If the title of the post made you burst into song, your kids might be the same age as my kids.
I've been thinking all year about eating a little lower on the food chain, ever since I watched the Netflix documentary about identical twins who were randomly assigned to eat either a vegan diet or a nutritious omnivore diet. My LDL has been a little too high, my blood pressure has been drifting upward, and the calendar only scrolls by in one direction.
Younger Jamie never paid attention to sodium, ever, at all, despite all of her focus on whole grains and vegetables and unprocessed whatnot. Younger Jamie got a little annoyed with Laurie Colwin's salt-free recipes, because salt is delicious. But 2024 Jamie was advised in May to keep an eye on her blood pressure, because maybe it would ease back down after that visit but also maybe it might be time to think about intervening. And 2024 Jamie was appalled a couple of weeks ago to see some blood pressure readings at the gym that were clearly in the nope range.
Cardiovascular disease is the #1 cause of death, and high blood pressure is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease. You have to play the long game to protect your arteries if you want to enjoy a healthy old age.
(This particular long game does not sound like a super-fun game, I have to say.)
When I finally decided to look squarely at my sodium intake, I thought, "...Oh." I thought, "...Duh!" I have known my whole life that Americans eat too much sodium, but I had never paid attention to the sodium in my own personal diet. I looked up the nutrition information for the two sandwich shops closest to my office and I was astonished to see the numbers there in black and white. If a person eats 1800mg of sodium at lunchtime, she is not going to stay under the 2300mg recommended daily limit. It's just not possible.
The good news is that my blood pressure floated right back down to the normal range when I started paying attention to sodium. The bad news is that it requires planning (and home cooking) to avoid sodium.
I checked out Dr. Greger's How Not To DIe cookbook via Kindle Unlimited, and I am dipping a toe into his recommendations. I find them pretty extreme, honestly; I decline to live on unsalted beans and oat groats.
I do, however, own some oat groats as of this afternoon. One of his staple recipes is BROL: barley, rye, oats, and lentils. I ordered the grains; we always have lentils. His recipe doesn't say to soak them overnight but that's what I'm doing. (My logic: something-something digestibility / nutrient availability / enzymes (though, okay, I'm just going to destroy any potentially useful enzymes in the Instant Pot tomorrow.))
WILL Jamie develop a dazzling glow of oaty-groaty good health? WILL rye berries be delicious, disgusting, or something in between? Let's hope for a flavor profile closer to delicious than disgusting, since I...ah...bought 3 pounds of rye berries. Stay tuned, friends, and I'll tell you all about it.
Recent Comments