A Cholesterol Scare
I got myself tested for my cholesterol level in early March. There was a jump of 22% compared to the test I did two years ago. The increase could only be partially explained by a 21% rise in HDL cholesterol (the “good” kind). The rest was down to LDL cholesterol, the evil twin of HDL.
The results set off alarm bells. My regular running habit, it turns out, is not bullet-proof against the waxy substance running through my bloodstream. I have been asking myself about the possible causes of the increase. Likely culprits: the end-of-year feast that starts in early December, winter-induced chocolate cravings, the galette des rois all through January, and my occasional trips to Grenoble since September, which mean eating out more than usual. My weight, however, has remained relatively stable. Perhaps genes play a part too: high cholesterol runs in my immediate family.
What My Doctor Said
I spoke to my general practitioner about it. I had expected him to suggest medication straight away. However, he didn’t seem worried. He just told me to cut back on dairy products and morning pastries for a few weeks, then take another blood test. If the level remains high after that, it might mean I’ve inherited a predisposition for high cholesterol.
My New Oatmeal Breakfast
With the intention of acing my next cholesterol test, I’ve started paying closer attention to my diet — one small step at a time, starting with breakfast.
My usual breakfast is bread spread with butter and jam, or condensed milk. Once or twice a week, I treat myself to pastries. Over the past couple of months, though, I’ve worked Gerblé biscuits and an oatmeal breakfast into my routine at least three or four times a week. The fibre-rich biscuits are easy to bring along on early morning class days, and they don’t taste bad at all. My favourite is the almond biscuits with chocolate chips (you can probably guess why). As for the oatmeal, I just cook it with low-fat milk. It tastes much better than I expected, with a natural trace of sweetness. To give it an extra kick, I lace it with maple syrup or condensed milk — though I suspect that rather undermines my healthy-eating intentions…
Baking Oatmeal Cookies
With oats now aplenty in my pantry, I decided to put them to better use: oatmeal cookies. Hopefully, these will partially replace some of the unhealthy snacks — chips and chocolate — that I tend to indulge in rather generously.
The cookies are super easy to make, and there are plenty of recipes online to choose from. The two core ingredients, gleaned from various sites, are oatmeal and very ripe banana. If you want to spice things up, just add toppings of your choice: nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, or baking essences such as vanilla or orange blossom. No butter, no cups of sugar, no flour — just mash the banana and combine it with about 100g of oats, which makes around 9 cookies. For my first batch, I added a handful of raisins and chocolate chips, then baked them for about 12 minutes at 180°C.
One of these oatmeal cookies is enough to give you a boost of energy before a run. One or two afterwards help stave off hunger until I have time for a proper meal. As for the taste, it’s definitely not as delicious as those golden, crumbly butter cookies — but these oatmeal cookies are much healthier. I’ve only made them once so far, and they turned out well. Next time, I’ll add some nuts and maybe shorten the baking time to make them crunchier rather than chewy. If you know a trick for making them crunchier, drop me a line!