Nighthawkeye?

NightHawkeye wrote:I've probably rambled on too long here.

Definitely not, Bill. It's great to hear your take.

This turned out to be one of those wonderful mini-reunion threads as well: Bill, harikarishimari, Ric, et al! Gotta love it!

Hi Bill, good to hear from you, as always you are a wonderful contributor

I must confess ignorance (which I hate to do) when presented with 2, likely important, of the many abbreviations in this thread. These are CHF and MVP. Can someone please enlighten me? They sound important and scary.

I suffer from GERD and OSA and suspect some dietary issues as well. I am also obese so it is clear that my diet is not what it should be or could be. I have been plagued with edema in my lower limbs for a number of years and my MD has been pretty nonchalant about it attributing it to obesity and OSA and recommending support hose which I find uncomfortable and a pain to put on. It is significantly worse in the morning and returns to “normal” quickly after arising. It has not changed significantly with successful xPAP therapy.

I know that I need to deal with my obesity, which I have battled for 45 of my 57 years but there are no guarantees. I did not get this heavy by being a conscientious eater and an enthusiastic exerciser and it has been, and will remain, difficult for me to change my ways but I haven’t given up yet.

I do know that if I exercise more (primarily walking now, unencumbered by my ever present book bag which makes my neck sore, I sleep better and my AHI goes down even if I have to take Ibuprofen to deal with the joint soreness.

Thanks again Bill

David

CHF- Congestive Heart Failure

MVP- Mitral Valve Prolapse

(I didn't know what MVP was either! Had to look it up.)

Thanks, Bill. I found everything you said interesting and helpful. As you think of more you have found helpful or harmful to apnea, TMJ, edema, GERD, etc., please "ramble" again as soon and as often as you can.

Alisha

-SWS wrote:This turned out to be one of those wonderful mini-reunion threads as well . . . Gotta love it!

Isn't it great to see that so many still pay attention here. We may not be nearly as needy about our apnea treatment as we used to be but this forum still commands our attention from time to time.

And then there's the other thing we have in common - verbal battles with vested interests . . . I'm not sure that's over and done with yet, but at least the dirty dogs are in abeyance for now.

Regards,
Bill

Bill, did you just call the dogs of war out again?

Yes, the verbal battles have settled down. Thank goodness...

Several of the books I have been reading have a common theme regarding how the commercial food industry has indeed stripped away most of the vital nutrients and replaced them with addicitve sugars and fats.

How does that "Inca Red" quinoa cereal compare to oat meal cereal? Do you order it online somewhere?

DreamStalker wrote:Several of the books I have been reading have a common theme regarding how the commercial food industry has indeed stripped away most of the vital nutrients and replaced them with addicitve sugars and fats.

How does that "Inca Red" quinoa cereal compare to oat meal cereal? Do you order it online somewhere?

Quinoa is a smaller grain than rice, but fluffs up similarly. The consistency and texture of the quinoa cereal I eat for breakfast is somewhere between rice and oatmeal, but tending to be more like rice, only a little heavier. I eat it with cinnamon which adds flavor, and has recently been proven to significantly improve glucose metabolism (by counteracting insulin resistance). I used to also add just a little butter to the quinoa for flavoring but have gotten away from that now. Quinoa, like oatmeal, doesn't really have much flavor by itself, although the "inca red" variety definitely has a little bit of a nutty flavor, which I liked immediately.

Nutritionally, one of the claims made for quinoa is that it is one of those rare plant foods offering complete proteins. It is also low in fat and sugar. Here's the nutritional breakdown for 1/4 cup of dry quinoa (about 1 cup cooked):
Calories: 163, calories from fat 23
Total fat: 3 g
Saturate fat: 0 g
Trans fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 5 mg
Carbohydrate: 29 g
Dietary fiber: 4 g
Sugars: 5 g for "inca red", 1 g for regular quinoa
Protein: 6 g

Until I looked at the label this morning, I'd been congratulating myself for liking the nutty flavor of the "inca red" quinoa, but I see now that the "inca red" variety has a higher sugar content than regular quinoa so that may be a factor as well. Of course, even the "inca red" variety is probably still lower sugar than any other common breakfast cereal.

I find quinoa available at all health food stores, and many standard grocery stores are also carrying it now. It's becoming much more available than it was just a few years ago. Although quinoa is usually inexpensive at health food stores, the price at grocery stores can be exorbitant (due to the novelty factor, I suppose). For example, I've been paying about $2.25 a pound at a local health food store, but the local grocery store sells "organic" quinoa for about $7.00 a pound. Like many other things, comparison shopping pays off when buying quinoa.

Probably more than you wanted to know about quinoa, but I hope the info helps.

Regards,
Bill

Not too much info at all ... I will be looking for it at my local Whole Foods grocer and give it a try.

Thanks,

Dreamstalker, I may have omitted the most important information of all. You can also buy "Quinoa Flakes" which are very similar to Oatmeal flakes and cook very quickly - just like oatmeal does. I see that my 12 oz box of organic Quinoa Flakes has a price tag of $3.70 on it. I'd guess that Whole Foods, being the big chain that it is, carries the flakes as well as regular quinoa.

The advantage Quinoa Flakes have over regular quinoa is that the flakes cook in a fraction of the time it takes to cook regular quinoa. Cooking the flakes, like oatmeal, takes about three minutes, whereas regular quinoa takes between 15 and 20 minutes to cook, or about like steaming rice. The only real disadvantage of the flakes is that they can be hard to find. I can't even get them locally, so I pick up a box or two of the flakes occasionally when traveling.

Enjoy!

Regards,
Bill

Bill, Does the Inca Red come in the flakes also. Do you just add them to water and cook on low? Do you add skim milk before eating? Sprinkle cinnamon on after cooked? Do you ever add fruit to the cereal? Have you tried the quinoa for anything other than cereal? I want to try it, even if I have to order it.

I agree about cinnamon helping with glucose levels. I have problems with low blood sugar and since using Cinnergen I don't have to be so concerned with "feeding my blood sugar" every two or three hours.


Alisha

Alisha wrote:Bill, Does the Inca Red come in the flakes also.

No, I've not seen that, and Ancient Harvest (aka Quinoa Corp.) lists only the regular quinoa flakes. FWIW, Inca Red is a new product for them.

Alisha wrote:Do you just add them to water and cook on low?

After adding a lot of water to a bowl of quinoa, I microwave on high heat for 90 seconds (gets things close to boiling). Next I turn the level down to 4 in my microwave and cook for another 15 minutes. Sometimes all water is absorbed after about 12 minutes, sometimes it takes just a couple of minutes longer. Time is not real critical, but if you overcook, the quinoa will be dry.

Alisha wrote:Do you add skim milk before eating?

You sure could. I can tell you that it is really good with yogurt added.

Alisha wrote:Sprinkle cinnamon on after cooked?

Yes.

Alisha wrote:Do you ever add fruit to the cereal?

I haven't, but only because I regularly eat any fruit every morning while my quinoa is cooking.

Alisha wrote:Have you tried the quinoa for anything other than cereal?

I haven't yet, but at the local Target store I picked up a quinoa salad mix the other day which contained a packet of quinoa and a packet of seasoning. (I haven't fixed it yet, so am not sure if the seasonings are any good.) The mere fact that Target sells quinoa now tells me that quinoa is becoming mainstream.

Alisha wrote:I want to try it, even if I have to order it.

Unless you're in a small town, you should be able to find quinoa at most health food stores. Unless you're in a big city though, ordering may be the best way to get the Inca Red variety.

Regards,
Bill