I began writing a weekly email newsletter in 2000 and it was first for the Social Work / Case Management Dept at WFUBMC. I was the department’s appointed wellness ambassador for our Action Health (employee wellness) program. Things rather cascaded from there. I received some fitness and nutrition certifications (nothing gold standard) and the newsletter went out to a lot more people and was also at one time posted at two Fitness Centers, in NC. Originally it ended with a recipe. I put many recipes together into a small cook book as well. At the time I was a social worker doing some personal training and catering on the side. In 2004 I went back to college, to grad school and received the Public Health master’s and the credential of Certified Health Education Specialist. This blog came about because many people wanted to keep getting their “News” even as I moved to FL and my web page attempt was tedious.. My goal has been the same for four or five years now, and is the premise of the blog. I want only to prevent disease or progression of disease in myself and the people I know and the people with whom I share this world. My next goal is to have this influence as an “expert” but for now, I do it as I can and as a layperson. Many times I share my ideas about food with my friends, coworkers and family. I have a gift.. I am sure that I do. I can revise any recipe and make it healthier. I have learned tricks on the preparation and the selection of foods. I believe 100% in the Volumetrics concept of Dr. B. Rolls and not at all in any dieting. My cooking tricks, techniques and ideas are hard to put in writing and for some time I have considered video taping my cooking. If you checked in lately, you can see that I have taken a stab or two at doing just that. As I work to make this better I do have to wonder about the balance between the news and the cooking.. or I might find a way to compartmentalize. Bear with me as once again the Weekly News, now nine years old, gets a makeover. Today’s column will end with my most famous and historic recipe, Cereal Bars, with a demo video.
The News:
Treating Stroke: Tom Burton of the Wall St Journal described an interesting debate regarding what is the best treatment for preventing a stroke. This is timely as we hear talk about effective treatment and comparative research. Tom noted a study that compared surgery to stenting but which does not answer the question about drug therapy as the third option. In the article, Tom explains the stenting. This is to insert a small metal tube in the neck to open the blocked artery. We have spoken of stents a lot so you know the risks with them. This is also known as something that is noninvasive, but to me, a tube in my arteries IS invasive. The surgery has been around a long time and is considered effective for clearing clogged arteries. [just writing this scares hell out of me and is exactly why I eat the way I do] The surgery is referred to as a carotid endarterectomy and Tom says that this cutting open the artery and then cutting away the fatty plaque is “pretty routine”. A third option is the use of medication. There is some evidence that drugs like statins can keep the plaque from building up more and in some cases may even reduce it. The next step would be in evaluating if the drugs, the endarterectomy or the stents prevent the most strokes and of course, which have the highest adverse outcomes. Now if this doesn’t make you want to avoid high fat foods I don’t know what will. And that would be the fourth option, preventing plaque buildup in the first place.
Knees and Knee Parts: I am sure that there are people who receive knee replacements and have an improved quality of life, I haven’t met them. Research comparing physical therapy to arthroscopic knee surgery, for instance, did not show a better outcome for surgery. I have said this before but here again… some people choose surgery over physical therapy HOWEVER<>
Speak Up: This week also brought an article that encourages the recipients of health care, you and me, to speak up about the quality even to a white coat. Yes, it is okay to say, gee Doc could you wash your hands please? In reading this article I recalled one time that I did not speak up and wished I had and others where I do speak up but have a hard time being heard. The first was ten or more years ago when my Dad was in the hospital and had to have his blood taken. The phlebotomist (I think that is the term) did not wear gloves. I remember thinking that he must think my dad is a safe stick, because he is 70ish etc, but that doesn’t mean the person drawing the blood was “safe”. More personally, because I am a health educator and study this stuff, I know that to get a good blood pressure read, the patient should be seated for several minutes and their arm should be at a 90 degree angle. How many times do you walk in and right away the cuff is placed for the BP?
Colds: I like oh so much to be right, so let me share some info from Melinda Beck’s Health Journal from Tuesday. Basically, it is ok, even beneficial, to work out when you have a cold, she said swim or run. It is not helpful to take those supplements and herbals that claim to protect you from getting colds or shorten their duration. Research supports that getting plenty of exercise, sleep and vitamin D (some from sunlight for sure) is protective for preventing colds or minimizing symptoms and duration. To ease symptoms these three things were suggested, decongestant sprays, hot beverages and acetaminophen. The researcher stated that there was no evidence to support use of antihistamines or cough medicines. True that.
Ok that is enough news.
Here is the recipe. These cereal bars are, in my opinion, wonder bars. They keep you feeling full, they level your blood sugar, they assist in the removal of LDL cholesterol and they keep you regular, which would intuitively also protect against colon cancer and a cranky mood. [omg, I crack myself up]. Let me add a disclosure, what I mean to say is that the ingredients in these bars will do the above, the bars themselves have not been used in a research study… yet.
Cereal Bars
1 ¾ c Kashi Good Friends Cereal (in red box) or Kashi Go Lean
3 c All Bran original
½ c loose oat bran (buy at a whole foods store)
1/4 c skim milk plus 1+ cup water
¼ c Waldon Farms sugar and calorie free syrup
1/4 c apple sauce(no sugar added)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 c egg substitute
mix all together in a bowl and pour into 8 ½ by 11 inch pan that has been thoroughly sprayed with butter flavored non-fat cooking spray. Bake at 375 about 40 / 45 min, if spring to touch they are done. When completely cooled, place on cutting board, cut in half and then each half into 12 bars, will have Approx. 40 calories each and about 4 g of fiber. (I use a brown glass dish and I cool over night in the fridge for easier cutting. These are small, cut into twelve pieces for 80 cals each).
Very important note, before you add the milk/water mixture (last) have the oven heated and the pan sprayed so that as soon as you stir it you fold it into the pan and place in oven, otherwise, the water is quickly absorbed by the cereals and it’ll dry out. The mixture should be wet, but not too loose. It’ll be trial and error. I use almost 2 cups of milk/water mix.
