The oatmeal solution

As Published in Panay News

Dated: July 23, 2014

PEOPLE POWWOW: The oatmeal solution

By HERBERT VEGO

AS late as one year ago, I had become so frail and underweight that I thought it was a matter of time before I checked into kingdom come. I blamed it on my proven afflictions, namely hypertension, atherosclerosis and ventricular dysfunction.

“Don’t give up,” my sister Susie, a doctor of medicine, advised. “Try altering your food preferences.”

Today, at age 64, I am no longer that skinny scarecrow. For whatever benefit it may give our readers, I am now writing about it.

My sister’s advice was for me to immediately forget pork, beef and all other fat-rich meals as much as possible and switch to fish and plant-based products. Since then, oatmeal – topped with fresh fruits – has become my favorite breakfast.

Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol. Soluble fiber, which is also found in such food as kidney beans, mongo sprouts, apples, pears and prunes, appears to reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines. Gel-like soluble fiber binds bile (which contains cholesterol) and dietary cholesterol so that the body excretes it.

Based on my sister’s research, five to 10 grams of soluble fiber a day decreases LDL cholesterol by about five percent. Eating 1.5 cups of cooked oatmeal provides 4.5 grams of fiber — enough to lower cholesterol.

A cholesterol-lowering diet in which 20 percent of the calories come from may reduce LDL cholesterol by 12 percent. For a 1,200-calorie per day diet, a little less than 1/3 of a cup of pili nuts or peanuts is more or less 240 calories, or 20 percent of the total calories for the day.

Since all nuts are high in calories, a handful will suffice. As with any food, good or bad, eating too much can cause weight gain, and being overweight places you at higher risk of heart disease. To avoid gaining weight, replace food high in saturated fat with nuts.

Studies in the 1970s showed that Greenland Eskimos had a lower rate of heart disease than did other individuals living in Greenland at the same time. Analysis of dietary differences between the groups showed that the Eskimos ate less saturated fat and more omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and whale and seal meat.

Researches since that time have supported the heart-healthy benefits of eating fish. The Eskimos are naturally healthy because they have plenty of omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon.

Other good sources of omega-3 fatty acids or fish oil are mackerel, herring, sardines and tuna, which are also noted for their triglyceride-lowering effect. They also help the heart in such other ways as reducing blood pressure and the risk of blood clots. In people who have already had heart attacks, fish oil significantly reduces the risk of sudden death./PN