The very easy, delicious Easy Baked Maple Glazed Arctic Char recipe has long been a staple in our weekly dinner rotation but it hit me recently that I hadn’t made it since the weather turned cool. Originally, I discovered this recipe on the blandly named, All-Fish-Seafood-Recipes website. It’s perfect for a healthy dinner on a busy weeknight: excluding the fish and the optional toppings, this recipe calls for just 4 ingredients – and they’re likely in your pantry already:
maple syrup (real!)
soy sauce
fresh ginger (I use ground ginger that I keep in my refrigerator)
So I finally bucked up and got my cholesterol tested in November and the results were surprising. First of all, my cholesterol – after a year of reasonably careful eating and a lot more exercise, but no Metamucil or Fish Oil pills – actually moved in the right direction.
Details in a second.
Not only that, my new cardiologist (again, more in a sec on why I needed to finally see a cardiologist) actually called my cholesterol results “enviable.”
Enviable, people.
This shocked me. Especially because I gave up on the fish oil pills which apparently now,
I mentioned in my last post, Losing Lox, that my folks were staying with us for a few weeks. What I didn’t mention was why. And heart surgery is the reason.
My step-father had an aorta valve replacement nine years ago. The ‘epic’ valve that was supposed to last 15+ years didn’t even make it 10. Epic Fail. (Sorry, could not resist).
So now, at 82, it was clear that he needed open heart surgery, again. Fortunately he is in great shape (other than the so-very-leaky aorta valve) and was thus a candidate for surgery —
Bless me, doctor, for I have sinned. It’s been 11 months since my last cholesterol test. (Sorry, could not resist putting this in Catholic confessional format!)
So, I finally worked up the courage to have my cholesterol tested a few weeks ago and the news is – well – fine. Not great. No movement in the right direction. Indeed, some movement in the wrong direction. BUT the following magic words were uttered by my doctor, “We can keep monitoring – no need to start you on statins.”
She didn’t say ‘yet’ but I know she was thinking it.
Fish oil supplements are in the news again, as the January 2012 issue of Consumer Reports tested 15 fish oil brands and rated whether they met quality standards vis-a-vis contaminants.
Why take Fish Oil? My doctor ‘prescribed’ them because of my high triglycerides. (She also suggested I cut down to no more than 1 glass of wine per day, but….) According to The Mayo Clinic, fish oil provides these benefits:
“There is evidence… that DHA and EPA in the form of dietary fish or fish oil supplements lowers triglycerides, reduces the risk of death, heart attack,
