LDL cholesterol
Paleo Naan Bread-Linseeds and Coconut Flour
Ingredients;
- 2.5 Tablespoons of ground linseeds (flaxseeds)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or thick coconut milk
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup arrowroot powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- Coconut oil or ghee for cooking
Directions;
- Mix all ingredients in a food processor until combined well. It won’t be quite a dough consistency but it’s also not going to be quite as runny as pancake batter.
- Melt 1 tablespoon or so, of ghee or coconut oil in a frypan over medium high heat.
- Drop about two to three large tablespoons of batter into the hot pan.
- Wet your finger with water and tap down the batter to help spread it into a circle shape.
- Cook about 2 minutes per side or until golden
Notes;
This makes about 4 fairly large Naan Breads.
Master Elixir Recipe
Ingredients;
- turmeric root
- chopped garlic
- diced onion
- chopped hot chillies (wear gloves and be prepared to have your sinuses cleared!)
- grated or sliced ginger
- grated horseradish
- chopped carrot
- chopped apple
- diced celery
- orange and lemon pieces
Optional;
- mustard seeds
- parsley
- oregano
- thyme
- juniper berries
- Himalayan salt
Apple Cider Vinegar (make sure it’s organic with the “Mother”)
Instructions;
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, except for the vinegar.
- Fill 2/3 of a large jar with the mixture. Make sure the jar seals well.
- Pour in the apple cider vinegar on top of the mixture until it fills up to the top.
- Close tightly.
- Shake well.
- Store the jar in a cool, dark place for up to 2 weeks. Shake well as often as possible, at least once a day.
- After 14 days, strain it through a muslin cloth, into a bowl, to pour into a jar.
- Squeeze well to make sure all the juice comes out.
This elixir will be VERY HOT, so start with small amounts, maybe use it as a salad dressing first and then build up the amount as your taste buds get used to it. It’s best not to dilute it with water.
This elixir may help with;
- stimulating the immune system
- feeding beneficial gut bacteria as a pre-biotic
- killing harmful gut bacteria and yeasts (including candida)
- stimulating metabolism
- weight loss by increasing satiety (a feeling of fullness) and reducing appetite
- reducing blood triglycerides, cholesterol and blood pressure
- regulating blood sugar levels
- alkalising the system by regulating the pH level
- preventing and reducing indigestion and reflux
- detoxification of the liver
- cleansing lymph nodes of toxic waste
- soothing and healing mucous membranes such as throat, gut lining, urinary tract
- inhibiting and reducing muscle cramps
- reducing post exercise muscle fatigue
As this is a fermented drink, it may cause issues for those suffering from high levels of histamines. Come and see me to reduce histamine levels naturally.
Zucchini, Carrot and Polenta Bake
Ingredients;
- 2 carrots (grated)
- 2 zucchinis (grated)
- 1 large brown onion finely diced
- 1 cup of fine polenta
- 6 eggs beaten
- 1/4 cup of coconut oil
- 4 slices of woodsmoked bacon diced (optional)
- A handful of whatever fresh herb you would like to flavour, I used basil this time but parsley, oregano, thyme (cut up finely) all work well
- 1 clove of garlic crushed
- A sprinkling of cheese for the top (optional)
- Himalayan salt and pepper to season
- Toppings; cherry tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, poached eggs or slices of smoked salmon
Method;
Throw everything in a bowl and stir!
Bake in a greased glass or ceramic dish on 180 degrees covered with foil to keep the moisture in for about an hour or until skewer comes out clean.
Top with topping of choice.
Serve warm from the oven as a main with a side salad or have a slice in the fridge to eat cold as a snack
Another great option with this recipe, is to use muffin trays to make individual portions, as it freezes so well and can be taken out as needed or popped into the kids lunchboxes!
Oat and Chia seed Pancakes
- 2 eggs
- 2 small-medium (120g each) over-ripe bananas
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons whole rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil, butter or ghee
- To serve – berries with a drizzle of maple syrup, raspberry chia jam, berry compote or chopped Medjool dates, walnuts and maple syrup
- Whisk the eggs in a medium sized bowl
- Add bananas and mash into the eggs
- Add cinnamon, vanilla, chia seeds and oats and stir to combine well
- Set aside for 5 minutes while you prepare the toppings etc
- Heat a medium frypan over medium heat
- Add the oil, butter or ghee and melt
- Cover the bottom of the pan with melted oil/butter
- Using a ¼ cup measure, scoop mix into the pan, allowing a little space between pancakes so you can turn them easily (I only cooked 3 at a time)
- Cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip over and cook a further 2 minutes on the other side or until cooked through
- Transfer to a tray lined with kitchen towel and repeat with remaining mix
- To serve, top with yoghurt and jam, berry compote or chopped dates, walnuts and maple syrup
Image courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Yummy Banana Nut-Butter Pudding
- ½ cup almond butter, pepita butter or peanut butter (or any nut butter would be scrumptious!)
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2½ medium, or 3 small bananas
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
Instructions:
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until it starts to look like a pudding!!
Add slices of your favourite fruits on top for added yumminess!!
Image courtesy of galzpaka at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Porridge using soaked oats
Ingredients:
- 1 cup oats, rolled or cracked – NOT the quick cooking kind, but the ‘old fashioned’ whole oats (organic is best)
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 Tblespns plain whole milk yogurt, whey, kefir or buttermilk
- 1 cup water
OPtional Extra’s;
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 Tblespns ground nuts & seeds such as; Brazil, almonds, walnuts, pepita’s, sunflower seeds & flax seeds.(Don’t use these if diverticulitis is an issue)
- Adding psyllium husks, chia seeds and slippery elm will increase the fibre content. (Don’t use chia seeds if diverticulitis is an issue)
- Coconut sugar, rapadura sugar, raw honey or real maple syrup (not maple flavouring) to sweeten.
- Touch of butter, ghee, cream or milk, optional, but especially good for the kids
- Other nice optional additions include; grated apple, chopped dried fruit such as; sulphur-free apricots, figs, sultanas or cranberries.
Preparation:
Mix the oats with warm water and whey or yogurt, cover and leave out (preferably not in the fridge unless the nights are hot) for at least 7 hours or overnight. In the morning, bring an additional cup of water to a boil with the sea salt. Add the soaked oats, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for several minutes. Remove from heat, stir in optional flax seeds and other fibre and let stand for a few minutes. Serve with the ghee, butter or cream and sugar, honey or real maple syrup.
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Image courtesy of Mister GC at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of KEKO64 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Vegetarian and Vegan “Bone Broth”
Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced (or regular if shiitake unavailable)
½ chilli, sliced (use more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
1 tablespoon coconut or rice bran oil 1 Tblespn of dried wakame reconstituted in a bowl of water
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
5cm piece of ginger, peeled 5cm piece of turmeric root 1 bay leaf
2 1/2 litres water
1/2 cup loosely packed coriander leaves 1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1 cup spinach and/or kale
1 tspn sea salt
juice of ½ a lemon
Tamari to taste
1 Tblespn of organic light miso paste
1 tspn spirulina
- Heat the oil and sauté the onions, garlic, chilli and mushrooms together until soft.
- Drain the water off the wakame and combine with carrots, celery, ginger, turmeric and water in a pot, bring to a boil, and then simmer 45 minutes.
- Remove from heat and strain.
- Combine broth with sautéed mushroom mixture, coriander, spinach, kale, lemon juice, sea salt, tamari, miso and spirulina.
- Allow the heat of your broth to wilt the coriander, parsley, spinach and kale.
- Ladle into bowls or mugs and enjoy the spicy aroma of this fabulous gut-healing broth.
Fish Bone Broth
Prep Time: 15 minutes • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1-2 non-oily fish carcasses from cod, sole, haddock, hake, etc.
- 1 Tbs. ghee or butter (use coconut oil for dairy free option)
- Vegetables: 1 onion or leek, 1-2 carrots, 1-2 celery stalks diced finely
- 1 cup dry white wine, optional
- Herbs, optional – 3-4 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves, ½ -1 tsp. peppercorns
- Cold, filtered water, to cover
- 1-2 fish heads, gills removed
- Simmer veggies in Ghee, butter or oil over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes. Place fish carcasses, fish heads (if using), herbs and peppercorns over veggies, cover and simmer 5-10 more minutes. This will stimulate the fish to release their flavours before adding the water.
- Add wine (if using) and water to cover the carcasses and bring to a simmer and skim scum that forms on the surface. The scum won’t hurt you! It’s just some impurities that get released. This happens in all types of bone broths.
- Simmer gently 45-60 minutes.
- Strain broth from carcasses and veggies.
- Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Freeze, whatever you won’t use in that time, and use within 3 months
Notes:
Non-oily fish is necessary because the fish oils in fatty fish such as salmon become rancid in cooking.
The cartilage in fish bones breaks down to gelatin very quickly, so it’s best to cook broth on the stove top.
Make sure you use the carcasses from non-oily whitefish such as cod, sole, snapper, haddock and hake. Any non-oily fish works fine. Avoid oily fish like salmon, tuna, herring and swordfish (though their flesh works great in chowders and other fish-based soups).
Also, if possible, try to get some fish heads in addition to the carcasses. Generally speaking, you probably won’t get much gelatin from just fish carcasses.
Finally, as opposed to other types of bone broths, be sure to dice the veggies finely. This allows them to release their flavours more efficiently with the shorter cooking time.
Image courtesy of olovedog at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Cholesterol, it’s not all bad!
Cholesterol, and saturated fat, are not necessarily bad for you, especially in moderation with a balanced diet. The problem comes from trans fats, refined grains and carbohydrates such as; margarine, pasta, bread, pastry, pizza, fast food, desserts. Cutting these out of the diet can lead to a significant drop in bad cholesterol; LDL’s and VLDL’s (Low density lipoproteins and very low density lipoproteins) and triglyceride’s despite continuing to eat cholesterol-rich foods like red meat, eggs, cream, and butter. In fact, there’s good reason to question the popular theory of “lipid hypothesis” which suggests that dietary cholesterol clogs the arteries and leads to heart disease. LDL (bad) and VLDL (very bad!!)cholesterol builds up in the arteries not because you’ve been eating too many eggs, but in response to inflammation. This is triggered by a diet high in trans fat and processed carbohydrates, not a small amount of saturated fat. Cholesterol is the body’s bandaid, it is sent to repair damage to arteries caused by inflammation. When LDL’s are high, the concern is that it will be oxidised, by free radicals, and again that is due to inflammation.
Foods to lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol and help reduce inflammation;
- Eliminate trans fats from the diet
- Avoid excessive saturated fats (coconut oil is the exception to this)
- Oats
- Pulses such as beans and lentils (they’re not pro-inflammatory like grains are)
- Nuts (walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, cashews and macadamia’s) & seeds (sunflower and pepita’s)
- Avocado
- Olive oil (only cold as a salad dressing as it oxidates on moderate heat)
- Cook with coconut oil or rice bran oil
- Fish and other omega 3 fatty acids
- Fruits such as apples, pears, grapes, citrus fruits (such as red grapefruit, just make sure you have it a few hours away from any BP medication), peaches, nectarines, plums and berries
- ALL vegetables, try raising your daily intake to 9 serves a day. To do this, add veggies to meat dishes (such as grated carrot and zucchini to meat sauces and then have a huge mixed salad on the side)
- Vary your veggies as much as possible, but have plenty of leafy greens, and raw salad items, alfalfa and mung bean sprouts are great, snow peas, capsicum, grated carrot and beetroot. Lightly steamed veggies such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, and cooked veggies such as; eggplant, okra and pumpkin.
- Foods rich in soluble fibre such as; skins on vegetables, celery, asparagus, artichoke hearts, chia seeds, psyllium husks, linseeds (also known as flax seeds). Soluble fibre forms a complex with cholesterol, that captures it and helps move it out of the body.
- Onions, garlic and leeks
- Green tea
- A glass of red wine (but any more will have the opposite effect)
- Raw Cacao
If you want to lower your cholesterol, you really need to improve your overall health and reduce your risk of heart disease, by addressing inflammation. So be sure that along with lowering bad (LDL) cholesterol you boost good (HDL) cholesterol and control inflammation by avoiding pro-inflammatory foods found here;
Foods high in soluble-fibre;
Whole oats, oat bran
Soluble fibre can reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your bloodstream. Five to 10 grams or more of soluble fibre a day decreases your total and LDL cholesterol. Eating 1 1/2 cups of cooked oats provides 6 grams of fibre. make sure they’ve been soaked overnight for added benefits including easier digestion and balancing the gut microbiome. If you add fruit, such as bananas, or grated apple (with the skin on) you’ll add about 4 more grams of fibre. To mix it up a little, try steel-cut oatmeal or bircher muesli.
Pulses and Legumes such as Lentils
If you are going to eat something sweet, first make sure it’s fruit instead of sugar, pastries and desserts. But choose fruit, not fruit juice. The benefit of fruit comes from the fibre, so if you drink juice, you’re losing that wonderful benefit and essentially drinking water that’s high in fructose.
The soluble fibre in pears and apples is mostly in the form of pectin, and it is great at reducing LDL levels. Surprisingly, fresh pears contain even more pectin than apples do. Pectin binds with cholesterol and ferries it out of the body before it can be absorbed.
Chia Seeds
For every 30gms of chia seeds, you will be getting 10.7gm of dietary fibre (both the soluble and insoluble type) and 5 g of alpha-linolenic acid (alpha-linolenic acid is an essential omega-3 fatty acid). They also provide anti-oxidants which help reduce free radicals not only in the body, but are stabilise the omega-3 fatty acids in the chia seed itself.
Psyllium
Getting 10 to 12 grams of psyllium per day can decrease LDL cholesterol by 5 to 10 percent.
The outer husks from the seeds of Psyllium (Plantago ovato) are effective at lowering both the total cholesterol and the ‘bad’ LDL-cholesterol, as it’s very concentrated in soluble fibre (it contains a whopping 70 per cent soluble fibre!) Soluble fibre helps to lower cholesterol by binding to the ‘bad’, LDL, cholesterol and taking it out of the body.
Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids
Garlic
Garlic is wonderful for your cardiovascular system and as part of the allium family of plants it’s a natural anti-inflammatory. Other great foods that reduce inflammation are: ginger, curry (particularly turmeric), and chilli’s.
Onions
Whether it’s leeks, chives, white onions, red onions, spring onions or shallots, these flavourful bulbs are great for reducing inflammation and healing your arteries. Onions also contain high levels of quercetain an important flavonoid that reduces cholesterol. Try to eat some every day.
Olive Oil
Olive oil doesn’t just make food taste better. The unsaturated fats found in olive oil have the added benefit of helping to cut LDL cholesterol levels without affecting HDL. Aim for about 2 tablespoons a day in place of other fats. Have cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil on salads, but don’t heat it up or cook with it as it becomes rancid at a low heat point. This means it oxidises and that means inflammation.
Walnuts, almonds and other nuts
Eating about a handful (about 45 grams) a day of most nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts, may reduce your risk of heart disease. Make sure the nuts you eat are raw, unsalted and aren’t coated with sugar.
All nuts are high in calories, so a handful will do. To avoid eating too many nuts and gaining weight, replace foods high in saturated fat with nuts. For example, instead of using cheese, meat or croutons in your salad, add a handful of walnuts or almonds.
Tomatoes
Avocados
Try adding avocado slices to salads, use it in place of butter on sandwiches or eating them as a side dish. Also try guacamole with raw cut vegetables, such as carrot sticks and cucumber slices, the kids love it!
Green Tea
Green tea has been shown in a meta-analysis of 14 studies, to significantly reduce total and LDL cholesterol levels (by 7.20 mg/dL and 2.19 mg/dL, respectively). In some studies participants drank tea; in others, they took green tea supplements.
Red Wine and Grape Juice
A moderate amount of alcohol can raise levels of good HDL cholesterol by as much as 5 to 15 percent, research shows — and red wine is particularly beneficial because its polyphenol antioxidants may also lower LDL levels. If you’re not into red wine, grape juice can provide some of the same heart-healthy benefits, otherwise a supplement called resveratrol is the element in red wine and grapes that is responsible for lowering cholesterol, reducing inflammation and protection against arterial damage.
Raw Cacao
Cacao polyphenols may also lower your LDL’s or “bad” cholesterol, and raise your HDL’s or “good” cholesterol levels.
In good news for chocoholics, a meta-analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that raw cacao consumption lowered LDL cholesterol by more than 5 mg/dL in people at risk of heart disease.
