A recent New York Times article, You Probably Aren’t Getting Enough Fiber…Here’s why that’s a problem, and how to fix it, caught my attention. It’s been a long time since I wrote about fiber and I was intrigued because fiber is a key tool for naturally lowering cholesterol and improving health.
The author, Alice Callahan, notes in the article that “…just 4 percent of men and 12 percent of women met fiber recommendations — at least 21 to 38 grams per day, depending on a person’s age and sex.” So, many of us are likely fiber-deficient, which is a shame because it’s really not that hard to add fiber daily.
So…tofu. It’s high in protein, low in saturated fat: a big thumbs up for heart-healthy nutrition.
But it’s low in taste—which can be both a plus and a minus. AND ALSO, for me, the biggest minus of all: How on earth do you cook it? I have always found tofu intimidating. There’s that ‘press’ thing that you have to do. And I just find it confounding: do you bake it, grill it, sauté/stir-fry it? About the only thing I knew I didn’t want to do heart-health-wise was to deep fry it (though air-frying is probably great but I’m not there yet.)
First of all, it gets dark WAY too early. Plus, at least here in the northeast, it’s cold outside baby (not even mentioning the torrential rain and snow plaguing many states).
Which means the exercise ‘goals’ (OK, they were more like exercise ‘good intentions’) that I ‘set’ (OK, flirted with) for the New Year have fallen by the wayside.
Not good. But it’s not too late.
In fact, it’s not even that difficult to get back on the exercise-for-better-heart-health bandwagon! Because the amount of exercise you need to boost heart health is not that,
This fall, my annual cholesterol screening showed an alarming increase in all the cholesterol markers: Total Cholesterol, HDL (‘good’) cholesterol and LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol.
Both my Primary Care Doctor and I whipped out our phones and opened the ASCVD risk calculator app. I was relieved to find that although my 10-year risk of heart disease had increased versus last year, it still showed a low enough risk that statin medication was not required.
BUT THEN she told me about someone who eats well and exercises and also had a low 10-year risk of heart disease according to the calculator –
If you have a late-summer bounty of tomatoes and cucumbers, I have a Gazpacho recipe for you to try. Which is funny because I normally DO NOT LIKE gazpacho … but I loved this one.
Aptly named, Best Gazpacho, Julia Moskin explains that this recipe delivers the smooth style of gazpacho served in Seville, Spain. And as an avowed gazpacho-hater, I’m shocked to tell you that it is indeed both smooth and delicious. And easy to make.
All you need is a very strong blender, ‘2 pounds of ripe red tomatoes’ (this is about 6 ‘baseball-sized’
