Non-Sweetened Metamucil with Grapefruit and Orange Juice
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With my cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure higher last month, I needed to try to salvage things before my doctor(s) advise statins and/or blood pressure medication. Step one: a lo-co lifestyle exercise and diet review (and correction):
- Exercise. I’d let my exercise habit lapse in the past six months, so have recently re-started exercising daily. Of course today I pulled my hamstring. Sigh. But I am determined to at least walk daily, because ‘Study Proves Exercise Staves Off Bad Cholesterol.’
- Diet – General. While I don’t eat a lot of red meat, I do eat a lot of carbs (pasta and bread) and sugar (M&Ms and wine). So I’m cutting down on pasta, pizza and sticking with 1 glass of rose per night. And M&Ms, well…not sure how they got back into my diet but it ends now.
- Diet – Supplements. As with exercise, I had stopped my daily dose of Metamucil. Which is lame, because Metamucil both lowers cholesterol and helps with diverticulosis, which I also have. So I tossed my very expired Metamucil and bought a new, huge jar of Orange Smooth Metamucil, with sugar.
Then I got to thinking about that Metamucil. I chose Orange Smooth Metamucil (with sugar) because I both despise aspartame and believe it to be unhealthy. As all the sugar-free Metamucil products have aspartame, that left me with the Metamucil with sugar. But with sugar-sensitive high triglycerides and a desire for a nightly glass of wine, it seemed sugared Metamucil might not be a great choice.
So I dug a bit more and found ONE Metamucil product with neither sugar nor aspartame. Called Metamucil Original Smooth, it was just what I was looking for. Oh, except for the taste. While I did not despise the ‘wheat-y’ taste as much as others on the internet seem to, it was certainly not a flavor I wanted to wake up to every morning.
So I started thinking about how Going Lo-Co reader Eileen makes a cholesterol-loweirng grapefruit juice / Metamucil smoothie: info here.) Smoothies are too much work for me, so I looked around on the web and found many who said they mixed the Original Smooth with juice. Which is what my Mom does too – she mixes Metamucil with diluted orange juice. But OJ is just a lot of sugar with no cholesterol-lowering benefit so that did not appeal. Then it hit me: what if I combined grapefruit and orange juice?**
This morning, I stirred up an inaugural glass of Going Lo-Co Metamucil Elixir. To make it, I combined 1 teaspoon of Metamucil Original Smooth with 4 ounces of grapefruit juice, splashed in some (about 1 oz) orange juice to cut the tartness of the grapefruit juice, then topped it off with about 2 oz of water. After a vigorous stir, I guzzled it.
I am pleased to say that I really liked it. Well, as much as one likes these things.
The taste is decent AND unlike sugared Metamucil, my version delivers potassium AND the blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride lowering properties of grapefruit juice (see Grapefruit Pros and Cons for more info.)
Then I estimated the nutritional value for my Going Lo-Co Metamucil Elixir. My concoction does have more calories and sugar than sugared Metamucil, but I’m willing to accept those extra 30 calories and 4 grams of sugar for the better taste AND potassium AND the cholesterol-lowering benefits of grapefruit juice. Here’s how they compare:
If you don’t take ANY medications, give my Going Lo-Co Metamucil mix a whirl. If you do take medication – any medication – read message below: and do NOT try this unless you’ve consulted with your doctor.
** VERY IMPORTANT: do NOT try this ‘recipe’ — in fact, do NOT drink any grapefruit juice — if you are on statins or other medications. Specifically, do NOT eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice if you take Lipitor or any other statin medication to lower cholesterol without speaking first to your doctor. Same grapefruit warning exists if you take other types of medications that can also interact with grapefruit juice, including drugs for blood pressure, heart rhythm, depression, anxiety, HIV, immunosuppression, allergies, impotence, and seizures. It is dangerous to start eating grapefruit (or drinking grapefruit juice) if you take any of these medications – unless you speak to your doctor first.
