Eating Healthily

LENTIL PROTEIN

Lentil protein is a rich, easy-to-cook food. They form probably the cheapest protein you can buy.

What I love about LENTILS is that they are so easy to cook. They are small and absorbent enough so that, unlike most other ‘pulses’, they don’t need to be soaked. Just throw a handful of lentils in when you are cooking brown rice. Into all your stews too, even meat dishes. Delicious! What could be easier?

Legumes are a group of healthy foods which are high in protein. They include beans, peas … and lentils. At 26% protein they are a rich source for vegetarians.

Lentils come in a rich variety of colours. Yellow to red-orange to green, brown and black. As a general rule, remember that coloured foods are rich in anti-oxidants, so mix and match your lentil protein too. They are rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals...personally I'm less fond of brown lentils. 

Cholesterol

Another proven benefit of legumes is their ability to block the absorption of cholesterol in the gut. Chickpeas too are a legume, and can be used to make a scrumptious dip called called Hummus. The downside is that they must be soaked overnight. Once soaked though, you can freeze them, and then in a flash you can make your Hummus. 

These days we have many clever (actually, too clever for our good) food companies selling us foods enriched with this or that. High bran, sterol fortified, vitamin D enriched ... all at ten times the price. Just eat whole wheat bread, whole rolled oats, apples, pulses for your lentil protein ... 

Two main kinds of cholesterol

There are two main kinds of cholesterol,

one is friendly, called HDL or High Density Lipoprotein, and the other

distinctly UNfriendly, called LDL or Low Density Lipoprotein.

Each and everyone of us needs to focus on raising our HDLs and lowering our LDLs. 

Make sure, if you have had a cholesterol test, you find out the ratio between HDL's and LDL's - this is the most important part.

What are HDLs? HIGH DENSITY LIPOPROTEINS ...

These are the fats in your blood that are good for you. Yes, fat (in part) is not only good, but  essential. The brain, and all your nerves are made mainly of fat. You can’t live without fat!

HDLs are healthy fats produced by the liver to carry cholesterol and other lipids (fats) from tissues and organs back to the liver for recycling or degradation. Having high levels of HDL is desirable - HDLs lower the incidence of atherosclerosis (clogged arteries) and heart disease.

HDL fats are found in fish, nuts, avocado, garlic, olive oil and canola oil. So you can raise your HDLs simply by eating these delicious foods on a regular basis.

What are LDLs? LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEINS.

Low Density Lipoproteins carry cholesterol to the blood vessels and tissues and have been shown to contribute to the formation of plague, or atheroma, that clogs the arteries. That raises blood pressure, increasing the risk of stroke, heart attack and diseases associated with too little blood.

Eating Healthily

Include lots of those foods that lower cholesterol: fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean sources of protein in your diet. Soya products also help. There is now such an abundance of evidence that this regimen has a profound effect on every aspect of your health. Mental health, constipation, cancer, heart disease, your weight ...

Reducing the unfriendly fats in your diet really is important. A high saturated fat diet, mainly from red meat and dairy products, is strongly associated with many other diseases from bowel cancer, to Alzheimers and breast cancer.

Ironically, a low fat diet is also not good. Don't avoid fat, just keep your animal fats in moderation. 

TOFU NUTRITION

TOFU NUTRITION comes originally from China. What is Tofu? It's made from the Soya bean; it's a very high protein food but it is not from an animal source. That makes it ideal for vegetarians, but can be enjoyed by anybody obviously who wants to know how to cook with Tofu.

And a big plus: Tofu has zero cholesterol. That's unusual for protein. Meat, eggs, cheese, milk - they are laden with cholesterol.

Better still, Tofu is loaded with "cholesterol-like" substances called Phytosterols. They compete directly with cholesterol at absorption sites in the small intestine, inhibiting the absorption of cholesterol from other foods that you have eaten at the same sitting. Eating only two grams of phytosterols a day will reduce the bad cholesterol in your bloodstream, called LDL, by a massive 10%. That's a lot.

Essential Amino Acids

So, what is Tofu? It's a protein food made of building blocks called Amino Acids. There are many of them, and they are divided into two groups:

Essential Amino Acids.

Non-essential Amino Acids.

Certain of these Amino Acids are essential for building healthy tissues in the body. If your diet is deficient in them, you may develop a serious disease called Kwashiokor. These essential amino Acids can only be obtained from dietary sources.

Non-essential Amino Acids are also healthy but, if they are not in your diet, your body can manufacture them from other Amino Acids. Not so with the essential Amino Acids.

Legumes

Beans / legumes make up the staple protein source for most of the people on our planet. Ultimately, we will probably all be forced to become bean-eaters. There's less and less space for meat production, and if the population continues to explode the way it is, meat will become prohibitively expensive.

The bean family, called Legumes, are a great food, and a great protein source, but they have one important deficiency - they do not contain all the Essential Amino Acids. In particular, L-lysine.

Fortunately L-lysine is found in abundance in grains.

So, over the centuries, vegetarians have combines legumes and grains to make up the perfect protein cocktail - the mixture contains all the Amino Acids your body needs.

Omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 essential fatty acids are known to reduce the bad fraction of blood cholesterol (LDL), whilst not lowering the good fraction (HDL). They are particular high in fish oil, walnuts, butternut squash and, yes, soyabean products - tofu nutrition.

TOFU NUTRITION : How to cook with Tofu

One of the joys of Tofu nutrition is that it comes precooked and a Tofu dish can literally be prepared in 5 minutes. 

Chop and fry an onion in a little olive oil.

Add a chopped clove of garlic and a slither to two of fresh ginger, and any other herbs you like. Perhaps some fresh chilli.

Open a container of Tofu, drain, chop into blocks, and add to the mix.

In another two minutes your Tofu is ready to eat. The brown rice will take a little longer!


Phytosterols

Grains like rice, lentils and of course your Tofu are all loaded with phytosterols, that's how to keep your cholesterol down, and yet still be able to enjoy cooking with butter. And some icecream for dessert! Always add a handful of lentils when cooking your rice. Tofu nutrition is a cheap and an ideal food for the busy family.  All about phytosterols

Whole grains, fruits, legumes (beans and lentils), and vegetables are the great sources of Phytosterols.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF OATS

Eaten either cooked as a porridge, or as raw rolled oats in a muesli, or oat meal for baking, oats is high in protein (higher than any of the other cereals) but has no gluten.

Oats also has the property of swelling more than other grains in the belly, by absorbing water, and is thus very filling. You can eat less, and still not be hungry...

What is particularly interesting about oats though, is that it also has the greatest amounts of soluble fibre of all the cereals. It's this soluble fibre than prevents cholesterol eaten (say from meat, cheese, milk, butter, cream) from being absorbed into the blood stream. Some reports state that a cup of oats a day will reduce your cholesterol by up to 25%. That's massive, far more effective than the other traditionally known foods that lower cholesterol like apples, fish, eggplant, legumes, salads.