Marching Into The Peace Corps, pt 9: The Cholesterol Cha-Cha

This was another sobering reality because I normally eat two eggs a day and a piece of fish. The one good thing I’ve learned is to eat the egg first and then chase it with a half a cup of oatmeal and a lecithin capsule so the fat doesn’t “stick” to the arterial walls and has a way out of the body.

I’ve always looked at eggs as a “clean” or “efficient” protein source because I’ve always been told that. Let’s compare here for a minute to get a reality check:

Eggs are clearly not the “clean” source with this side-by-side comparison, especially when you keep in mind the rule of staying under 300 mg of cholesterol on a daily basis. Two eggs and a piece of fish equal 575 mg of cholesterol, and that’s way too much. I know the cholesterol is concentrated in the yoke, and there are times when I’ll use only a half a yoke, but that doesn’t work with a hard boiled egg – my preferred method. I love the yokes in that case, but I guess I’m going to have to swear them off. To me, an egg is NOT an egg without the yoke.

One could argue the value of the egg as being the lower sodium content, but remember the trick I wrote about in a previous segment ? If you soak the fillet, you can remove a lot of added salt during the production of the product. It’s a small price I’m willing to pay considering I hate finding fish bones in the back of my throat. Of course your body needs some salt, so whatever occurs naturally in food and what little is left over after soaking is probably not enough to worry about.

I was chatting with a friend last night about diet and exercise issues, and although he exists somewhere between sedentary and work related bursts of movement and regular spring through fall juicing, his smoking and otherwise dietary habits are somewhat to be desired. For the moment, I am lighter than he is in terms of scale weight, but if we did an accurate comparison between the both of us, he might win out today.

The reason I mention him at this point is because he said to me, “you’re becoming compulsive with this diet thing”. I told him I wasn’t compulsive, but I was being stringent because I’m having to face facts I might not be in good enough shape in three months to go for a physical and lab work; I might have to readjust my expectations and shoot for four or five months. Granted, that means I’ll be looking at March or April for a doctor’s visit, and I’m shooting to have all medical and dental issues resolved and perfectly clean by June.

Thankfully the rest of my diet consists of lots of carrot and celery sticks, tomatoes, flax and sesame seeds, frozen mixed vegetables, and a little powered fiber that I add into my oatmeal for a little extra cholesterol grabbing power. I do drink a lot of water with lemon, but I’ve got a stern warning about drinking too much, based on personal experience. Just a word of advice: keep a bottle of Gatoraide handy in case you drink too much water – it might save your life!

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quazen.com articles by this writer can be found here

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relijournal.com articles are here

picable.com photographic images are here