Diet and Lifestyle

9 October 2011
Before trying to lose weight my main objective is to lower my cholesterol, and hopefully this will have a positive impact on my weight. There are 2 types of cholesterol - HDL (good) and LDL (bad).  A diet which is high in saturated fat can raise the LDL levels, whereas polyunsaturated fat can lower LDL levels.

I've decided the best way to tackle this is to make some small changes one at a time,  so being a bit of a butter lover have decided to swap that for a different type of spread.  I thought about Benecol or Flora ProActiv which contain plant sterols which have been proven to reduce cholesterol, but I ended up with soya spread instead, mainly because they didn't have the other two in the health food shop which is where I happened to be.  I can't even remember why I went in there, but I came out with soya spread, soya milk, beetroot juice, and oatcake biscuity things.

Having just looked on the backs of the tubs (Lurpak lighter spreadable and Pure Soya spread) there is little difference between calories and total fat, however the soya spread has 14 g of saturated fat and 27g of polyunsaturated fat in comparison to 23.7g saturated and 7.8g polyunsaturated (butter) so it'ss much better for one's health.

Having done a bit of online research I have discovered that in order to specifically contribute to lowering cholesterol levels (as opposed to the differing types of fat) 25g per day of soya protein should be consumed.  Unfortunately there is no soya protein in this particular brand of soya spread as it is made with soya oil.    On the other hand there is soya protein in the milk.

I think that's quite enough science for now.


8 October 2011
I've never been a teeny tiny scrap of a thing, and for the last little while (by which I mean about 20 years) I've been getting further and farther away from that lithe, fit, shapely, woman that I kind of believe I am in my head.  So, prompted mainly by the fact that recent blood tests showed I had a cholesterol level of 6.16 (when it should be less than 5 but ideally nearer 4) and been instructed by the GP to follow a low fat diet for the next few months before having more tests, it's time I did something about it all.   So it all starts here.   AGAIN.