Low-salt ketchup: Westbrae vs. LocalFolks

Ketchup (or do you say catsup) is one condiment that I initially found it extremely difficult to live without after being put on a low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet following my angioplasty in 2012. Regular varieties are high in salt and sugar.

But I’ve since found several alternatives and thought I’d post a product comparison here, much in the spirit of my low-salt teriyaki sauce review last September.

I've found two brands of low-sodium,low-sugar ketchup, Westbrae and LocalFolks Foods. — I’ve found two brands of low-sodium,low-sugar ketchup, Westbrae and LocalFolks Foods.

The first brand, Westbrae unsweetened, vegetarian ketchup, I found online and subsequently at Whole Foods and Sunset Foods in the northern suburbs of Chicago. A tablespoon of it has 70 mgs of sodium and less than 1 gram of sugar. Continue reading “Low-salt ketchup: Westbrae vs. LocalFolks” →

June 30, 2014 12

Processed meats: they’re yummy but stay away from them

This is turning into healthcare week on the blog it seems. A lot of health-related items seem to be filling my e-mail box, hopefully they can help you, although my intent here is to write more about food than health because health science is a moving target that I don’t often completely trust.

Processed meats, like this sausage I had in London a few years ago, are ff my menu now.

Today’s topic is processed meats — you know, hot dogs, salami, sausages, cold cuts of all kinds. I loved them all and ate them all regularly until my 2012 angioplasty. Now they’re just a distant memory for me. That’s because they’re high in salt and other things that are thought to be less than healthy for us. Continue reading “Processed meats: they’re yummy but stay away from them” →

June 27, 2014 4

FDA salt guidelines will shake up the food industry: a guest post

This is a guest post that crossed my desk at my day job writing for a healthcare magazine. I asked for permission to use it on my personal blog, hoping it will help others wrestling with getting the salt out of their diets, as I am. It was supplied to me by Diane O’Donnell, senior public relations specialist at the North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y. A video also is available, simply click here to see it.

New FDA guidelines aimed at reducing the level of sodium that food companies and restaurants put in their fare can’t come soon enough for one New York nutrition expert.

“This is a long time coming,” said Nancy Copperman, a registered dietitian and corporate director of Public Health Initiatives for the North Shore-LIJ Health System. “Much of the sodium that we eat is hidden in foods, and we don’t realize how much we get from just the processed foods that we buy,” Continue reading “FDA salt guidelines will shake up the food industry: a guest post” →

June 25, 2014 2

Heredity vs. environment for heart disease: which do you think causes it?

I started this blog after having an angioplasty in 2012 because current medical science thinks what we eat, our food environement, can impact such things as how or if cholesterol builds up in our arteries to cause the type of major blockages I experienced.

Doctors have put me on cholesterol lowering drugs, even though my cholesterol levels were never in a danger zone prior to my heart troubles, and they’ve advised me to cut the salt, fat and sugar from my diet.

While I’m doing all that hoping it will help, I’ve never gotten past thinking the real cause of my problems is simply heredity, given that my father and several aunts and uncles have died of heart attacks. My heredity argument got some serious reinforcement recently when I read of two studies linking a gene to the possibility of heart problems. Continue reading “Heredity vs. environment for heart disease: which do you think causes it?” →

June 23, 2014 1

Stuffed Peppers That Will Richly Stuff Your Belly

I’ve stuffed peppers with quinoa but this adds some nice extras. I’d leave out the nuts though, I can’t eat them.

Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork

Hello my dear Health Fighters,

it’s been a while since I’ve posted some sexy, delicious, colourful, and mainly, super healthy recipe that would brighten the mood of your mind and tummy. This time, I went for a purely vegetarian recipe which is colourful enough to paint smile on your face; difficult enough to taste more deservedly; healthy enough to make your tummy dance and sing “Hey, Hey Hippie” from joy; and charming enough to flirt with all of your senses.

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June 22, 2014 1

Fish fest: mix and match for a fun dinner selection

Many fish are considered healthy these days but everyone has their own favorites and types they won’t eat. I recently wrote about how I’m enjoying walleye these days but my wife didn’t like the flavor.

So one recent Friday, I did a fish mix and match dinner, making walleye for me and tilapia for her.

My mix and match fish dinner cooking away, walleye in the white pan, tilapia in the black with peppers and onions in the third.

The side dish of peppers and onions, cooked down on the stove until the onions go limp and get slightly sweet, and the peppers, cut into strips, become soft, goes wonderfully with any fish. Continue reading “Fish fest: mix and match for a fun dinner selection” →

June 18, 2014 1

Walleye: a tasty fish alternative

Walleye is not a fish I heard much about growing up next to the Atlantic Ocean in New York. But since I’ve lived in the Midwest, it’s a fish name that pops up frequently, especially in my college days in Wisconsin, since it’s a fresh water rather than a salt water specie.

I’d never had occasion to try it until recently, but loved it at a restaurant in the Wisconsin resort town of Lake Geneva. So when I saw it for sale at Costco recently I bought some for home.

I made it with a light breading of panko breadcrumbs after washing it in egg whites so the crumbs would stick. I then applied a Mr. Spice salt-free honey mustard sauce to add some flavor as it was finishing cooking. Continue reading “Walleye: a tasty fish alternative” →

June 16, 2014 3

Ahi tuna: a wonderful special treat you can make at home

I’ve written about having ahi tuna at a restaurant, but I also like making it at home. Great ahi is expensive to buy, something like $20 a pound at Costco, but occasionally I treat myself and my wife to it.

A little over a pound of ahi tuna cut into two pieces for cooking. Accompanied by portobello mushrooms, a great combination.

Tuna fish in a can always disgusted me as a kid, but ahi is about as far from that as is possible for a fish with the same name to be. It is a wonderful meaty fish. It’s traditionally served rare, seared on the outside but with the center still red and wonderfully tasty. I use a salt-free Mrs. Dash teriyaki sauce for flavor when I cook it. Continue reading “Ahi tuna: a wonderful special treat you can make at home” →

June 14, 2014 2

The No salt, no fat, no sugar Journal is growing, big-time

Last week, the No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal reached a milestone in its less than two years of existence — our total views through just barely more than five month of this year reached double what they had been for all of 2013!

Our average daily page views are up almost five times where they were when we ended 2013 and we have had record month after record month of total views. We just finished three straight weeks of increased viewership.

Me before my surgery and before dropping about 30 pounds on my low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet.

Me at the farmers' market with a fig tree I bought. — Me at the farmers’ market with a fig tree I bought.

This site was born out of the tragedy of heart surgery for me. That event forced me to completely change what and how I eat. The process has been incredibly difficult for me but I resolved that something good should come from it and so started this blog to help others on the same road. Continue reading “The No salt, no fat, no sugar Journal is growing, big-time” →

June 13, 2014 4

Consequences of my birthday pig-out day

I’ve been telling the story of my birthday this year and my decision that day to try eating again the way I did before having an angioplasty done in 2012 and being placed on a low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet as a result.

My food that day included potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate layer cake, and Chinese food to include pork fried rice, Mongolian beef, egg rolls and crab Rangoon.

My mini-birthday cake. I ate a slice and saved one for Sunday.

Let’s look at the numbers for all that first. I entered it all into my LoseIt! app, using Chinese restaurant items LoseIt! has for my dinner choices. I approximated sizes, so I likely under-estimated my day’s total, but the numbers are still stunning. My total calorie intake that day –2,925 (my ‘normal day is 2,000 and I often eat less since I can’t find enough items I can eat now to reach that total most days). My total sodium intake for the day — 7,905 mgs! Compare that to my new daily goal, 1,200 to 1,500 mgs, and you can see eating all that Chinese food with its high sodium content gave me roughly five to seven days worth of sodium in one day! Continue reading “Consequences of my birthday pig-out day” →

June 11, 2014 3

Month: June 2014