Cholesterol, Foods, Weight Control #8

There are certain foods I eat for good health and weight loss. These foods are important for us who are cardiac patients and must improve our cholesterol, in particular LDL. Oatmeal is one of those foods. If you have been reading me, you know not only do I eat a lot of oatmeal,  I enjoy the taste and eating it.  Sometimes I also will have it for lunch and dinner. I have eaten at least one large serving of oatmeal every day for the last 18 months.   Oatmeal contains soluble fiber which helps remove bad cholesterol from your body. In addition, it helps improve your good cholesterol.  It has 150 calories for one serving and satisfies my appetite.   I eat it plain, not adding milk, sugar, butter, or margarine. I attribute eating oatmeal as being one of the factors of my cholestrol levels improving so greatly that my cardiologist has reduced  my cholesterol medications by 50%.

Strawberries are another food that can not only help you lose weight but is healthy for you.  It can help in weight loss by replacing sweets, chips, and other snack foods. I eat a 2 pound container of fresh plain strawberries in about 3 days.  I eat them between meals as a snack and appetite suppressor.  I do not eat candy, candy bars, chips, or drink any kind of soft drinks, diet or regular. I add strawberries to salads along with walnuts, almonds, and sunflower seed kernels.  Strawberries are very high in vitamin C and contain vitamin B2, B3, Omega 3  and potent antioxidants.  They also contain ellagitannin which is associated with decreased rates of cancers.  Strawberries are thought to help prevent age related vision loss.

I eat almonds, walnuts, sunflower seed kernels,  and some peanuts.   All are a little high in calories, however, they  contain Omega 3, and reduce unhealthy cholesterol in your body.  I eat them  unsalted.

I have mentioned before that daily I eat many different kinds of fruits, depending on their availability.
Fruits are a healthy source of vitamins and antioxidants.  I also think that even though fruits can be high in sugar content and calories, those sugars and calories produced naturally, are better for you than those manufactured for taste in candy, soft drinks, and other snack foods.  Eating chicken provides me with protein and it is almost completely fat free.

I take my blood pressure 3 times daily and record it.  This provides my cardiologist with an accurate record when reviewing and prescribing medication for controlling  my blood pressure.  A realistic health goal is through diet, weight loss and exercise, to reduce the amounts and kinds of medication I take to control my blood pressure.  My cholesterol has been checked every 6 months  since my heart attack and has shown steady and significant improvements.  My last cholesterol test revealed my LDL level was below 20. My HDL was 38, and triglycerides were 84.  I need to continue to eat foods high in Omega 3, exercise, and control my weight  to improve my HDL.  Foods that I eat regularly and consist of my normal diet are leafy salads, tomatos, carrots, various green vegetables, soups, chilis, baked potatoes, tuna fish, chicken, skim milk, cornflakes, oatmeal, orange juice, and about any sort of fresh fruit available.  I have made fresh fruit the foundation of my daily diet.  How good or bad is that?  I don't know, but I would like to hear some of your thoughts about it.  Do you eat store brands or name brands when choosing your favorite foods?  When picking out my favorite, oatmeal  (I use the 1 minute kind),  I always go with my reliable  name brand.  I have tried the various store brand oatmeals.  I'll tell you about it later.