Bringing down cholesterol (Read 1258 times)

Sounds like a good idea... If only I had chef skills Tomato and basil are two things that I can generally get to thrive in my vegetable garden though...

Trust me, you don't need " Chef Skills" to make great Marinara for canning. The only thing you really need is a few basic things equipment wise. Food Mill: This is the Most important thing. It takes the seeds and skins off of tomatoes. Clean Sterilized Jars Big pot of boiling water I cut my tomatoes in half, and lay them out on large sheet pans and roast them in the oven ( or even out on the grill) at 425 for about 25 minutes. I also drizzle them with Olive Oil, and sea salt before roasting. Then I food mill them over a large bowl. Large pot on the stove, heat a few Tbsps olive oil, small onion chopped, a few cloves garlic minced, your basil leaves, and your milled tomatoes. Bring to a low boil and season to taste. Divide up into sterile jars, seal them and place in a large pot where the water comes up about 1/2 way around the jar, and boil for about 20-30 minutes. Carefully remove jars to a towel and the lids will start to " Pop" down, meaning they are heat sealed. allow to cool to the touch and store in a cool dry pantry. YUM!

I am a little nervous about repeating my test since now my diet is not as clean and has more sugar and refined carbs. Truthfully for me watching the refined carbs did more for my cholesterol than watching saturated fat. Eggs, meat, cheese...those were ok although I usually went lowfat or lean.

My MIL has some cholesterol and triglyceride issues. She is already a fat-phobe, but substitutes the fats she avoids with plenty of sweets. So even though she's tall and thin her bloodwork is not all that great. Part of it's genetic (her siblings all have issues, too), but her doc has told her to cut the sweets, sugar, white flour, etc. She's having a hard time wrapping her brain around sugar being the bad part of her diet after decades of being fed the idea that fat is evil and all carbs are benign.

I SOOOOO know what you mean there! I think it was that for years people were led to believe that fat was the enemy. Just like anything there is a yin and a yang of fats/sugars/carbs. A " Fat Free" anything usually has a crap load of sugar or other processed things in it. My rule of thumb is " Always eat as close to the ground as possilbe" meaning real whole foods. Don't get me wrong, I loves me a juicy steak now and then, but have learned to love alot more beans/grains/greens just as much. My weakness has always been pasta. I Now eat strictly whole grain varieties, or once upon a blue moon, make my own. The grainy pasta takes a bit of getting used to, but I no longer crave white pasta at all. Once you feed your body the really good foods, your brain and body will begin to reject the crap foods by making you feel physically sick after you eat too many of them..... I likes that.

I LOVE whole grain stuff. The white flour equivalents always seem "gummy." I still remember how my MIL would tsk tsk us eating butter while she ate her yucky hydrogenated margarines. DS recently asked why we don't have dessert every night like at grandma's house (she does a lot of ice cream, brownies, cookies, etc.). I reminded him that we often do have dessert--fruit, berries, a bowl of Raisin Bran. The desserts at grandma's house are a special treat. I'm hoping that he will eventually understand the difference. I didn't grow up with sweets every day, so they were a special treat when we did have them.

The whole cholesterol thing is a pet peeve of mine. I am very careful about what I eat, run quite a lot (just did a marathon) as well as play tennis. Have lost a ton of weight. Blood test 3 weeks before the marathon still shows cholesterol at near medication intervention levels . I am still not sold on the whole Statin thing - I don't trust the damn drug companies as far as I can throw them. Seems like every doctor is on the payroll.

AMEN..... Statins seem like that long term they can be equally as harmfull IMHO. Genetics are the real downer about the whole thing. Regardless of diet and other things, it seems if it runs in the genes of the family, you are in for it anyway.....

< rant="" /> Well, then when then do I get my check? I guess science is bad because it is inconvenient, eh? Actually, it appears that statins are among the safest medications we have, and some have advocated pushing them over the counter (which would reduce drug company profits). But yeah, the evil drug empire does make a bit too much money, eh? Let me ask, what is wrong with making a buck to save lives and reduce illness? I guess drug companies created diabetes and measles and pneumonia just to rape the consumer, eh? And no, I own no drug stocks, do no consulting for drug companies, and am still waiting for the check you promised me I'd get. < ant="" />

I'm just glad I wasn't playing the old "Strange Brew" drinking game where you have to drink every time one of them says "eh?" Trent, your rant is spot on. And also extremely funny when read aloud as one of the Mackenzie brothers.

Weird. JK and I were talking about them McKenzie brothers just this very morning, eh.

She's having a hard time wrapping her brain around sugar being the bad part of her diet after decades of being fed the idea that fat is evil and all carbs are benign.

You wanna know my kicker? Carbs for me trigger depression - white carbs faster than whole grain, but even overloading the whole grain ones can do it. What happens when I am depressed? I self sabotage = eat in a manner that I know is destructive. (I have a slight binge problem) What kind of food is easiest to binge on? Carbs of course. I know I am in trouble when I clear out the cereal shelf in a day or two.