per meal, distributing it evenly. These things should help keep your blood sugars more stable and give your body the protein and nutrients it needs.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

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Did you get a PSA?

Low Vitamin D is associated with Prostate issues - I don’t know if it is a cause or a symptom.

Celery!!! For the Queen.

I was once prediabetic.