Archive: Around Town

	A few years ago, my heart stopped functioning properly. A cardiac artery was blocked, and I felt some strange and scary symptoms. The blockage was relieved with a stent, and the hospital that installed it included a detailed lecture to all such patients. They don’t want to see us again. Heeding that information has kept me healthy, and I want to share what I’ve learned.

Today, we’re thinking about snacks. We probably think about snacks too often, and we may have conditioned ourselves to be steadily stuffing something into our faces whenever we sit in front of a TV or movie screen. That may not be a good habit, but cut yourself some slack, at least for now.

Of course, you can still snack on a heart healthy diet, but no more plowing through a Whitman’s Sampler. I eat popcorn almost by the bushel, but of course, not with butter. Extra virgin olive oil with extra-fine salt on it is actually very good. I make it in the microwave but never use the stuff in bags. I recommend Jolly Time white kernels, more tender than yellow. Pop in a nonmetallic covered casserole or a paper bag.

Put dried fruit on your list. It’s fat free, and you want all that fiber. I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right: You’ll never be constipated again. On the contrary. Learn to accept that as a Good Thing.

Potato chips and corn chips? Fine. Frito-Lay started a trend by dropping transfats, so more of their stuff is safe to eat. I saw a box of Bugles lately — thought they were extinct — and learned why I loved them so: The saturated fat per serving is way past the 2-gram limit.

Eat nuts, especially walnuts, which I like mixed with raisins. Avoid peanuts, though: very fatty. They’re not nuts, anyway.

Some crackers are OK, but again, read the label. Low fat CheezIts and low fat Triscuits aren’t safe around me. Clancy’s Multigrain Crisps, a very thin cracker from Aldi, is a delicious product.

You can’t touch ice cream any more, but more fat-free frozen desserts are coming out all the time.  Lansing Market has a delicious selection. I recommend the peach.

And there’s always fruit, fresh, canned, or frozen. But avoid grapefruit and grapefruit juice, you know. It can interfere with your statin drug as well as other medications.

The bottom line is, as I’ve said, a new life style, and you can do it. I did it cold turkey, because I was scared straight, so to speak, and I have a lot I want to do. I didn’t want to check out now, thank you; I’m having too much fun. Cutting the fat made me drop 15 pounds right away, and I’m in better shape than I was 20 years ago. But if your experience is like mine, you may take as much as a year to adjust. It’s hard. Life is different. But different is better than over, and my grandchildren like to see me.

Every other week: Lots more on food, drugs, medical ID, how and why to keep moving, and recipes!
Disclaimer: This stuff comes only from my own research and experience. I may seem to know what I’m talking about, but your doctor is the final authority. Read all of these columns by typing “Hale and Hearty” in the search box on the right, “Search the Star,” under the first bunch of navigation buttons.

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