Sunday, December 1, 2013
How I Lowered My Cholesterol Levels Without Drugs
Many of you know I've been on a plan to lower my cholesterol levels with diet and exercise.
Doctors readily put patients on Statin drugs rather than address lifestyle changes, but my doctor was thrilled when I approached her with my own researched plan. I'm over half Scottish and don't understand why people treat symptoms with costly drugs without first addressing causes head-on with lifestyle changes.
I'm not a nutritionist or a doctor, but as publisher of this magazine and editor of many publications over the years, I have absorbed a good amount of information over the years. I developed this plan because it sounded like something I can live with.
Turns out, I can live with it. That doesn't mean it you can. You need to come up with your own plan and run it by your doctor so you aren't jumping on and off a plan that's impossible for you.
Trusted sources, like the Mayo Clinic, recommend five foods to lower your cholesterol numbers: Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods; fish and omega-3 fatty acids; walnuts, almonds and other nuts; olive oil; and foods with added plant sterols or stanois.
The Mayo Clinic also recommends cutting back on the cholesterol and total fat, especially saturated and trans fats. Saturated fats, like those in meat, full-fat dairy products and some oils, raise your total cholesterol. Trans fats, found in most packaged foods, baked goods, chips, cookies (Basically, processed foods) are particularly bad for your cholesterol levels.
First, my numbers. The first number listed was from July, 2012. The second was from four months later.
Total cholesterol: 221. Four months later: 186 (Target is below 200).
HDL (good) cholesterol: 36. Four months later: 37 (Target is above 40).
LDL (bad) cholesterol: 136. Four months later: 124 (Target is below 100).
Triglycerides (another bad cholesterol): 247. Four months later: 127 (Target is below 150).
I obviously have a ways to go, but keep in mind this was accomplished without drugs, with a combination of diet, exercise and supplements. People tell me I'm losing weight, but since that's not the goal, I haven't been keeping track.
Exercise. I exercise 30 minutes a day, five days a week, on an elliptical at home in front of internet TV.
Even more importantly, I set up a place where I can stand to work on my computer all day. Studies in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Asia have all found an association between increased sedentary time and the risk of early death. Too much sitting is associated with numerous problems, ranging from weight gain, to osteoporosis, to cardiovascular disease. Surprisingly, these effects occur regardless of whether we exercise!
Supplements. I believe I should be getting what I need from the food I eat, so I keep the pills to a minimum. Daily, I take 500 mg. DHA, which may reduce the risk of heart and circulatory disease by decreasing the thickness of the blood and lowering blood levels of triglycerides. I also take dietary supplements containing concentrated fruit and vegetable juice extracts fortified with added vitamins and nutrients that may help my cardiovascular system. As with most natural supplements, the benefits are unsupported.
I researched these supplements myself, and, most importantly, ran them by my doctor with my overall plan.
Diet. The basis of my diet can be explained in a single sentence: I eat as many fresh fruits and vegetables as I want, and avoid baked goods, pasta, cheese, and refined sugars.
My body chemistry adjusted to this within a couple of weeks and my taste buds came back with the reduced sugar content of the foods I'm eating. I taste the subtleties in food now.
I switched from coffee to green tea because of its proven value in lowering cholesterol. This was way easier than I thought, since coffee was an obvious addiction, and many teas taste like dishwater. I chose a major brand, Bigelow, and down four coffee cups most mornings.
A typical lunch for me is whole grain oatmeal with Michigan blueberries, or sardines on a salad.
I snack on Michigan apples any time of day. Apples have been the key to me avoiding processed sugars. The natural sugars in apples satisfy my cravings for sweets, cravings that have greatly reduced in four short months.
I cook a lot of stir fry for dinners. My wife and I are NOT vegetarians, eating chicken, lean pork or beef, but I'm sure meat portions have reduced . We leave out the butter, cream and cheese, and have cut way back on salt.
What I find interesting is we eat most of the great foods people usually put on top of pasta, or pizza, or rice, or bread, or other carbs. We just leave out the carbs. It works, try it. Sometimes we use zucchini or other squash on the bottom as a pretend pasta.
No pasta, bread or rice, just the great stuff that goes on top of it -- this is similar to the Atkins, South Beach and other low carb diets popular in recent years, but less restrictive.
I say "yes" to:
• Canola, peanut and olive oil.
• Fiber: fruits, vegetables, beans, oats, barley.
• Fish at least three times a week.
• A handful of walnuts or almonds daily.
I say "no" to:
• Whole milk, cream, iced cream.
• Butter, cheese.
• Liver and Kidney.
• Sausage, baloney, salami, hot dogs, duck, goose.
• Fried foods.
• Coconut oil, palm oil, shortening, margarine, lard.
• Fast food.
• Pop.
Substitutions. There are a lot of products out there that claim to taste just like the foods we're avoiding -- they aren't. I don't see the point in substituting for a food I'm trying to no longer crave.
I do use Benecol spread because it has plant stanols, recommended to lower cholesterol levels, but it's expensive, and the whole point of giving up butter is to not crave the taste, so I don't throw it in everything.
Beer is really bad for you. A typical beer has 150 calories, and most of us drink several in one sitting. I drink brandy, but can see how alcoholism is easier on the hard stuff. I no longer make cream-filled brandy alexanders.
I'm not a fan of tofu, or soy beef substitutes, so I don't eat them.
I found a pasta substitute that tastes great. I take a large zucchini and use a vegetable peeler to thinly slice lengthwise into wide ribbons. Stop when you get to the seeds. Put in a colander, toss with some salt and drain in the sink about 30 minutes. Rinse well and shake dry. No, you don't need to cook it.
So if your cholesterol numbers are a little high and you want to avoid the Statin drug, develop a diet, exercise and supplement plan with your doctor. Come up with a program you can live with and attack the cause not the effect!
It's working for me.
Holiday Cartoons: The Little King and Rudolph
Coming in January to Muskegon Magazine.com: Hilarious Buster Keaton shorts! Subscribe at http://muskegonmagazine.com/ for free updates!
In 1941, due to Dave Fleischer leaving Fleischer Studios after an argument with brother Max, and a large debt to Paramount, Paramount began a takeover. In 1942 the studio was renamed Famous Studios, and soon moved back to New York from the Miami facilities the Fleischers set up only four years prior. Following World War II, in 1948, Max produced Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for the Jam Handy Organization.
http://muskegonmagazine.com/
Otto Soglow’s The Little King first appeared in 1931 in The New Yorker magazine, was licensed for animation by the Van Beuren Studios, and became a King Features Syndicate newspaper strip in 1934. The King invites some down-and-out friends to sleep over Christmas Night (1933) and, after Santa delivers, they proceed to tear up the palace.
http://muskegonmagazine.com/
These Works are in Public Domain and not Derivative as specified by U.S. copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code).
Friday, November 1, 2013
Turkey and Stuffing (and Gravy and Broth)
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
Whole turkeys are great for meals throughout the year. Dishes that can be made from leftovers can rival the deliciousness of the bird itself. Yet cooking an entire turkey is terribly inefficient.Even cooking and less drying out can be accomplished easily with a cut up bird. However, tradition dictates we present the whole tom in all its glory at holidays, even though slicing and serving a whole bird is also more difficult.
Add to this traditional inefficiency the problem of stuffing. Everyone loves stuffing and it tastes best when cooked inside the turkey. But too much stuffing can not be jammed into the bird cavity or it will impede the cooking of the turkey itself. Plus, no matter how big the turkey, the stuffing that fits inside can not possibly feed all the relations there to enjoy it.
Through trial and error throughout the years I have developed the methods below, methods that can be adapted to your own cooking situation. A real benefit to whole bird roasting is the part most people throw away: the carcass can be used to easily make homemade turkey broth.
Buying. Of course, Beattys always buy turkeys on sale. You can get some great buys before Thanksgiving. If you have a freezer that can handle it, stock up on turkey for year 'round dinners. Butterball brand turkeys are pre-brined, if you want to skip the brining step below.
Before thawing, make sure your turkey, roasting pan and rack fit in your oven. You may have to return it for a smaller bird.
Thawing. Do not wait until the last minute to thaw your turkey. It must be thawed completely to cook through.
One day of thawing for every four pounds of turkey, in the refrigerator, is best. If you are short on time, you can put the bird, still wrapped, in cold water in your clean sink. Allow 30 minutes per pound for a whole turkey. Do not thaw a turkey at room temperature, unless you want to invite bacteria to the holidays.
Brining. Cooks used to open the stove to baste turkeys. Trouble is, that lets the heat out of the stove and, for clumsy people like me, can be dangerous. Today, we brine our turkeys to preserve moistness.
Brands like Butterball are pre-brined, that is why they come through so juicy. You can achieve the same results brining your less expensive, store brand turkey.
Bring the following to a boil together in a big stock pot, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
1 gallon vegetable and/or chicken broth
1 cup kosher salt (Doesn't break down as quickly as processed salt)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns
Cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge.
Remove giblets from the turkey cavity and save in your refrigerator. In a big, clean bucket (I bought a plastic pail I use ONLY for brining. Do not use a used pail. Chemicals from whatever was in it before will contaminate your food.) pour the brine mixture. Put your thawed bird in head first (Or, missing head first, I guess). Fill up with iced water. Seal the lid and refrigerate for six to eight hours.
No one has a 'fridge that will accommodate this bucket, of course. I keep the sealed bucket in my garage overnight. The iced water keeps it cold. All this worry about bacteria makes me consider vegetarianism.
After brining, remove the bird, dry the outside with a clean cloth and discard the brine. (Do not cook with anything that has been in contact with raw meat. Vegetarianism anyone?)
Cooking. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.
I cook aromatics in the bird that I later use to make stuffing: onions, carrots, rosemary stalks, sage stalks, apple slices, etc. I can then have in-the-bird flavor in enough stuffing to feed everyone.
Arrange in a big roasting pan, on a rack, breast side up. Tuck the wing tips underneath and the leg ends together. Some cooks tie everything tight with kitchen twine. Rub the bird with vegetable oil (add herbs like thyme, sage, or “poultry seasoning” to the oil, if you want). Salt and pepper.
Form a piece of aluminum foil over the breast, from front to back. Press it down to form it, then lift it off and set aside. This will be used in 30 minutes.
Place the roasting pan in the middle of your oven. Roast the bird at 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove pan and carefully place your aluminum foil tent over the breast (Don't burn yourself). Put the bird back in the oven and turn the oven down to 350 degrees.
Cook for 10 minutes a pound. Remember to include the 30 minutes at 500 degrees in your total. Don't trust a timer, they can screw up during important occasions. I tape a piece of paper above the oven with the time written on it.
While the turkey is roasting, brown the rinsed giblets in a little oil in a medium saucepan. Fill with water and boil for about an hour. This will provide you with a tasty broth to use with some store-bought chicken broth for the gravy. Chop up the meat part of the giblets fine to use in the stuffing.
When time is up, remove turkey from oven. Use a meat thermometer to be sure the internal temperature reaches 161 degrees. Move the turkey to a cutting board and cover with a clean cloth to keep the heat in. Now you make your gravy and stuffing.
Stuffing. Quality store-bought stuffing mixes, when you're going through this much trouble to cook the bird, are no sin. Cook according to package directions, substituting chicken broth for water. Remove your aromatics from inside the bird, discard any herb stalks, and chop small to put in the stuffing. Careful, these will be hot. Also add your cooked, chopped up giblets from above.
Gravy. You start this in the turkey pan with the drippings and move everything to a large saucepan to thicken. Be very careful, most everything is hot.
3 cups giblet broth from above and chicken broth
2/3 cup red wine (Never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink)
plus 1/3 cup red wine
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. fresh herbs, like oregano, thyme or rosemary
Salt and pepper
Leave the drippings from the turkey in the pan and place the roasting pan over medium heat. Add the broth and 2/3 cup wine and whisk to combine, scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes to reduce slightly.
Tip the pan, removing fat from the top with a spoon and placing a few tablespoons worth of fat into a large saucepan (Everything will transfer to this large saucepan soon). Heat the liquid to return to bubbly.
Mix cold the flour and 1/3 cup red wine in a container you can shake to combine, like a jar or plastic container with a lid. Shaking smooth will help eliminate lumps in your gravy.
Turn the heat to medium under the large saucepan. Add the flour mixture to the large saucepan. Cook, whisking continuously, until the mixture starts to thicken and become smooth. If you don't cook the flour first, your gravy will taste flour-y.
Turn the heat under the large saucepan to high. Add the bubbly liquid from the roasting pan to this saucepan a little at a time and whisk to combine, to avoid lumps. (It is OK to not use all the drippings from the turkey pan if they don't fit. Save it to boil into the turkey broth, below.)
Your gravy should be slightly thin in the pan because it will thicken once you serve it. Whisk in the herbs. Season with salt and pepper.
Turkey Broth. Once everything is eaten and everyone is fat and happy, you probably don't want to think about cooking. No worries, turkey broth couldn't be simpler. After you strip your turkey of meat for leftovers, put the carcass, bones and all, into a stock pot, pour in water, and boil for an hour or two. Drain off the solids and you have an excellent broth for cooking or to use as-is for soup. It keeps in the refrigerator for one to two weeks, or you can freeze portions of it in tightly-sealed freezer bags.
Once you are comfortable with the steps involved you will want to develop your own methods. Cooking an entire bird at once is the silliest way to cook it, but we're stuck with tradition and, with practice, can roast moist, flavorful turkey year ’round for friends and family.
Candy on the Moon and an Orphan Finds a Home in Classic Cartoons
From Gary Scott Beatty, editor and publisher, MuskegonMagazine.com
We prep for the holidays with one cartoon about winter charity and one about candy.I admire the amount of subtilty in the characters in A Waif's Welcome (1936). The father is scared of his wife, but agrees to make her happy by taking in the orphan. The mother dotes on her child, but shows real compassion taking in the orphan. Disney alumni Burt Gillett and Tom Palmer brought focused plotting to Van Beuren Studios when they were brought in in 1933. This cartoon is a far cry from last month's Gypped in Egypt!
http://muskegononline.net/1113/cartoon-1113.html
Just a few years earlier, Van Beuren Studios were producing shorts like Candy Town (Silvery Moon) (1933 re-release), much less focused but charmingly creative. Apparently, the moon is not made of green cheese, but candy! If you wonder why the cat has Betty Boop's voice, it's possible this voice work was done by Mae Questel, Betty's voice at Fleischer Studios for nearly 10 years.
http://muskegononline.net/1113/cartoon-1113.html
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Haunted House and Creepy Crypt: Classic Cartoons for Halloween
For October we delight in Halloween nonsense, with two spooky cartoons from 1930.
What begins as a murder investigation turns into a creepy, haunted house tale with Ub Iwerks' Flip the Frog in The Cuckoo Murder Case (1930). Iwerks was a two-time Academy Award winning animator who co-created Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney and was Walt Disney's collaborator in the formative years of Disney's studio (Steamboat Willie, Plane Crazy). Iwerks opened his own studio in 1930, producing Flip the Frog shorts and more.
http://muskegononline.net/1013/cartoon-1013.html
In the Egyptian desert, Waffles Cat and Don Dog enter a trippy world of tombs and skeletons, in Gypped in Egypt (1930). Most entertaining about the Van Beuren Studios before they brought in Disney alumni Burt Gillett and Tom Palmer in 1933 is their oddly unfocused way of writing, perfectly unsettling for Halloween entertainment. Don't bother to figure it out, just enjoy!
http://muskegononline.net/1013/cartoon-1013.html
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Back to School with Mice and Frogs
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
As kids head back to school, classic cartoons are fun ways to show them how learning was done in the 1930s -- minus the talking animals, of course.
Flip the Frog doesn't want to practice piano when the boys are outside swimming in The Music Lesson (1932) from Ub Iwerks, a two-time Academy Award winning animator who co-created Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney and was Walt Disney's collaborator in the formative years of Disney's studio (Steamboat Willie, Plane Crazy). Iwerks opened his own studio in 1930, producing Flip the Frog shorts and more.Children used to learn in one room schoolhouses. The carried their books tied in a bundle, brought their teacher treats like apples, and, if they were exceptionally lost in their schoolwork, they were sat in the corner wearing a "dunce cap" for all to see. Good Old Schooldays (1930) is from Van Beuren Studio's "Aesop's Fables" series, originally begun by Fables Studios (Howard Estabrook, and Paul Terry, who by 1929 had left to form TerryToons Studios).
View these cartoons online this month at http://muskegononline.net/
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Stars and Politicians Parodied in 1930’s Cartoons
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
You never know when someone famous will show up in a classic cartoon!
With Charles Lindbergh and others making great strides in long distance air travel, Cubby takes to the air in World Flight (1933)! Special appearances here by the Marx Brothers, Lindbergh, German President Paul von Hindenburg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, Maurice Chevalier, and King Kong. The Van Beuren Studio also manages to have fun with Native Americans, Chinese, Russians, and Satan.
Cubby runs a live radio show in Croon Crazy (1933)! The "crooner" style of singing became popular with the advent of the microphone, since singers no longer had to project to the rear of a theater. Rudy Vallée, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby were crooners. Here, Cubby impersonates singers Kate Smith, Mae West, Paul Whiteman and Al Jolson singing the popular "My Mammy." Mahatma Gandhi puts in an appearance. Cubby attempts to fill 15 minutes of air time when his talent cancels.
Cartoons can be found at Muskegon County's online magazine, http://muskegononline.net/
Van Beuren Studio's Cubby Bear appeared in 20 cartoons between 1933 and 1934. With offices across the street from Fleischer Studios in New York, the Van Beuren Studio produced a steady stream of oddly unfocused, stream-of-consciousness cartoons for the blossoming black and white film market in the late '20s and early '30s.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
A Strange Way to Shoe a Horse…
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
Flip the Frog works as a blacksmith and barber in this month's classic cartoons.This is a good opportunity to show kids how these professions were done in the 1930s -- sort of! I don't think many barbers were as crazy with their straight razors as Flip.
The Village Smitty (1931) -- Horses needed horseshoes to protect their hooves, and blacksmiths shaped horseshoes by heating them in a forge and hammering them into shape. Horseshoes were nailed into the hoof without hurting the horse -- a horse's hoof is much like a large, thick toenail. Kids outside are playing the tossing game horseshoes.
The Village Barber (1930) -- Striped pole signs used to let people know a business was a barber shop. Barbers used straight edged razors, and sharpened them by running them along strips of leather. Also seen: a player piano and a coal burning heat stove. The singing at the end refers to barbershop quartets, harmony singing that actually began in real barber shops.
Cartoons can be found at Muskegon County's online magazine, http://muskegononline.net/
Ub Iwerks was a two-time Academy Award winning animator who co-created Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney and was Walt Disney's collaborator in the formative years of Disney's studio (Steamboat Willie, Plane Crazy). Iwerks opened his own studio in 1930, producing Flip the Frog shorts and more.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Earth Day Lessons in Cartoon Classics
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
Brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, of Fleischer Studios, were city boys. Maybe that explains these characters' longing for nature.
Don't expect the urban, jazz crazy tales of the Fleischer brothers' early years in these Color Classics from 1935 (The Song of the Birds) and 1940 (Little Lambkins). Although their Koko the Clown dominated '20s cartoon popularity and Fleischer Studios' Betty Boop was a household name, the enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934 kept Fleischer cartoons from the racey, dark, city-oriented subject matter that made their early cartoons unique.Parents be cautioned, though. The kids in these shorts are destructive and their "play" involves activities dangerous to children!
http://muskegononline.net/0413/cartoon-0413.html
In The Song of the Birds, a little boy uses his air rifle to shoot up his house, then turns on the neighborhood birds! At least this one has a moral, perfect for Earth Day month!
What toddler would prefer city life to a country home surrounded by nature? The kid in Little Lambkins, tampers with the electronic gadgets in his new home and creates chaos. Caution: children should not rip live wires from their homes' walls!
Friday, March 1, 2013
How Cartoons are Made, with Elephants (1931)
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
Finally, it can be told! How do studios make cartoons?
How do they draw all those thousands of pictures and transfer them to film? Who knew it was accomplished by dogs, cats and elephants? 1931's Makin' Em Move (retitled In a Cartoon Studio here) is one of the last of Van Beuren Studio "Aesop's Fables" series, originally begun by Fables Studios (Howard Estabrook, and Paul Terry, who in 1929 had left to form TerryToons Studios).The cartoon-in-a-cartoon is a parody of popular damsel in distress film serials, begun with Perils of Pauline (1914). http://muskegononline.net/0313/cartoon-0313.html
Opening Night (1933) follows Cubby Bear as he sneaks into the amazing Roxy Opera House. http://muskegononline.net/0313/cartoon-0313.html
Friday, February 1, 2013
Celebrate Valentine's Day with Van Beuren Cartoons
BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONONLINE.NET
This month we celebrate Valentine's Day with two Van Beuren Studio cartoons from the 1930s featuring love -- sort of.
With offices across the street from Fleischer Studios in New York, the Van Beuren Studio produced a steady stream of oddly unfocused, stream-of-consciousness cartoons for the blossoming black and white film market in the late '20s and early '30s.As the Walt Disney Studio became the cartoon market leader in style and popularity it became necessary to up the quality of Van Beuren cartoons. Producer Amedee Van Beuren decided to hire two Disney veterans to up the cartoons' quality. In 1934 he brought in Burt Gillett, who had recently directed Disney's highly popular The Three Little Pigs, and Tom Palmer, who had worked for virtually every studio in town.
The result was the handsome Rainbow Parade series. Parents, caution, in Cupid Gets His Man: some racial insensitivity, and arrows shot at people (cupids).
http://muskegononline.net/0213/cartoon-0213.html
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Laughing in 1932
After co-creating Mickey Mouse, Ub Iwerks left Walt Disney to open his own studio in 1930, producing Flip the Frog shorts.
Adult supervision required for Nurse Maid (1932). Note to children, do NOT: let baby eat coins; shake baby; shove your arm down baby's throat; or let baby eat bottles of strange medicine. If I, with my Scottish descent, can laugh at the cheap Scottsman here, I hope we can all also laugh at the Chinaman and the Native American, because Flip is one of the funniest humor series stars from 1930s cartoons!
The Milkman (1932). Milk deliveries were common in 1930s America, due to the lack of refrigeration in homes. Flip may seem a little audacious, but so was Mickey Mouse in the early cartoons Iwerks produced with Disney. He is relatively well behaved here, compared to some of his other exploits.
These Works are in Public Domain and not Derivative as specified by U.S. copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code).