One of the most positive things that happened as a result of my health challenges occurred when I was less than a year into medical treatment for stage 3 brain cancer. My Neuro Oncologist became concerned because my cholesterol had gone up to 246 while I was on Chemo. The doctor suggested ZOCOR®, but I was concerned about adding more stress on my liver to what the chemo was causing. We were planning on me completing two years of chemotherapy. I thanked my doctor and said he wanted to try managing the cholesterol issue with nutrition.
My research revealed that clinical trials on both oat bran and grape seed oil had proven that they significantly favorably change LDL, HDL and triglyceride cholesterol when consumed daily in sufficient quantities. I began developing recipes that included these two ingredients. Since my triglycerides were very high, I decided to use sweeteners sparingly and that what I did use had to make nutritional sense. For instance, Blackstrap Molasses is rich in many trace minerals that are removed in refined sugar. I replaced refined white sugar and flour in my diet with whole grain carbohydrates, organic brown sugar and molasses.
My favorite recipe that I developed in this process, and the one that people around me raved about was the beginning of what has now become Smarter Cookies. I chose all of the ingredients for Smarter Cookies carefully. I wanted to make sure every bite was healthful and delicious. I wanted to support sustainable and environmentally sound agriculture as well. Choosing organic eggs and butter allowed me to avoid the residual pesticides that find their way into lipids in conventional butter and eggs. Organic brown sugar and Blackstrap Molasses were important because conventional sugar is grown using a lot of pesticides and other chemicals. I added lecithin to the recipe to help with nerve regeneration. In the end I came up with a high fiber cookie that was loaded with healthy ingredients and tasted great. Smarter Cookies were often all I wanted to eat when I felt queasy from chemo. Sometimes on these days all I ate was three cookies a day and my supplements. I never worried about nutrition on these days because I knew the cookies provided well-balanced nutrition.
