One of us has high cholesterol, high blood pressure, is going to the doctor next week for medication. We are getting serious about healthier eating, and it’s going to be a major change. I’m buying fish, chicken, turkey, whole grains, margarine in tubs, etc.
The thing is, every Sunday we used to have a huge breakfast: hash browns, fried eggs, sausage or bacon. I’m buying Egg Beaters for the eggs - maybe saute some leftover baked potato in Benecol - is there anything that could ‘stand in’ for bacon or sausage? Anything in the health food section freezer that is not inedible, maybe made by Amy’s, or some kind of organic tofu sausage that’s pretty tasty?
And snacks - I know, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Any particular health food section crackers? Whole grain low salt baked not fried - any brand in particular, like Early July? Plain popcorn (yuck), bagel chips, crackers or snacky things? Just something to go with the turkey-on-whole-grain lunch sandwiches.
I know there’s a lot of information on this everywhere, but I don’t want to spend a lot of money on trial and error, if you have had a HBP/HC diagnosis, how did you adjust your diet for breakfast and snacks? And any particular brands that are good? Before I go wading into the Organic Healthy Section, I would like some suggestions, thank you.
Will your medical insurance spring for a visit to a nutritionist? I know for diabetics a nutritionists consult is more or less mandatory with Tri-care, many endocrinologists have a pet nutritionist on staff.
I know that in general the diabetic recommended diet is pretty good for most conditions - it encourages lowered sodium, lowered fat and decreasing the convenience foods and concentrating on making more food from raw materials. The food pyramid is slightly different from the normal USDA one as I remember [it places fats as the smallest part, fruits and veggies as the largest, instead of grains and legumes as the largest I think. I would have to go dig out the information literature I was given.]
There is nothing wrong with making 2 slices of bacon a Sunday treat, my regular breakfast of oatmeal gets changed on Saturday for a weekend fryup, though I go with 2 poached eggs, a slice of toast and 2 slices of bacon, or 2 breakfast sausages if my stupid pork aversion is behaving itself. My nutritionist has emphasized that in general a moderate use of any food can be worked into any nutritional plan [I could dig into 185 calories of pure sugar out of the bag a day if I really wanted to]
TLDNR - I would go ahead and make your Sunday treat breakfast of 2 slices of bacon per person, eggbeaters and potatoes [and onions, I love onions and potatoes fried up in bacon fat] done in the fat and a nice thick piece of texas toast with homemade strawberry jam. If you don’t go overboard and do a pound of bacon, and do it every day it really shouldn’t adversely impact your health.
{edited to add}[and unmedicated my BP goes to 210/190. I not only have hypertension, I have chaotic-evil malignant hypertension and type 2 insulin controlled diabetes.]
What if you guys make your breakfast tradition as some high-quality steel cut or Irish oats? Cook in the crock pot…overnight I think.
IMHO the thing that makes bacon and sausage worth eating is the salt and spices. The turkey versions are ok, so you can do without the fat. But you can’t do without the salt and spices. If you’re trying to avoid salt, avoid sausage and bacon. It’s not worth it.
However, I thought that the latest thinking is that dietary cholesterol really doesn’t mean much, and there’s no evidence that reducing salt below 2300mg/day has any benefit.
You sound like you are trying to completely overhaul your diet all of a sudden - which is a plan with a great chance of failure - and what you’re planning may not even be beneficial if you do achieve it.
Personally, I would just modify what you are eating, at first. for example, cut your hash browned potatoes with shredded cabbage and onions. Lean ham instead of bacon. Its not the same, but its still good and it still feels like hash browns, sort of. Similarly, where you would use potatoes (in stews, or mashed), use 1/2 turnips instead.
I like Morningstar Farms stuff. Just know it is not going to taste just like bacon/sausage…but it is pretty tasty.
I know we should ease into it, which is what I’m doing. Can’t make a major switch all at once, so right now we’re having the usual low-fat turkey and whole grains - skipping the sausage and bacon tomorrow. I’m pretty sure the doctor will give us a handout of do’s and don’ts…I’m wondering if we’ll have to cut back on the sodium, too? Which is in everything! There goes the salt shaker, anyway.