There's only one thing that we have to do in life, and that is to die. I have often met people who use this fact to justify their ambivalence toward health information. But I take a different view. I have never pursued health hoping for immortality.
Good health is about being able to fully enjoy the time we do have. It is about being as functional as possible throughout our entire lives and avoiding crippling, painful and lengthy battles with disease. There are many better ways to die, and to live.
-Dr. T. Colin Campbell, The China Study-
Not to worry. I haven't gone off the deep-end with my diet. But those recent cholesterol test results have given me some "food for thought". I'm an experimenter at heart--and I'm ready to try some new tactics. Time to rethink what I'm eating when I go out to restaurants. Time to figure out what cooking techniques I can easily change in my kitchen Time to reconsider what foods I absolutely do not want to give up--at least until I'm convinced otherwise. And time to look more seriously at what foods naturally clobber cholesterol.
Last week I went on a Cooking Experimentation Rampage to explore the world of no-fat cooking. Here's what I found out.
What can I easily change?
Can I cut out using cooking oil for browning and roasting? I admit it--I have always resisted this practice. Seems too hard--and a flavor sacrifice. Too over-the-top. But I tried it--and with the right techniques--it works beautifully! Really! And it's so much cleaner.
Parchment paper is amazing for non-stick oven roasting & browning. Butternut squash, potatoes, asparagus, and eggplant roasted up beautifully. The Silpat experiment failed. I used some maple syrup when I roasted up butternut squash & cleaning my Silpat was way too hard. I'm sticking with parchment paper.
And here's a tip from my sis--the professional baker. Don't waste your money on parchment paper from the grocery store. It's too expensive. It's all rolled up & doesn't easily lay flat. Buy it from a restaurant supply store where it comes in flat sheets--in a large quantity--and is a lot cheaper. Split a box with a friend. It will last for more than a year.
Lentil Dal Burgers Browned Without Oil on Parchment PaperMy other WOW Parchment Paper revelation was how beautifully my Lentil Dal Burgers browned up in the oven. Not a smidge of oil. Not a smidge of oil spray. Who needs to fry? Who needs the oil splatters on the stove--and the clean-up? Who needs the 520 extra calories from the 1/4 cup of oil needed for frying? I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes!
And even my veggies browned up on the parchment paper paper without oil or oil spray. My oven was hot--400-425 degrees, and they did need to be turned over midway.
- Can I successfully saute veggies without oil? Oh yeah! I got this cooking technique from a reader named Max--and it really worked well. First heat up the pan (medium high) to the point where onions will sizzle when you put them in the pan. Keep moving the onions around with a spatula until they start to release some of their own liquid. They won't stick. Don't add any extra broth or liquid too soon or it will have more of a braise than a saute flavor. And if you want to caramelize the onions, add a teaspoon or more of dark brown sugar, maple syrup, or molasses after the onions have cooked for 5-7 minutes. When the veggies started to stick to the pan I added some Imagine No-Chicken broth. I sauteed in an enameled cast iron pan. Max uses a non-stick one.
Amy Cramer, a professional vegan chef, always steers clear of oil. She uses "Better Than Boullion Veggie Base for sauteing and it lasts a year in her refrigerator. She mixes up 8 oz of broth at a time--and adds some to the veggies to keep them from sticking as she sautes.
Isa Chandra Moskowitz (Veganomicon author) has another less-purist tip for cooking with less oil: "When sauteing onions & garlic as the base for a soup or a stew you can get away with one teaspoon or two of oil. Put a teaspoon in a pool on one side of your pan-- don't coat the entire pan. Saute in that little corner of the pan, preferably with tongs. When moisture begins to release from the onions, usually after 3 minutes or so, you can spread them out, and add a little broth to cook them further, if needed."
Sauteing Onions, Carrots, Garlic, & Jalapenos Without Oil
What do I absolutely not want to give up--at least until I'm convinced otherwise?
- Nuts! I love them--and I don't overindulge. They add to my satiety, and they add flavor & crunch to recipes. Plus, my fave Larabars (just fruit & nuts) really come to the rescue when I'm out & I need food fast! And conveniently for me--a new study just appeared in the May 10th, 2010 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine which provides even more supporting evidence that eating about 2.3 ounces of nuts a day -- a third of a cupful -- reduced total cholesterol levels by 5.1% and "bad" LDL cholesterol by 7.4%.
That amount of nut-eating also improved the ratio of LDL cholesterol to "good" HDL cholesterol by 8.3% and caused a decrease of 10.2% in triglyceride levels among people with high levels of those blood fats.
But be an informed consumer: 2.3 ounces of nuts are a lot of nuts--the equivalent of almost 400 calories--practically a meal--and if you just tack that amount on to all the other foods you are eating--guess what? You're going to gain weight!
Full Disclosure: this study was sponsored by the International Tree Nut Council Research and Education Foundation.
"Nuts are a matrix of healthy nutrients, and the most obvious reason for the cholesterol-lowering effect is their unsaturated fat content. Nuts also contain fiber, vegetable protein, phytoesterols and other antioxidants."
Dr. Joan Sabate, chairman of the Nutrition Department at the Loma Linda University School of Public Health in California and co-author of the article.
- Avocados! Sure they contain fat--but avocados aren't just empty calories. They got a bad rap back in the 1980's, but their omega-9 fat has also been shown to lower LDL's & triglycerides, while raising HDLs. It contains beta-sitosterol, a natural substance that lowers cholesterol, and is also prostate-protective.
And there's more: Like lutein for the eyes, fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. Avocados also act as a "nutrient booster" by helping the body to better absorb more fat-soluble nutrients, such as beta-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin D, and lutein. 1/5th of an avocado=50 calories & 4.5 grams of fat, in case you're wondering. And just a bit spread on a sandwich, or on top of black beans or chili is so delicious--and stomach-satisfying. Not an everyday indulgence--but something I don't want to give up.
What foods can I add to help naturally lower my cholesterol?
Why can't I also start to just eat a little smarter? Dr. David Jenkins of St. Michael's Hospital of Toronto is the researcher behind the Portfolio Diet--published in many of the top medical journals--and most recently in the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 69(1):39-44, 2010, "CVD, Diabetes & Cancer. A Dietary Portfolio for Management & Prevention of Heart Disease"
Jenkins has pit his plant-based Portfolio Diet against the American Heart Association diet, and even against a combination of 20 mg of Lovastatin + the AHA diet. The Portfolio diet always beats the AHA Diet, & it works just as well as taking Lovastatin combined with eating a low-fat diet. Followers of the Portfolio Diet have consistently cut their cholesterol level by about 30%, without the side effects of statins.
Jenkins Portfolio Diet:
- Soluble fiber foods: Oats, barley, beans, eggplant, okra, psyllium (Metamucil)--14-16 grams of soluble fiber a day
- Soy foods: soy milk, tofu, tempeh, soy burgers, soy yogurt, soy sausage--14-16 grams of soy protein a day--the equivalent of 2 glasses of soy milk a day.
- Total fiber--31-37 grams a day (includes insoluble & soluble fiber)
- Raw unblanched almonds--14-16 grams a day=about 1/2 an ounce=88 calories a day.
- Plant sterols--these are the cholesterol-blocking plant substances added to margarine (Benecol & Take Control) & orange juice (Minute Maid Heartwise). But why eat caloric margarine or drink caloric juice when you can take sterols staight-up in supplement form before a meal? Check out Phytosterols made by Endurance Products The Portfolio diet provided about 1 gram of sterols a day--the equivalant of 3 phytosterol tablets a day.
- Lots of fruits & vegetables & primarily a vegetable protein diet.
- Click here to see Dr. Jenkins' articles on the Portfolio Diet
Janet Brill's Cholesterol Down! diet uses the Portfolio Diet guidelines--here are her recommendations.
Twice a day:
1 gram of phytosterols or phytostanols
10 grams of soy protein
3 grams of psyllium in am & pm
Once a day:
Oatmeal with oat bran
2 TBS Flax seed
1/2 C beans
handful of almonds (1-1 1/2 oz.)
1 apple
Harvard Heart Letter's Top 11 Foods That Lower Cholesterol--vol. 20(2): Oct. 2009
1. Oats - soluble fiber
2. Barley & other whole grains - soluble fiber
3. Beans - soluble fiber
4. Eggplant & Okra - soluble fiber
5. Nuts - 2 ounces a day can lower LDLs by about 5% (based on previous research)
6. Vegetable oils - I'm not advocating this one, but it's on the Harvard list as a replacement for butter, lard, & shortening
7. Apples, grapes, strawberries, citrus fruits - these fruits are rich in pectin, a soluble fiber that lowers LDL
8. Foods fortified with sterols and stanols - 2 grams a day can lower LDL cholesterol by about 10%. My comment: skip the fortified margarine & juice & take them in supplement form
9. Soy - consuming 25 grams of soy protein a day (10 ounces of tofu or 3 cups of soy milk) can lower LDL by 5-6%
10. Fatty fish - the omega-3s lower LDLs & triglycerides. My comment: skip the fish & go for high-grade pharmaceutical quality fish oil, or the algae vegetarian equivalents. Note: recent research by Dr. Christopher Gardner of Stanford University has shown that flax does not come anywhere close to the triglyeride-lowering effect of fish oil. Very disappointing.
11. Fiber supplements - the least appealing way to get soluble fiber. 2 tsp a day of psyllium, which is found in Metamucil, provides 4 grams of soluble fiber
Last Week's Successful Cooking Experiments:
- Roasted Asparagus Soup - no oil
- Moroccan Stew - no oil
- All-American Amazing Fantastic Chili - no oil
- Homemade Italian Vegan Sausages ala Isa Chandra Moskowitz - just a tiny smidge of oil
- Herbed Ricotta (Boursin Cheese-like) - no oil, made from tofu
- "Sausage Cheese" Pizza with artichoke hearts & roasted red peppers made with a delicious oil-free Kabuli crust.
- Homemade Larabars - made with chia seeds, cocoa, almonds, & dates. Yum!
- Oil-free humus--didn't miss the tahini--and a great way to add beans to the diet
For now, I'm thinking oats, beans, barley, eggplant, okra, apples, grapefruit, oranges, strawberries, soy, and a few nuts. Not a bad way to naturally cut the cholesterol.
When I do brown something (sweet potatoes for example) I always grill it after brushing it lightly with olive oil - just a thin coating, not so it's swimming in oil.
And, after reading your remarks about nuts, I'm going to put almonds on my shopping list! :-)
Posted by: Chris | May 26, 2010 at 04:37 AM
I hate to be critical of your cartoon, however, it perpetuates the myth that fiber tastes like "crap". It doesn't.
Most people avoid it because of that myth. And, interestingly, it assists with satiety...which ultimately assists with weight-loss and good health.
Dr. Neal Barnard states: "Fiber is your best friend." He adds that: ...for every additional 14 grams of fiber that you consume, you will reduce calorie intake by 10%. Here's his visual of that ... http://bit.ly/ccOM3L
Ken Leebow
Feed Your Head
http://www.FeedYourHeadDiet.com
Posted by: Ken Leebow | May 26, 2010 at 05:45 AM
I would love to get more details from you on your successful cooking experiments from last week - especially those homemade Larabars! Please give more details! Love your blog - I have learned so much from the postings, and it keeps me inspired to keep trying to do better!
Posted by: April | May 26, 2010 at 06:57 AM
Ken,
No offense taken--and you're right. I just wanted an excuse to use that cartoon. Thanks for the link. And you're so right re fiber.
April,
Thanks for your positive feedback. I thought I would include the recipes in this post--but as always it already was way to long. I will definitely include the recipes this weekend some time. The "Larabars" were a taste test hit at work--and my meat-loving son loved the other recipes. He's my "taste barometer"
Posted by: Healthy Librarian | May 26, 2010 at 07:15 AM
Oven browning on parchment paper! Parchment paper that's flat and well priced at the restaurant supply store! Wow, those are fabulous tips for me. Thank you for your experimentation with this. I do a lot of veggie oven roasting and this will absolutely change how I do it. I'll be thinking about you every time. Cheers!
Cynthia Bailey MD
http://www.otbskincare.com/blog/
Posted by: Cynthia Bailey MD | May 26, 2010 at 08:32 AM
Love your blog! I wonder if you are still eating too many high glycemic foods and if this isn't contributing (more than fats and oils) to your cholesterol issues. Dates, the primary ingredient in Larabars, are an extremely high glycemic food, higher than glucose. Also, adding maple syrup, brown sugar, etc. in place of oil might be affecting your cholesterol as well. Have you read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes? I was interested to see that Andrew Weil agreed with many of his assertions, eg. that fat is less a contributor to obesity and high cholesterol than sugar and refined carbohydrates. I know you've cut out many high carb foods from your diet, but I wonder if cutting out dates, all dried fruit, and sugar might help even more.
Also, have you tried Neptune krill oil supplements instead of fish oil? From what I've read, krill is much more effective in cutting cholesterol than fish oil. BroccoSprouts claim to have a similar effect. Good luck with getting your cholesterol to a healthy level!
Posted by: Rose | May 26, 2010 at 11:02 AM
Thanks for the tips, Rose. Dr. Esselstyn also mentioned the dates--I've actually ditched them in my oatmeal--and I'm only adding apples. But I sure like those Larabars--but not eating them often at all now.
I really do pay attention to the glycemic index--and I do have to say--the 3 weeks before that cholesterol test were probably not representive of my usual diet--traveling, eating at restaurants, lots of possible corruptive influences. Wish I could have a "do over", but probably unlikely to happen.
I have read Taubes book--and I agree with some of what he says re refined carbs--but not the "fat" part.
Thanks for the tip about krill oil. I've heard of it--but can't say I know any more than that--definitely worth researching.
Posted by: Healthy Librarian | May 26, 2010 at 01:08 PM
Just found your site (we saw Dr. Esslestyn on CNN this week) and was wondering if you could substitute prunes for the dates in the larabar recipe. We eat lots of prunes as they are low-glycemic index and high in fiber. Thanks for all the helpful info on low/no oil cooking and all the research you are doing in this area!
Posted by: Janet Mace | September 01, 2011 at 08:15 AM
Janet---for sure give it a try--and then let me know how it tastes. It may work even better because prunes are a little moister. And just out--prunes benefit bones. A reader passed this on to me last week & I haven't had time to share it yet--http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110818093048.htm
Posted by: The Healthy Librarian | September 01, 2011 at 08:28 AM