How About Some of the Healthy Librarian's "Save Your Heart" Nitric Oxide-Boosting Chocolate Oatmeal to Start the New Year Off Right! It's for Breakfast and Dessert!

 

"Save Your Heart" Chocolate Oatmeal with Mixed Berries & Walnuts

 

"How could something this good for you, be so delicious?  Eat it for breakfast or dessert.  Served up warm with berries & walnuts, and just a hint of sweetness, your blood vessels & body will be thanking you!"

 

-The Healthy Librarian-

 

If you received this post via email, click here to get to the web version with all the links.

 

Now, don't get me wrong--I'm not about to trade in the Healthy Librarian's Savory "Cheezy" Oatmeal with Shiitake Mushrooms, Sundried Tomatoes & Spinach,  Mike's Quick Kick A** Thai Peanut Butter Chili Oatmeal with Greens, or the Oatmeal Breakfast of Champions - Spiced Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats with Berries and Chia.

They still have a place in my heart.  And health.

 

But, my version of Kathy Hester's "Chocolate Oatmeal Topped with Berries & Walnuts (and Chia)" is just crazy good and it has it all.

• Cholesterol-cutting steel cut oats that are loaded with both soluble & insoluble fiber. 
• The atherosclerosis-preventing polyphenol, avenanthramide, found in oats, boosts the production of artery-saving nitric oxide.  This is a dose-response relationship--so the more oats you eat--the more nitric oxide you're producing.   Now you can enjoy oatmeal for dessert!
• The "miracle polyphenol", epicatechin, found in cocoa.  It lowers blood pressure, neutralizes inflammation, increases HDL's, dilates blood vessels, helps prevent atherosclerosis, increases nitric oxide production and more!
• The anthocyanins found in berries--that boost memory, tamper inflammation, & clean out "toxic brain junk"--like mini-brain maids.
• Walnuts have the highest amount of antioxidants of all the nuts, as well as heart-healthy omega-3s, and a perfect ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s. It's the best nut out there, hands down.

 

Could we ask for anything more?

 

Let's Thank Healthy Librarian Marlene for Discovering Kathy Hester's "The Vegan Slow Cooker"

 

My New Fave Cookbook and Where I Discovered Chocolate Oatmeal

 

The Back Story on How I Discovered Chocolate Oatmeal & the Vegan Slow Cooker

My fledgling "healthy librarian" friend & colleague, Marlene, hates to cook. 

She's on a personal mission to find the perfect vegan cookbook with recipes that have less than 5 ingredients, no exotic spices like cayenne or cumin (I keep telling her that these are not exotic), and can be prepped in 5 minutes.

Every new vegan cookbook that she discovers--she borrows from the library--but since Kathy Hester's cookbook is so new, she couldn't find a library with a copy.  So...she decided to buy a copy for herself.

She asked me what I thought of Vegan Slow Cooker.  Did I think it looked good?  Did I think the recipes were Esselstyn-style healthy?

Oh baby, was this one a winner.  I immediately photocopied 16 recipes--hoping to try them out over the Christmas & New Year's holidays.  Don't worry, Kathy.  I've already ordered my own copy--and I'm recommending it to anyone who will listen.

Here's what I've tried, so far--and all were winners at my house: 

• Cranberry Vanilla Quinoa (GF, SF)
• Be-My-Valentine Chocolate Oatmeal (GF, SF)
• Chili Relleno Casserole (GF)
• Chili-Chocolate Black Bean Brownies (GF, SF)

Here's what looked good to me--but trust, me everything in this cookbook looks good--but there was a limit to what I could copy:

• Thai Coconut Pumpkin Soup (GF, SF)
• Chinese-Style Eggplant in Garlic Sauce (GF)
• Thai Red Curry Tofu and Veggies (GF)
• Chana Saag (Indian Greens with Chickpeas)  (GF, SF)
• Easy Veggie Chickpea Biryani (GF, SF)
• Chorizo and Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole
• Atomic Tofu Pecan Loaf (GF)
• Pumpkin & White Bean Lasagna
• Texax-Style Tofu Taco Filling
• Carrot Cake and Zucchini Breat Oatmeal (GF,SF)
  
• Mango Coconut Rice Pudding  (GF,SF)
  
• Hungarian Mushroom Soup (GF, SF)
  
• Soy Chorizo Black Bean Stew
• Apple Sage Sausage (GF version given, SF)

Full Disclosure:  There's very little oil used in any of these recipes, and when there is, it's usually just to pre-saute the vegetables--or to oil the crock-pot.   Easy to eliminate.   Hester does use coconut milk in some recipes, but that's such an easy fix, with 1 cup of non-dairy milk plus 1 tsp. of coconut extract.

She tries to avoid using too much sugar or sweeteners, and there are plenty of gluten-free & soy-free recipes. 

 

"Heart-Saving" Chocolate Oatmeal - Healthy Librarian-Style

 

Mixing up the Cocoa in a Cup of Milk & Water

 

Penzey's Special Deep Rich Cocoa - Not Really High-Fat At All! 

 

How Yummy Does This Look in the Slow-Cooker?  My House Smelled Heavenly!

 

Click here to get the recipe on one page

Adapted from Kathy Hester's "The Vegan Slow Cooker"

Serves:  4 large servings

Note:  I doubled Kathy's recipe & used my cheapo Procter-Silex 3.5 quart slow-cooker.  That way I had left-overs.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup steel-cut oats

2 cups water

3 cups unsweetened soy milk or almond milk (vanilla flavor is fine)

1/4 cup good quality unsweetened undutched cocoa powder  (Penzey's, Hershey's, Scharffen Berger's, or Ghiradelli's)

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/4+ tsp. stevia (to taste)  You can always add more to your oatmeal later if you want it a little sweeter--but watch out--stevia can get a little bitter if you add too much.

2 tablespoons of agave nectar (or maple syrup)

Options:  1/2 tsp. of cinnamon; 2-4 tablespoons of PB2, the defatted peanut powder

Top each serving of oatmeal with 1/4 cup of thawed, mixed frozen berries;  1 1/2 tablespoons of chopped walnuts, & 1 tablespoon of chia seed, if desired.

The night before:

1. Spray your crockpot with Spectrum's high-heat canola cooking spray if food tends to stick to your slow-cooker.

2.  Measure the milk & water, and then heat up about 1 cup of the liquid in the microwave, until very warm.   Now, slowly mix in the 1/4 of cocoa with a tiny whisk.  Cocoa usually doesn't mix well in cold liquids--that's why I pre-dissolve it, before adding it to the slow-cooker.

3. Add the oats, the milk, water, cocoa mixture, the vanilla, the stevia, & the agave. That's it!

4.  Set the slow-cooker to low.

Hester says this should take 6 to 8 hours.  Mine took only 6 hours!  Just warning you.

5.  Refrigerate the left-overs, and enjoy reheated the next 3 days!

Warning:  My slow-cooker runs hot--so my oatmeal was done in 6 hours.  If I had cooked the oatmeal overnight, it would have been a little dry, and slightly crusty or overdone on the sides.

Hester highly recommends that the first time you use these recipes you should do it when you are home, to see how long the cooking actually takes--and if your slow-cooker runs on the hotter or cooler side.

I REALLY want to get a better slow-cooker, so recommendations are welcome.  A programmable one--that could flip to warm after 6 hours, would be perfect.

Note:  I'm sure you could prepare this at night and let it soak overnight in a regular saucepan in the refrigerator--and cook it in the morining--on the stove.  It's the overnight soak that makes it special.

 

Nutrition Facts (based on one serving topped with 1/4 cup of mixed berries, and 1/8 of an ounce of walnuts, equivalent to 1/2 tablespoon)  (chia seed isn't included in this count)

 

Nutrition Facts Healthy Librarian's/Kathy Hester Save Your Heart Chocolate Oatmeal wt Berries
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories	312
Total Fat	10g
Saturated Fat	1.5g
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	8mg
Carbohydrate	46.5g
Dietary Fiber	7.4g
Sugars	12.4g
Protein	16.4g
Vitamin A 1% Vitamin C 5% Calcium    7% Iron 21%

 

 

Why You Want to Eat Oats Everyday

 

The New Science Behind Oats - Avenanthramides  

Old news:  Oats have a soluble fiber, known as beta-glucan that helps to lower cholesterol by reducing its absorption into the blood stream.  They are also low-glycemic, taking a nice leisurely time to digest, so they keep you full longer, and keep your blood sugar steady.  All commendable qualities.

New to me news--the Avenanthramides--the heart healthy polyphenol found in oats :   Over at the USDA-Agricultural Research Vascular Biology Lab at Tufts University, Dr. Mohsen Meydani is the "oat expert".   It turns out that the polyphenols in oats, better known as avenanthramides, are the real power players when it comes to heart health.  First off, they prevent LDL from oxidizing, which sets the process of atherosclerosis into motion.  They work their magic by "decreasing inflammation in the artery walls, by limiting the growth of artery-stiffening smooth muscle cells inside arteries, and by preventing white blood cells from sticking to artery walls."  Harvard Health Letter, May 2010.

But it gets even better.  Meydani has recently found that the avenanthramides in oats are not only anti-inflammatory, but they put a stop to the kind of wild cell growth in the artery walls that starts the whole process of atherosclerosis in the first place--which can eventually lead to heart attacks.  As if that weren't enough--when you ingest these avenanthramides with your morning oatmeal, you're also preventing atherosclerosis by increasing artery-saving nitric oxide production in the endothelium or lining of your arteries. That's the "magic gas" that keeps the arteries relaxed and dilated.  And it's a dose-response--the more avenanthramides, the greater the nitric oxide production. Side benefit:  lowered blood pressure.  For Meydani's research click here and here.

Curbing colon cancer with avenanthramides, too.  We knew that oats and other whole grains helped to reduce colon cancer, but the mechanism wasn't fully understood.  Meydani's just-published research in Nutr Cancer 2010 Nov. 62(8):1007-16 found that the avenanthramides in oats tamp down inflammation in the colon, and inhibit the growth of colonic cancer cells.

 

What's So Good About Cocoa?

 

The Greek name for cocoa means, "Drink of the Gods".  Maybe they were on to something.  Epicatechin is the polyphenol in cocoa that does its magic on the cardiovascular system.

• It lowers blood pressure
• It reduces insulin resistance and improves platelet function
• It increases nitric oxide production--that "magic gas" that improves endothelial function, and it has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
• In a recent meta-analysis in the journal Circulation, 75 grams of dark chocolate for 3 weeks increased HDLs by 14% and decreased LDL oxidation. Lowering blood pressure took even less cocoa to do the job.
• How does cocoa do all this?  It's probably because it increases the availability of nitric oxide, and it also increases arginase--which prevents nitric oxide from breaking down.  It's a 2-for-one!
• Cocoa's best benefit?  It inhibits the kind of inflammation that creates atherosclerotic plaque.
• This study will give you a good reason to drink cocoa daily.  One of the tests for a healthy vasculature is the ability of our blood vessels to dilate.  This study looked at the dilation of arteries after drinking a high flavanoid cocoa drink, compared to a low flavonoid drink.  There was a significant increase in vasodilation with the high flavonoid drink--and nitric oxide levels increased as the level of flavonoids in the cocoa increased.
• Watch out!  Avoid cocoa or dark chocolate that is "Dutch-Processed" or is treated with an alkali to decrease its bitterness--that destroys the flavonoids!

 

Bring on the Berries, Everyday!

 

Berries, baby!   The research is nothing but good, good, good for berries & the brain.  In fact, now we know a little bit more about how they do their magic on the brain.  They "activate the brain's natural "housekeeper" mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline."   Like mini-brain-maids these cells clear out brain junk.  I have berries daily in my Green Smoothies, and either on top of my oatmeal, or mixed in plain soy yogurt.   Lower cost organic mixed berries are at BJ's or Costco.  Read more here and here.

 

If You're Going to Eat Nuts, Stick to Walnuts--For So Many Reasons

 

Source:  American Chemical Society, March 27, 2011 press release

In a report [presented at the] 241^st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, scientists presented an analysis showing that walnuts have a combination of more healthful antioxidants and higher quality antioxidants than any other nut.

“Walnuts rank above peanuts, almonds, pecans, pistachios and other nuts,” said Joe Vinson, Ph.D., who did the analysis. “A handful of walnuts contains almost twice as much antioxidants as an equivalent amount of any other commonly consumed nut. But unfortunately, people don’t eat a lot of them. This study suggests that consumers should eat more walnuts as part of a healthy diet.”

Walnuts are the top nut for heart-healthy antioxidants

Vinson noted that nuts in general have an unusual combination of nutritional benefits — in addition those antioxidants — wrapped into a convenient and inexpensive package. Nuts, for instance, contain plenty of high-quality protein that can substitute for meat; vitamins and minerals; dietary fiber; and are dairy- and gluten-free.

Years of research by scientists around the world link regular consumption of small amounts of nuts or peanut butter with decreased risk of heart disease, certain kinds of cancer, gallstones, Type 2 diabetes, and other health problems.

Despite all the previous research, scientists until now had not compared both the amount and quality of antioxidants found in different nuts, Vinson said. He filled that knowledge gap by analyzing antioxidants in nine different types of nuts: walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamias, and pecans. Walnuts had the highest levels of antioxidants.

Vinson also found that the quality, or potency, of antioxidants present in walnuts was highest among the nuts. Antioxidants in walnuts were 2-15 times as potent as vitamin E, renowned for its powerful antioxidant effects that protect the body against damaging natural chemicals involved in causing disease.

“There’s another advantage in choosing walnuts as a source of antioxidants,” said Vinson, who is with the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. “The heat from roasting nuts generally reduces the quality of the antioxidants. People usually eat walnuts raw or unroasted, and get the full effectiveness of those antioxidants.”

Dr. David Katz of the Yale University School of Medicine, published a small randomized-controlled study in 2010, that demonstrated how a walnut-enriched diet improves endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in type 2 diabetic individuals, suggesting a potential reduction in overall cardiac risk.  

Source:  Ma Y, Njike VY, Millet J, Dutta S, Doughty K, Treu JA, Katz DL, "Effects of walnut consumption on endothelial function in type 2 diabetic subjects: a randomized controlled crossover trial,"   Diabetes Care,  2010 Feb;33(2):227-32.  Click here for the full article.

 

Just Wanted to Say, "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You" to Everyone Who Takes the TIme to Read HHLL!!!

You are no doubt some of the most thoughtful, interesting, intelligent, independent-minded, savvy & healthy group of readers out there!

1.  What a surprise for me to see Happy Healthy Long Life on Susan Voisin's (The Fat-Free Vegan's) short-list of helpful sites that will support a plant-based lifestyle.  Susan's New Year's post,  My Get-Healthy Plan to KISSS in the New Year is outstanding.  Be sure to check it out.  Susan, I'm so honored to have made your list!  Thank You!  She is one of the best resources for fat-free recipes around.

2.  If you haven't been keeping up with all the thoughtful, articulate, motivating, & inspiring comments to my recent post, please click on this link, and scroll on down to read them: The Sunday New York Times "Fat Trap" & "Why Lost Pounds Come Back"- It Misses the Mark! Forget the Genetic, Hormone, & Metabolic Excuses - Just Give Esselstyn Plant-Perfect a Try!  Some very interesting comments.

3.  I'm overwhelmed, humbled, & absolutely thrilled to see so many of you visiting the Happy Healthy Long Life - Healthy Librarian Facebook page.  All your thumbs up, and generous words are beyond any expectations I had when I created the page.  It's so much fun for me to finally meet you--and have a conversation.  If you haven't visited, please do--and join in the conversation. 

You can find me here:

Follow me on Happy Healthy Long Life - The Healthy Librarian's Facebook Page. Something new everyday--& you don't need a Facebook account to check out what's on the page. 

4.  Another surprise for me was seeing Happy Healthy Long Life on MD Consult's list of "Blogs We Follow".  MD Consult is an excellent and highly respected subscription website for physicians & medical/hospital libraries--so not something most of you are likely to have seen.  It's produced by Elsevier, one of the premier medical publishers in the world.  I'm honored to be on that list.

5.  My last bit of shared news, is one of my favorite comments on the New York Times, in response to Tara Parker Pope's, "Fat Trap" article.   It was written by an uber-healthy 84 year-old woman from Toronto:

• Margaret Bennet-Alder
• Toronto

Wouldn't every man worth his salt, and and every woman, want to put Viagra out of business? The wrong food got him into his pickle and the right food can get him out of it.

Forget the Food Pyramid with its animal foods. Use the Food Plate: whole grains, vegetables, beans/legumes, and fruits. How to make the switch?

Neal D. Barnard, MD, in his new book 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart takes you by the hand explaining why animal foods pack on the pounds and plant foods burn calories. Menus and recipes ease you on your way.

Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn's classic, Prevent and Reverse Disease, is the one that inspired former president, Bill Clinton, to lose weight and keep healthy after a stent.

Three years ago after reading The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, PhD, I became a vegan overnight. I began by following Dr. John A. McDougall's plant-based 12-day Meal Plan which is free from his web site. Within a month I lost the 10 pounds that I had tried to lose for 35 years. Upon not using any added oil I have lost another 15 pounds and now weigh what I weighed in high school. I'm never hungry and enjoy healthy carbohydrates. I'm looking forward to Dr. McDougall's forthcoming book, Starch, to be published by Rodale in April, 2012.

The healthylibrarian.com and vegsource.com provide excellent information to keep me on track.

Although heart disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity have felled relatives, I'm well at 84 thanks to my plate of plants. I look forward to more years of the same.

• Jan. 1, 2012 at 2:45 p.m.

 

Comments

[Mina]

Can this oatmeal be made in any sized crock pot? I have a larger one and am always afraid to make oats in it - even though it would save me a TON of time!

Mina

[JK]

Waiting to hear about the slow cooker recommendations! I need one! I just do my oats on the stove, but this would be easier.

[The Healthy Librarian]

I'm going to email Kathy Hester--the slow cooker maven! She's tried them all.

[The Healthy Librarian]

Kathy Hester rocks!

I emailed her for advice on the best slow cooker for my needs.

I want something that I can keep "cooking" all night--or all day.

Here's what she recommends.

Hi Debby,

Thank you so much for your compliments and passing on the word about my book.

I do like the 3.5 quart Cuisinart. It has 4 settings warm simmer low high and is programmable. That means you can set it to automatically switch to warm at a certain amount of time. Simmer cooks at a lower temp than low so that might help you too.

Have a great 2012!

--
Kathy Hester

Check out Kathy's more detailed recommendations for slow-cookers:

http://healthyslowcooking.com/2011/03/25/tips-on-picking-out-a-slow-cooker-thats-right-for-you/

And check out here blog, here: http://healthyslowcooking.com/

Author of:
The Vegan Slow Cooker (cookbook) and Healthy Slow Cooking (blog)

[Kathleen Keating Schloessinger]

I love your site and information BUT was just checking your list of recommended books and when I looked at the description of "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and I am shocked that you would suggest his book as he recommends:

Good Calories
These foods can be eaten without restraint.
Meat, fish, fowl, cheese, eggs, butter, and non-starchy vegetables.

Bad Calories
....(So apple juice or even green vegetable juices are not necessarily any healthier than soda.)
Bread and other baked goods, potatoes, yams, rice, pasta, cereal grains .....
MORE SCARY EXAMPLES ...

The 11 Critical Conclusions of Good Calories, Bad Calories:

1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, does not cause heart disease.
2. Carbohydrates do ....
5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating and not sedentary behavior.
7. Exercise does not make us lose excess fat; it makes us hungry.
10. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.
11. The fewer carbohydrates we eat, the leaner we will be.
ETC!
I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS BOOK IS ON YOUR LIST!?

[The Healthy Librarian]

Kathleen,

Oops, it's just on there as I book I found interesting to read--and read 4 years ago when I began this blog. I disagree with most of his conclusions--except that refined carbs, sugar, & processed foods have been very damaging to our health--and a tremendous driver of obesity.

I certainly do not ascribe to his conclusions on fat, sat fat in particular, or exercise-but, that said, I do believe in reading all the interpretations of health & nutrition research--and reading widely! How else can one learn?

But, you're certainly right--some people might misinterpret that the book is on the list because I advocate its conclusions.

That list of books went up at the start of this blog--and I unfortunately haven't added much to it--nor weeded it.

Thanks for "reminding" me that it's time to do a little housekeeping.

[Ann]

Hi Healthy Librarian (whom I have become a very devoted fan of...and recommended to many others),

I came across your blog when I googled "Caldwell Esselstyn" after I read about and started the Esselstyn Diet. And I know that he has a long association with the Cleveland Clinic. I just received the Cleveland Clinics Heart and Vascular Newsletter this morning and it's leading article was a short Q&A piece on cholesterol...below lies an excerpt from it:

"Have your cholesterol checked. And, understand how cholesterol works, recommends Cleveland Clinic heart surgeon Marc Gillinov, MD, and cardiologist Steven Nissen, MD. Can you tell fact from fiction?

1. Diet is the most important factor in determining your cholesterol level.

False. Eighty percent of the body’s cholesterol is made by the liver. That means, only 20 percent comes from your diet. That’s why it is so hard to lower cholesterol through diet alone. By banning nearly all cholesterol from your diet, you might be able to reduce your total cholesterol level by about 20 percent.

Understanding this can often make the choice to take cholesterol-lowering drugs easier. If you need to reduce your cholesterol by 50 percent, you cannot accomplish this through diet alone. You’ll need a good diet and the right medication."

I have no intention - or at least I don't think so - of veering from my Esselstyn fare but am wondering what sense you make of the above... I feel like this flies in the face of claims made by others who have followed the Esselstyn diet and seen significant decreases in their LDL...and yes, the cynic in me also feels like it reads a little bit like a statin commercial.

Do you have any thoughts on the above? No offense - would you prefer that I go to Dr. Esselstyn's website with this question?

Thanks --- and again, thanks for your blog...this is the first blog that I truly relish and look forward to reading...Ann

[Carol]

All I can say is.....I want to be Margaret Bennet-Alder when I grow up. What a wonderful testimonial! And for an 84 year old to be writing letters to the editor (on her computer yet!) is just amazing. And also for an 81 year old to take in the new information and be willing and energetic enough to make serious changes.....I'm so impressed. (I hope all the 80 somethings won't jump on me, but the ones I know are not generally quite that pro-active!)

[Health Librarian]

Carol,

That's exactly what I thought when I read Margaret Bennet-Alder's comment in the New York Times.

She recently emailed me, and her signature says, "from my iPAD"!!

Margaret Bennet-Alder rocks! Don't you think?

[val]

Your blog is a life-saver. My husband is going 100% plant-based this year and your suggestions have saved us lots of time in experimenting with new ingredients and combinations. In the past, we felt we were eating a bunch of side dishes. Now we have the tools to make seriously delicious vegan main courses.

[Healthy Librarian]

@Val:

Yay!! I'm so excited for your husband--and for you. It's so great that he also likes to cook--b/c once he sees how many amazing cookbooks & recipes are out there--the skies the limit.

Please share any recipes that he gives 2 thumbs up to!

Hey, any way I can help, or suggestions, products, or recipes that I can pass on--just let me know. Really!

Funny thing is--we eat very few side dishes--it's mostly one-dish meals, with enough left-over for lunch or maybe dinner the next day.

[Andrea]

Quick question re oats... I eat them raw (regular, not quick), muesli style (w/ prunes, since reading their bone building benefits here, banana, a few hazelnuts, soy milk and anything else I think to add) ever since a trip to Scandinavian countries. Just prefer the texture. Does raw provide the same benefits as cooked? Thanks again for a wonderful site!

[Alysson Hartmann]

Wow! I knew oatmeal was good but it just keeps getting better and better. Funny thing- I had a craving for an oatmeal dessert last night! Although I ended up making a smoothie with almond milk, PB, banana, dates, and cocoa, now I see I could have done a chocolate style oatmeal dessert. Oats aren't just for breakfast anymore, huh?
The smoothie was good, too. It sure beats the heck out of many alternatives on the market...
I swear by oatmeal with berries and walnuts for breakfast and that is often what I and my littles eat- so glad to know it is a nutrition powerhouse! Thanks!

[Wendy (Healthy GIrl's Kitchen)]

I made this and it was so good, but I have to say that it was the berries and walnuts that did it for me. The combination was outstanding! Now I think I am going to have to experiment with all sorts of slow cooker oatmeal. Look what you have done!

[Wendy (Healthy GIrl's Kitchen)]

Ann (from comment above)-I followed the Esselstyn/Fuhrman recommendations and my cholesterol went from 231 to 147. What percent is that? No drugs. Just diet change and exercise. Those other doctors just want to sell you drugs and stents!

[The Healthy Librarian]

@Andrea, Dr. Esselstyn prefers to eat his oats raw. That says something. I don't know of any research that disputes this--but--I haven't looked into it--so honestly, I'm just "making up" my answer. People have been eating muesli forever--I say if you like that texture--go with it.

I like hot cereal--other people like their cereals cold.

@Ann--the info on that newletter isn't new--have heard that "story" for years--I'm guessing because there are no mega-sized research studies, other than Esselstyn's, Ornish's, McDougalls, Barnard's, Dr. David Jenkin's & Pritikin's smaller studies that have looked at the effect of no-oil diets combined with whole grain, no sugar, high fiber, & high micro-nutrient diets on cholesterol.

Many docs just assume that no one would stick with such a diet. I was encouraged to go on statins--my husband, too. there was no suggestion to go on lifestyle-changing diet.

Refined carbs & sugar are also cholesterol drivers. (Look again at my post on Dr. Robert Lustig, to see how sugar & refined carbs affect cholesterol) Note: I'm just reporting here--and putting in my non-medical two cents.

The heart disease story is far more complex than just cholesterol numbers--inflammation is a big driver of cardiovascular disease--and the effect of diet on inflammation needs to be addressed.

Wendy's response says it all! Look at the numbers of people who follow this diet.

Watch for a reply next week from a plant-based cardiologist.

@Wendy--thanks for the oatmeal review! I agree--the nuts & berries make it! I'm with you--I'm ready to "go wild" with all kinds of slow-cooker oatmeal experiments. That carrot cake/zucchini bread variation has serious possibilities.

@Wendy again! Great reply to Ann's question. Getting people to change their diets takes lots of support & involves a lot of teaching time--no docs have that kind of time these days--and there's no reimbursement for it, sadly!!

@Alysson: Let me know how you like the chocolate (or chocolate banana & PB) oatmeal--& what the "littles" think about it.

[Gael in Vermont]

...and people think a plant-based diet is boring and tasteless? Think again, my friends! You're spoiling us, Deb!

[Penny]

I am in AZ for 2 months and didn't bring my crock pot! But I have my pressure cooker and tried the chocolate oatmeal. It worked great. The oatmeal was delish and another great recipe. Thanks.

[The Healthy Librarian]

@ Penny, Yay!! You are such a reliable recipe-tester. Glad you liked it. Want to hear more about how to use a pressure cooker when you have time. Lucky you to spend 2 months in AZ. Jealous!

[Marilou Garon]

Hello! I love the very expensive (!) All-Clad slow cooker, for the simple reason that the insert goes on the stove-top as well. This allows me to sauté/brown food before starting the sloow-cooking process...without needing to clean an extra skillet! Crazy, but I just adore that! Browning food first really does make a difference when slow-cooking savory foods, in my opinion. It adds alot of flavor that you won't get otherwise. And All-Clad is so darn well made! I know I sound like an AC representative but I promise, I'm not! Just a Montrealer who's trying to make the switch to a plant-based diet! Many thanks for your blog, I've already printed many recipes that I really look forward to try.

[The Healthy Librarian]

Darn it, Marilou! I sure wish I knew about the All-Clad version before I went out & bought the Cuisinart programmable version last week! Where were you when I needed you? Oh well. Live & learn. I do love my new Cuisinart, though. It's got a simmer version, which really works well for long slow cooking--and I can set the cooking time--and when it's done, it automatically lowers down to warm.

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully, others will learn from your advice.