As you’ve likely heard in the news, oatmeal helps lower cholesterol. The interesting thing about oatmeal lowering cholesterol is the fact that the effect is transitory. If you stop eating it, your cholesterol level will increase again. Of course the same is true for statins—cholesterol lowering drugs. But I always wonder why folks don’t just eat a quick bowl of oatmeal in the morning. There’s so many varieties on the market, is quick to prepare, and versatile—you can eat with honey, maple syrup, fruit, yoghurt, in smoothies—the options are limitless.

My cholesterol test came back in the high range. Though the HDL (“good”) to LDL (“bad”) ratio was fine and triglycerides are low enough. I’ve decided to try the oatmeal test and see how and if it works—for me at least. No worries, Daily Prandium IRB has approved this human subject (n=1, me) experiment. I picked up a box of McCann’s Irish Oat bran at my dearest Fairway today. So, beginning tomorrow morning, I sign on to the oatmeal test. Wish me luck. In a month I’ll take another cholesterol test to check my progress.

A couple other blood tests came back not so favorably. Some diet changes are in order but possibly regular pokes with a needle if absorption is at issue, which seems likely as this has been showing up for over a decade. Getting older is fun stuff.

Bon nuit..

Addenda—If you’re interested to read and learn more about dietary fiber and cholesterol, the Mayo Clinic website has several great articles. You can access two of them here and here.