Category Archives: High Cholesterol

Just 4 Today: February 22, 2006


Posted by katiebird

Just 4 Today I will drink my 2 liters of water (it’s so weird, even to me what a difference it makes to type this promise out). And I will not have any sweet treats.

And in this special bonus section, I’ll share this tidbit from The New York Times

February 21, 2006
Vital Signs

Nutrition: Red Grapefruit Earns a Star on Cholesterol Test
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Grapefruit, especially the deep red star ruby variety, can help reduce cholesterol in some patients who do not respond to statin drugs, researchers in Israel are reporting.

The researchers tested 57 patients ages 39 to 72 who had undergone coronary bypass surgery and had found that Zocor, or simvastatin, was ineffective. They divided them randomly into three groups.

Each group consumed the same diet, except that one ate one red grapefruit daily, the second ate one white grapefruit, and the third ate no grapefruit at all. None took lipid-lowering drugs during the test.

After one month, there were no differences in the heart rate, blood pressure or weight of the three groups. Antioxidant activity in both white and red groups was increased compared with the group that ate no grapefruit.

But the group that ate red grapefruit every day also had significantly decreased blood levels of triglycerides.

The findings will be published in the March 22 issue of The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.


Ode to the Lettuce Wrap: A Tip for Busy, Hungry People with Diet Issues, contributed by DuctapeFatwa


Posted by katiebird

If you cringe at carbs, quake in the presence of calories, sulk at sugar, and fear fat, but still want something good to eat, the lettuce wrap is designed for you.

As the name implies, a lettuce wrap basically involves a lettuce leaf wrapped around some other food. tHis other food can be literally anything you can stand to eat wrapped in lettuce, so it is a maximum flexibility concept.

Traditionally, lettuce wrap fillings include some kind of lean meat, cooked in a spicy sauce. So if you want to be traditional, you can use any leftover lean meat in the house, and saute or microwave it with any of the already prepared spicy sauces available at the supermarket, or garlic and ginger paste, or just mustard or salsa, if you want to strip your calories down to the bone.

If sugar is a concern, add soy sauce to a small amount of the sweeter sauces. But there’s more good news! The amount of sauce of any kind you are going to put on your lettuce wrap is so small that it doesn’t matter too much how sweet it is – or how fattening, if you want to put hollandaise on there, with a chopped up boiled egg, nobody’s stopping you. Continue reading →


Eat 4 Today – The Commitment: Is it selfish to think about myself this much?


Posted by katiebird

I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. Just Today. And I’m going to try this for a year to see what happens.

I was thinking about this chronic illness thing (for me, diabetes for other people, high blood pressure or high cholesterol — and don’t forget obesity and other weight issues) and how much thought and effort goes into their management. We’re dealing with diseases that don’t have a magic pill. We’ve got to spend at least a little time everyday thinking about our disease.

We’ve got to do it no matter how frantic our lives. And that’s why I invented The Commitment. The Commitment is a way to build the basic element of what I’ve got to do first (controlling what I’m eating) into my life in a way that it doesn’t take too much energy or focus away from all the other things I’m trying to do.

But, my kids are grown and not living at home (the middle boy moved out the month I started this). My fella has been doing The Commitment (well, actually — that’s just the way he’s always eaten)

So, I don’t really know how it would work with the hubbub of an active family. Does it work?m How challenging is it?


Healthy AND Nutritious AND Delicious


Posted by katiebird

I challenge you….any or all of you….to try this new recipe of mine.

I call it

Puget’s Lunch Scramble

sweet onion chopped fine, 1/4 c
fresh ginger grated
several baby carrots grated
fresh kale, several leaves chopped fine
garlic, chopped fine
1 T olive oil
1 T canola oil
2 corn tortillas
Pico de Gallo
salt, pepper to taste.

AND

1/3 lb firm tofu (DO NOT LET THIS STOP YOU FROM READING ON)
mashed with a potato masher

heat oil in skillet, on High heat

ADD:
carrots, kale, onion, garlic, ginger
Stir well, keep it moving.

When onion is translucent add the perfect touch, dump the
rather large pile of mashed firm tofu on top.

Stir well again and keep it moving. Keep stirring until the kale looks wilted and the tofu is softer and obviously warm.

Put one tortilla on your plate. Add generous amount of the above described “scramble”. Add second tortilla, a little more of the scramble. Put a dollop of pico de gallo on top.

Take a good look at your creation. It looks like a plate of scrambled eggs, smells fantastic, tastes amazing. Now dig in and enjoy.

The tofu is tasteless. All the other ingredients make up the flavor and it is lovely.

Let me know what you think.


The Cholesterol Blues


Posted by katiebird

My wake up call came a few days ago. The bloodwork revealed cholesterol levels that actually shocked me. This in spite of being a lacto-ovo vegetarian for about 8 years now. Lacto-ovo means that I eat eggs and some dairy. I drink a ton of soymilk, eat whole grains, nuts and seeds and olive oil is my constant companion. Meat, poultry and fish never pass my lips. Unfortunetely, raging cholesterol runs in my familly.

Two years ago I went on Lipitor because of the family history… my cholesterol at the time was “borderline”. I merrily took the Lipitor for two months before the aches started. You don’t call the doctor for every ache and pain, so I pretty much ignored the pain for a month. Finally, I had to face the fact that I was having a reaction. By the time I called the doctor, every muscle in my body ached like a bastard… even my fingers and toes. It took about 6 weeks to get back to normal. Continue reading →