Rolled oats with pumpkin spice, ground flaxseed and almonds
I'm known for scouring my cupboards and frig and coming up with random meal ideas. Today, a friend stopped me and asked about how to lower cholesterol in her 12-year old daughter. She mentioned it was familial and we had a nice conversation about what to eat and what to limit.
No one wants to limit their child's diet too much, but I see these opportunities as addition rather than subtraction.
Soluble fiber!
One of the best foods to include in your diet if you've got high cholesterol are foods high in soluble fiber. This type of fiber forms a soft/gummy gel and helps to bind cholesterol and get it out of the body (yes, through poop!). Think of it acting like a lint roller through your gastrointestinal tract.
Soluble fiber is found in oats, barley, dried beans and lentils, ground flaxseed and the flesh of fruit. Most of us don't eat enough of it (self included). Our conversation reminded me that I need to increase my intake, too. Women need 25-30 grams of fiber daily and men need 38 to 40 grams per day.
Although the pre-sweetened packaged oats are convenient, I prefer the old fashioned, giant cylinder of oatmeal because it's cheaper, less processed, has zero sugar AND I can add anything to it for more versatility.
I like to add oddball ingredients (like tumeric) in my recipes to give them a slightly different flavor and boost nutritional content. I had a bag of ground flaxseed that hadn't been opened, so I decided to toss that in as well. Here's what I came up with today.
Ingredients
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp. pumpkin spice
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. almond slivers
drizzle of maple syrup
Directions
In a microwave safe bowl, add the oats and ground flaxseed with 3/4 cup water.
Microwave the oats for 2 minutes until all the water is soaked up.
Stir in pumpkin spice, tumeric and the almond slivers.
Drizzle with maple syrup or honey and eat!
Makes 1 serving.