Wednesday, June 22, 2011

My personal battle against Cholesterol!

So, after a visit with my doctor about 3 months ago, she told me my "cholesterol" levels were "borderline" high, not high yet, but getting up there.
She told me out of the 8 possible heart attack risk factors, I "almost" had one. :(
I was a couple of months short of completing 40 years of age and I guess little pest things like cholesterol can't be played with anymore.
No, I am not a fast food lover, I hate fast foods and I can't stand fried foods. My problem has always been dairy, I love milk, creams, cheeses of all kinds, ice cream, pastries, you get the picture.
To make matters worse, I enjoy the fattiest dairy there is, triple cream brie, Haagen Dazs ice cream, home made stroagnoff with filet mignon and heavy cream...my poor arteries never had a chance...!
Now, my doctor gave me a couple of months to loose weight and drop all the super fatty stuff, forced me to see a nutritionist and I started to take things seriously.
I dropped real Haagen Dazs ice cream for low fat or fat free sorbet, stopped buying my so beloved triple cream brie, replaced Mozzarella for low fat Mozzarella, bough low fat Parmesan, replaced 2% milk with Fat Free milk, all this sacrifices for 2 months, plus a minimum of 40 minutes of a brisk walk daily.
Did another round blood work and to my surprise, after dropping all the real fatty dairy my bad cholesterol shoot up like crazy, at least my good cholesterol also went up.
I was still super confused.
My doctor was ready to put me on Lipitor or any other equivalent to reduce cholesterol.
I am strongly against taking medication if I can avoid it, and to take this medication for me was accepting defeat, and I am not one to accept defeat, I will tell you that much!
I got really upset with this freaking cholesterol situation, after watching everything I ate for 2 months, I see the reversed results, WHAT! It sounded like a bad joke!
Gil spoke with his mom about it and she told us a BRAZILIAN NATURAL recipe to DISSOLVE CHOLESTEROL FROM YOUR ARTERIES!! TAKE NOTE!

I introduce to you!!!!!!
My new best friend: THE EGGPLANT! :)


My newest BFF!! The Eggplant! :)

Super simple, wash it well, slice it up and throw it in the blender whole, add some water, if you like add some Orange juice to improve the super veggie taste, come on people, I am not a vegan :)



Don't Peel it, just throw it in the blender and juice it up!

You have to do this 3 times a day.
I know, it's a pain in the butt if you have to go to work, you can't just take your blender and your Eggplants with you.
Just prepare it in the morning and drink your morning dose before breakfast, take the one for your mid-day lunch break with you to work, and take your third time when you come back home at night.
If you do this for 3 months, the cumulative effect of the Eggplant in your system will make you start loosing weight! YES, you heard me right, loose weight, not only you will burn that nasty cholesterol from your arteries, you will loose weight like crazy.
One simple effect from drinking this VEGAN Eggplant juice 3 times a day is that I really feel full, and only eat about one full meal a day.
The darn juice really curbs your appetite.
Hey, it's not as tasty as a milkshake, but I will take Eggplant juice 3 times a day and preserve my liver from being bombarded with Lipitor or it's competitors, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
NOW, I can't wait to go see my doctor again in 2 months.
I will post the results for your appreciation.
Let's see how good this Eggplant diet works.
You can also eat Eggplants cooked in every different way, it helps.
Well, I mean, try to avoid Eggplants like my mother makes them a Milanese, loaded with Mozzarella, and ground beef in between, yes, my mother makes an Eggplant Lasagna that is to die for, literally.
Not me, I am drinking my Eggplant juice and can't wait to go have my labs done again and share the good news with you all.  :)
Oh, Gil is doing it with me, just for the hell of it. He is enjoying it.
He is a great husband and wants to help me out with this battle.
He is doing a great job and I am proud of him.
We have both been doing the Eggplant diet for 2 weeks now and both have lost 10 pounds each, we feel less lazy and more energetic.
We have been looking for some of our old jeans and having a blast seeing that they fit again. HA!
Thank you Eggplants! You are a kind gift of nature!
NO JOKE! I say it's working already!



Eggplant FEST at Ray & Gil's everyday, 3 times a day!
  

12 comments:

Born Again Brazilian said...

Ok, this sounds really yucky, but I'm going to try it Mostly for the one meal a day effect, but I'll give it to my husband who also needs to keep his cholesterol down. FYI - when we went vegan, my husband's cholesterol went down dramatically - just saying... it's easy to be a vegan in the U.S., you'll get used to the taste of soy cheese! :)

Meredith said...

Good luck, Ray. That doesn't look delicious, but you have to take care of your health.
I'm really looking forward to my change in diet (for the better) once I move back to Brazil.

American Heart Brazilian Soul said...

Dear B.A.B,

It really sounds yucky, but it's not so bad, it has the consistency of apple juice, but it's almost tasteless, it is not bitter at all.
We mix in a little OJ to improve the taste.
Sometimes I will throw in the blender a slice of pineapple.
I think it's a much better option to cholesterol reducing drugs.
I love soy cheese by the way! :)


Ray

American Heart Brazilian Soul said...

Meredith,

In Brazil you will definitely have a broader option of fresh produce. :)

Ray

Born Again Brazilian said...

Yes, it's way better than cholesterol drugs. Any drugs. I'm totally with you on that. That's why I'm willing to try it. I happen to absolutely love eggplant, so maybe, I won't find it yucky at all!
Really, soy cheese is all about the salt, so it's not so bad, right?

American Heart Brazilian Soul said...

Dear B.A.B,

Gil has always loved soy cheese and it's growing on me too :)
If you love Eggplants, you will enjoy your Eggplant juice with no problems, just remember, to make it fun, throw in a slice of pineapple or some OJ and it's actually pretty good, if you serve it cold or with some crushed ice is even better.
We are evolving with the whole Eggplant juice habit, I just can't wait to see my cholesterol numbers!!
I will definitely share here to give you a confirmation on the effectiveness of this initiative.


:)

Ray

Jim said...

You don't mention salting the eggplant to draw out the bitter liquids within. It is common, before making traditional eggplant recipes to salt down the eggplant slices and let them sit for about 30 minutes. Then rinse off the liquid that will have been drawn out. It reduces the bitterness.

Also - are you eating your oatmeal? It also reduces cholesterol.

Good luck!

SN said...

I am very interested in the results! I am skeptical of the actual eggplant reducing cholesterol or the lack of the cholesterol in your new diet since adopting the juice. You mentioned being full most of the time so skipping meals? Is your meat intake still the same as before? Are you still consuming low fat cheeses or did you revert back to full? Sorry just but things like this really interest me!

So happy that talked your doctor out of medications for another chance. Proud of you Ray :) Good Luck!

Sara

American Heart Brazilian Soul said...

Jim,

We have always salted the Eggplants when cooking them but I NEVER did it when making the Eggplant juice.
For some reason there is NO BITTER TASTE what so ever when we make the Eggplant juice in the blender with the RAW EGGPLANTS.
And Yes, I have been eating Oatmeal for breakfast for the past 3 months. We cook it with Fat Free Milk.


Ray

American Heart Brazilian Soul said...

Sara,

My nutricionist recommended 6 grams of saturated fat per day to improve my cholesterol reduction.
She doesn't know anything about the Eggplant juice 3 times a day.
Just to give you a reference, 1 slice of regular American cheese is 3 grams, so if I eat 2 slices of regular American cheese I reach my daily allowance of 6 grams of saturated fat per day.
The nutricionist didn't tell me to stop eating anything in particular, as far as I follow her guidance of 6 grams of saturated fat per day.
I LOVE RED MEAT, but have taken upon myself to eat it only once a month for now, until my cholesterol levels are normal again.
We have been eating lean Pork Tenderloin, skinless Chicken Breast, lean ham and fish for meats, always watching for the 6 grams of saturated fat per day.
So, if I have a slice of "Triple Cream Brie" for breakfast, I will be super carefull with any other saturated fat intake for the rest of the day.
One important thing we learned from the nutricionist is that FAT is FAT, we tend to think OLIVE OIL is ok, and it is better than BUTTER for example, but it is still FAT and should be used with moderation. I was always under the impression that OLIVE OIL was ok in any quantities, I was wrong.
We use Canola Oil for cooking, we ALWAYS cook at home, and we have reduced our Canola Oil when cooking at home.
I always ate lots of fruits and vegetables, so no big changes with that, I can tell you that my shopping cart is always filled with 95% of produce and lean meats, fat free milk and eggs.
We buy very little processed foods, it's the occasional Crystal Light Lemonade mix, Whole Wheat Bread and that is it.
When you start counting the grams of fat from cheeses, even the light cheeses are loaded with saturated fat, and it has been an eye openner to me.
When you start the Eggplant juice, you will notice increased frequency of bowel movements in the first week, by the second week it's back to normal.
One nasty/disgusting proof that the Eggplant must be working is that the stool is "oily", it requires extra cleaning of the toilet bowl, sorry to share these details, but it must be a good tip that the Eggplant juice is cleaning up my system from fat and cholesterol.
Let's see, I will share the results here with a follow up post as soon as I get it.


Ray

Ray

SN said...

Consider me intrigued! Good luck and wish you the best of results!

Sara

American Heart Brazilian Soul said...

Thanks Sara, I will definitely share the news from the lab results with a follow up post. :)