John needs to lower his cholesterol

[Phil Thien]

I thought it might be fun to have a thread where we can share our healthy concoctions for others to try.

Sorry to have gotten off on a tangent, we should probably return to the original idea.

In our house, we've been trying to reduce processed foods. They're unhealthy, expensive, use too much packaging. I can go on, if anyone needs.

Anyway, as a snack we often pop popcorn kernels in a special microwave bowl, and then lightly spray the popped corn with some olive oil and dust very lightly with salt.

Not a recipe, really, but a healthy alternative to snacks that come in cardboard boxes or cellophane wrappers.

[Greg Peterson]

Sugars and carbs in excess are not healthy. And by excess I mean that which your body can not utilize immediately. Sugar may, or may not, be harmful to your arteries and heart tissues. Some reports indicate that sugar has an inflammatory effect on these types of tissues. I'm sure there are reports that find sugar is beneficial, but I think the key take away point is that we should consider the role sugars play in our diet.

IMO, obesity and/or high cholesterol is not the result of too much meat. In large part it is the modern lifestyle and diet that play a leading role in causing these conditions.

If you do not use your body, it will simply rust away. Use it or lose it. And it is never to late to build up some strength and endurance.

[David G Baker]

I am one of those people that can not take statins. I tried several different statins and they all had the same result. Muscle pain, weakness and memory loss. I took the Red Yeast Rice and it eventually caused problems similar to regular statins. I take a product called Cholest Off along with oatmeal. This seems to help enough to keep me in a healthy range according to blood tests that I get every three months. I tried stopping Cholest Off for several months but my numbers starting going bad so I went back on it and they went back to normal. The vinegar use formula is; one ounce of vinegar, one ounce of water with a tablespoon on honey mixed in. I did this for a while but eventually stopped. I have an aunt and uncle that have used the vinegar method for years, they are in their 90's, very healthy for their age and still quite agile physically and mentally.

[Jim Matthews]

The only thing that has worked for me is to excise processed starch from my diet.

I'm not an adherent to any of the Atkins variants, but exchanging fresh fruit and berries for bread and pasta has taken my cholesterol numbers in the right direction.
I can understand reducing alcohol intake, but eradicating it is not going to happen until my boys go off to military school or join an Ashram...

Barry Sears approach works reasonably well for me.
There are some people that do this with a purely vegetarian diet.

I'll give up my barbecue pork when they come for my wine - that is, never.

[John Coloccia]

re: processed foods
I got rid of those a LONG time ago. I like the taste of fresh food. I can't even do frozen anymore. For YEARS (i.e. my whole life) I HATED brussel sprouts. I wouldn't even taste one. Recently (in the last year) I've started buying them fresh, tossing them with a drop of olive oil, salt and pepper, roasting them in the oven and I LOVE them. I tried doing it with frozen brussel sprouts and I immediately had that same disgust at them. That was really an eye opening experience. Too bad I over cooked Jim's when he was over. I've gotten better at timing them, Jim...Honest! I get distracted when I start yip-yapping and sipping wine

I'm not sure what we have that would be considered processed at all. We pretty much make everything from scratch these days. It's so easy and it tastes sooooo much better. I fear that I've turned into a food snob, but I have. I don't go out to eat anymore because I find the food to be absolutely disgusting, and I surely can't afford to eat at establishments that can get it right....not that there are any around here, anyway.

re: vinegar
Why would you drink it as opposed to simply incorporating it into your diet? That's bizarre. Put it on a salad, at least. Put it in a salsa. Part of the point of this thread is to get ideas out there so that this stuff can be not only healthy but desireable. I may actually start posting some real time videos of how quick and easy it is to whip up healthy and satisfying meals. I find there's a lack of that. People need to see it from beginning to end, not just tossing a bunch of bowls with pre-made components into a frying pan. There's a thought process that goes into processing the raw ingredients, storing what you don't use, cleaning as you go along, etc, that is just lacking and it introduces an element of magic into the whole process. I don't have an endless supply of pots and pans, nor a magic hole in my countertop where garbage and scraps just magically disappear into.

But I digress...

[Greg Peterson]

David - Have you tried a muesli? For years I have had regular oatmeal for breakfast but a year or two ago I tried a muesli. It contains whole grains, nuts, raisins and dates. The raisins and dates give it just enough sweetness so I do not need to add any brown sugar.

The brand I buy is called Bob Red Mill. This stuff is fantastic.

[charlie knighton]

+1 on

but statins work well

What’s the best treatment for Diabetes Peripheral Neuropathy?

The best thing you can do for DPN is to try to prevent it. Prevention means managing your ABC’s and following the diabetes foot care guidelines.

A1C – Manage your blood sugar and keep your A1C below 7%.
B – Manage your blood pressure. Keep your blood pressure <130/80 mmHg
C – Cholesterol (Lipids)

• Total cholesterol <200 mg/dl
• Triglycerides <150 mg/dl
• HDL >40 mg/dl for men, >50 mg/dl for women
• LDL <100 mg/dl, or 70 mg/dl if you have heart disease

When you start to better manage your blood sugar, you may find out that your feet are more painful than they were. This can be because your nerves are starting to “work” again. Hang in there. They should get better.

my cholesterol is now 118 increased my HDL to safe levels and lowered my LDL to 67.5

i was having feet problems and i hope i am in the phase that your feet are more painful than they were. This can be because your nerves are starting to “work” again.

breakfast: crispy oat ceral from aldees with 1% low fat milk, sourdough english muffin with margarine & low cal strawberry preserves, 2 oatmeal cookies
25 minutes on treadmill

[Ron Jones near Indy]

The commercial that touts that oatmeal lowers cholesterol has been true in my situation. I eat Quaker original oatmeal every day for breakfast and it has lowered my cholesterol down to a very healthy level.

I do the same thing with Wal-Mart generic oatmeal. I add a little brown sugar Splenda and some ground cinnamon along with a few tablespoons of skim milk. I like the flavor, love the cost and have very good cholesterol levels.

[Joe Pelonio]

Geez, we're sure sounding old.

[Stephen Tashiro]

The way I like to eat oatmeal is with a little salt and some dill weed. I pretend it's mashed potatoes.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Why would you drink it as opposed to simply incorporating it into your diet? That's bizarre.

Don't knock it till you've tried it...
I can't "do" a shot of straight vinegar, but, mixed with a little water some salt and pepper and it's pretty good.

One thing's for sure - it does make your mouth water .
Just thinking about it even does .

[John Coloccia]

I have acid reflux, Rich, and that would just about have me in tears. It's well controlled thanks to the miracles of modern medicine and not much really bothers it other than heavy, greasy food, but a straight shot of acid would have me popping Tums like there was no tommorow

[Rich Engelhardt]

John,
Vinegar works wonders for acid reflux and/or heartburn
I have no clue as to how or why an acid - like vinegar - works so well w/heartburn and acid reflux, but, it's nothing short of a miracle.

You really should look into it.
I haven't had a trace of heartburn in years. I snack on hot peppers, dill pickles and lots of other things that are packed in vinegar.

People think I'm nuts when I chug a lug some tobasco and tell them it's to prevent heartburn.
The laugh is on them though since it works.

[John Coloccia]

I have no problems at all with hot foods. I snack on pickled cayennes and it doesn't bother me. I also eat pickles and they don't bother me. The raw acid does, though. I've seen a lot written on the internet about the vinegar thing, but I can't find any studies that support that. I wonder if we're not talking about two different things? GERD is not the same as occasional hearburn. GERD is fairly serious if left untreated and can lead to destruction of the lining of your esophagus and even cancer. When I'm not on meds, I have constant pain, day in and day out. A friend of mine had no pain at all, but felt like fainting any time he rubbed his chest. Another friend had no pain but started having trouble swallowing (I had some trouble like that to).

Do you know of any credible studies on this, Rich? It's certainly a simple solution to a problem if it actually works.

[David G Baker]

I have had GERD for around 15 years, I take 30Mg of Prevacid once a day. I had the balloon treatment to break up the scar tissue at the base of my esophagus, that helped for about two months without meds but after that I had to go back on Prevacid. Prevacid restored my quality of life. I didn't have pain all of the time, I had a bubble at the base of my esophagus at meal time, that would not allow food to pass into my stomach. That was when I experienced the horrible pain. The first couple of times I thought I was having a heart attack. Eventually I learned to deal with it on my own until I went to the doctor and got meds.