Hannah's cholesterol update...

By Hannah Sherwood

For those of you who read the cholesterol feature in September’s issue of HFG, you will have seen my mug shot alongside how I discovered that I have high cholesterol at the age of 23. Quite a shock, as I am generally in good health, have a healthy diet, am not overweight and exercise regularly. So what happened next?

My cholesterol journey so far

First step: discovery at a cholesterol seminar I attended for work that I had high cholesterol.

Second step: fasting blood test to confirm the cholesterol reading.

Third step: lipid clinic…

At the lipid clinic I was weighed and measured and had my blood pressure taken by a nurse before seeing the doctor. The doctor ran through how I’d ended up at the clinic today and remarked (yet again) at how I was the youngest patient he’d seen with high cholesterol. There was heavy focus on my lifestyle and family medical history, and after explaining how my dad has high cholesterol, as does my sister (who panicked after I told her my level and had hers checked immediately), it was becoming more probable that I have familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), the type of cholesterol you inherit or have from birth.

What is FH?

For one in 500 of the population, a specific genetic defect causes high cholesterol. On all cells of the body, and mainly in the liver, there is a receptor that allows low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the bad kind) to be cleared from the bloodstream. People with FH have a defect in the gene of this LDL-cholesterol receptor. This causes LDL cholesterol to accumulate in the blood and ultimately in the walls of your arteries. Siblings and children of a person with FH have a 50% risk of getting the defect.

The tests

The doctor checked for fatty deposits (lumps) around my achilles and the knuckles on my hands, as well as my eyes. These cholesterol deposits are among the symptoms of FH. He checked my heartbeat, which was good, and checked for a pulse in my feet, which was also fine and meant that the blood flow was OK. I had my blood taken again to check for any secondary causes of hypercholesterolaemia.

What now?

My cholesterol needs to be brought down to a healthier level. A healthy LDL figure for most people is less than 3mmol/L, for people at high risk, like me, it’s less than 2mmol/L – but mine is 5.8! I was told there's nothing I can do lifestyle or diet-wise that will make a big enough difference, so I need to take statins for life. I was prescribed atorvastatin (1 tablet a day). I'm booked in for a check up in three months to see if the statin is working, and also to check that my body – most importantly my liver – agrees with it.

The bottom line

I was a bit disheartened – being 23 and feeling fit and healthy, the diagnosis seemed unfair. But, as the doctor warned me, having high cholesterol means I’m 10 times more likely to have a heart attack than someone with normal cholesterol levels, so I now see finding out as a blessing in disguise. It means I’ll be able to monitor it and bring it down far earlier than if I’d found out in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time. Who knows what state my arteries might have been in by then?

For more about cholesterol, plus diet tips go to http://www.healthyfood.co.uk/ 

Pumpkin Pie Baked Apple w/ Candied Pecans

This lovely masterpiece was inspired during the holidays when I had extra pumpkin purée and I was seeing baked apples all over Instagram.  It is a mixture of the classic holiday pies.

*Dairy-free, Gluten-free, and Grain-free. Paleo approved.

Pumpkin Pie Baked Apple

Serves 1-2

Ingredients: pumpkin pie purée, apple, coconut milk, egg, cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and a Medjel date {or honey}

First, core an apple. 

The easiest way to core an apple is to slice a 1/2-1 inch off the top of the apple.  Then spoon out the seeds and some of the apple flesh, depending on how much pumpkin filling you wish to put in. Then fill with pumpkin pie filling. 

Pumpkin Pie Filling 

Blend or mix together: 

• 2-3 Tbsp pumpkin purée 

•1-2 tsp coconut milk 

•an egg white {or a whole egg if making 2} 

•1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon

• a pinch of each ground ginger, cloves, and nutmeg 

•1/2 a Medjel date {or a tsp or so of honey}

Bake at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until apple is soft. Then take out of the oven and top w/ candied pecans. 

Candied Pecans

Ingredients: pecans, a Medjel date{or honey or maple syrup}, coconut oil, and ghee/butter

On the stove in a small skillet melt:

•1/2 tsp coconut oil 

•1/2 tsp ghee or butter 

Then add:

•a 1/3 cup of chopped up pecans 

•the other half of the date chopped up {or some honey/maple syrup} 

Cook over medium till roastedish {yes, I did just make up my own word}.  This is approximately 5 minutes.  Stir frequently. 

Sprinkle the candied pecans on your fresh out of the oven baked apple. Then enjoy! Your tummy will thank you... Not even joking:)


~Allergy Free Wednesday~
~Recipe Round-Up~

Get all your five-a-day in one dish!

By Harry Eastwood

This salad is a deconstructed version of ratatouille, which makes for a delicious, fresh and full-flavoured alternative to the traditional vegetable stew. It can be made ahead – and, in fact, tastes even better. It ticks plenty of health boxes as it’s high in fibre and low in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt. Most people can enjoy it, as it’s vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free. And the best thing about it? One serving counts as a full five portions of your five-a-day.

Ratatouille salad with anchovies and lemon

Serves 4

1 large aubergine, cut into small cubes

2 medium courgettes, topped, tailed and cut into very small cubes

4tbsp olive oil

1 large Spanish onion, peeled and finely diced

1 medium yellow pepper, cored and chopped into small cubes

1 medium orange pepper, cored and chopped into small cubes

2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste

3 anchovies, very finely chopped

10 medium ripe tomatoes on the vine

Freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon

Handful of basil leaves, torn from the stem

1. Heat a large frying pan until very hot.

2. Toss the aubergine and courgette cubes in the olive oil until evenly coated. Add them to the hot frying pan and cook over a high heat for 5 min, until the edges have turned a golden colour. You may find that you need to do this stage in two batches.

3. Tip the hot vegetables into a large bowl with the onion, peppers, garlic and anchovies. Season generously with pepper, then cover with clingfilm. Set aside for 10 min, while you prepare the tomatoes.

4. Chop the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds and centre with the help of a spoon. Finely chop the flesh, then add to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

5. Finally, squeeze the lemon juice over the salad. Set aside (wrapped in clingfilm) for 1 hr in the ambient temperature of your kitchen to let the flavours mingle and develop. Scatter the basil leaves over just before serving and add more pepper if needed. Serve with crusty bread, if you like.

SWAP IN/SWAP OUT

I love the savoury flavour the anchovies bring, but you don’t have to add them – this ratatouille is delicious without. You could include pine nuts if you want the salad to be a little more hearty and reduced-fat feta or mozzarella chunks are lovely thrown in at the last minute, too.

Per serving: 210kcal, 6g protein, 12.8g fat, 2g saturates, 19.2g carbs, 17.1g sugar, 9g fibre, 0.3g salt, 77mg calcium, 2.7mg iron

 

Harry’s supporting our mission to Fight the Fads – Make Every Meal Healthier. To find out why she’s rallying against the fad diet industry, pick up our October issue.

For more substantial salad recipes, check out Harry Eastwood’s A Salad For All Seasons (Bantam Press, £20).

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Men's Nike Jordan Flight Club '91 555475 102 White Gym Red Black Met Silver (MEN SIZE 11.5, White Gym Red Black Met Silver)

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Heading to Ontario // July Schedule

Tomorrow morning we are heading up into Ontario to spend the next week giving concerts there before our return to Iowa.

 We would love to see some of you canadian readers at one of our concerts! 

8....The Maretzki Farm, 3858 Konkle RD::Beamsville, ON::7pm
rescheduled due to rain, new location Grimsby Bible Church, Grimsby, ON::7pm

10...Mapleview Mennonite Church::Wellesley, ON::7:30pm

11...Lighthouse Gospel Church::Port Burwell, ON::7pm

12...EUMI Auditorium::Leamington, ON::7pm

13...Leamington Evangelical Mennonite Church::Leamington, ON::10:30am

13...Carrick Camp::Mildmay, ON::7pm

14...Pigeon River Mennonite Church::Pigeon, MI::7pm

Summer Tour//Week Two

 Week two of our summer tour was spent in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.  We did concerts in churches and at a Christian trucker's event and were blessed by the hospitality of many wonderful people along the way.  It was a special treat to see many of our relatives in PA.

We loved getting to spend time with these third cousins.  Now that some of us are grown up, we don't get to see each other very often, so it was wonderful to have part of a day all together.  Our mothers have been friends for a loonnggg time and us kids have played and laughed and debated game scores (and other things:) together nearly our whole lives.  Another cousin (far left) who lives in the area also joined us for a day.

We do the "crazy picture" well, huh?

a little ladies' picnic with cousins.  These girls have such a party together!

the Nerd Violinist, formerly known as Rebecca Bontrager:)

Loved awesome lunch on the deck with cousins!  Good food and that connection we have as cousins makes for wonderful times.

The bus takes lots of cleaning and maintenance as we travel.  Mitchell does a great job keeping the exterior of the bus clean.

Carson is very diligent with staying on top of things involving oil, grease, and generators.  We are so grateful!

Dutch Blitz with cousins

ice cream with friends after a concert

Sunday dinner on the lawn

best buds

Jug-a-lug!!!  If you've never played this game, you really must try it!  After Sunday dinner, we started reminiscing about our ultra-competitive games in years gone by, and we decided we simply must play once again.  It was a party!

late night campfires.....telling stories.....laughing together....sharing our hearts.

I do believe some of the best times happen in kitchens.  Memories are made and hearts knit together as we gather in the room that celebrates the blessing of food and the gift of family and friends.  

keeping entertained by the very gifted storyteller that was in our midst. =)

Good times over dinner....this girl traveled with us a few yrs back and she's pretty much just an extension of our family. =)

This swing.......has provided hundreds, perhaps thousand of hours of sheer exhilaration for many happy children!  I loved it when I was a child and now my little siblings love it just as much!  

kindred spirits

  Doing dishes with this lady is sure to bring merriment and good times.:)

We were so grateful that our schedule allowed us to attend a Zook family reunion. 

(this was a reunion with our Grandma (Zook) Stoltzfus' siblings and their children and grandchildren. Not nearly everyone came but there was still a pretty big crowd! Mom loved connecting with her cousins and we children met quite a few relatives we hadn't known before)

My cousin and I ate lunch with our grandparents and some of our great aunts and uncles.  It was so fun!  These dear ones have lived longer than us and have so much wisdom.  Most of all, I love the legacy of loving Jesus they have passed on to us.  And their well-developed sense of humor is  pretty great, too!

The watermelon boys.

My grandmother Stoltzfus and her sisters- they are such warm, caring, Godly women.

the sisters swinging!!!  I love this picture.=)

This is the home where my great grandparents lived.  A smaller house on the same property is where my granparents started their life together.

This house is so fabulous- staircases and rooms and amazing woodwork everywhere!

Aunts and cousins

Chelsy and Grandpa looking at old family photos

some of the guy cousins looking at photos

We had a sharing time in the afternoon, and we heard many stories that gave us a greater understanding of our heritage and family history.

Grandma and Grandpa

hayride

This is the house where my mother and her family lived until she was eight.

the barn

Grandma and her siblings

Grandma, her siblings, and their spouses

Singing at the Transport for Christ rally.

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.  Serve the Lord with gladness.  Come before His presence with singing.  Know ye that the Lord, He is God."

Psalm 100:1

-posted by Allison