New heart-healthy cookbook

Have you been diagnosed with high cholesterol?

Then, chances are that you've been wondering what you must eat to lower your cholesterol levels, and how on earth you'll ever be able to eat tasty meals again.

But a diagnosis of raised blood cholesterol levels isn't a life sentence.

The new heart-healthy cookbook 'Fresh & Healthy. Step-by-Step to Life' by the award-winning food writer, author and editor, Annette Kesler, will show you how you can continue to eat delicious, mouth-watering recipes - despite cholesterol problems.

Fresh & healthy
This cookbook, which has been published in co-operation with the Heart Foundation of South Africa, is a delight. Imagine being able to select a tempting recipe for Chicken & Sweet Potato Casserole followed by Summer Strawberries with Banana Fool for your dinner. This is a far cry from the dreary menus heart patients envisage.

Refreshing recipes
The 'Fresh & Healthy' cookbook is divided into seven menu categories covering most types of food and meals, namely:

• The Essence of a Salad - featuring mouth-watering salads
• Soups from the Market Garden - soups that will make you a convert for life
• The Lure of Vegetables - never again will vegetables be regarded as boring
• Serious Mains - meat dishes that tempt the palate
• From the Sea to the Plate - ideas on how to make fish an integral part of your diet
• Ample Pasta - pasta dishes to dream about
• A Touch of Sweetness - delights to satisfy the sweet tooth.

Handy hints
The recipe section of 'Fresh & Healthy' features a number of excellent hints and information to help you make the most of your heart diet. Each one of the above-mentioned menu categories has an introduction describing its role in healthy eating.

Another section is devoted to 'Choice Ingredients', which will point you in the right direction when selecting salad or fish or pasta ingredients. Then there is the 'Vital Equipment' section, which explains what kitchen equipment you need to make these tempting recipes (e.g. the type of pots you need for cooking meat or pasta, equipment for preparing crisp salads etc.).

Annette Kesler also has a section on 'Vital Hints' to help you make the most of each food category. Finally, there is the 'Quick Changes' section which details how you can ring the changes and will inspire the reader to become more adventurous when making the basic recipes.

In fact, I found 'Fresh & Healthy' so intriguing that I sat down and read it like a story book.

Heart Foundation contribution
In addition to the stunning recipes enlivened by full-colour photographs and Annette's Handy Hints, this cookbook also contains contributions provided by the Heart Foundation of SA.

Highlights such as 'Notes on antioxidants' or 'Nutritional needs' are found at the start of each recipe section. These highlights are easy to identify because they feature the Heart Mark to alert you that there is some interesting and important information listed.

The Heart Foundation has also contributed particularly well-written pieces on topics every heart patient should know. These include:

• Fibre & Your Health
• Good Stress & Bad Stress
• Exercise for a Healthy Heart
• Cholesterol
• Blood Pressure
• Heart Attacks
• Diabetes
• Women & Heart Health
• Facts about Fats
• Healthy Habits from Young
• Alcohol & Your Heart
• Obesity & Heart Health
• Smoking & Your Heart
• Frequently Asked Questions

Thanks to these contributions, 'Fresh & Healthy' is much more than just a delightful cookbook. It is also a quick reference guide to all aspects that affect people with raised blood fats or heart disease.

All the questions you have ever wondered about in connection with heart health are explained in simple, easy-to-understand language. You need never wonder what to do about a heart attack or which fats to use to obtain the best possible nutrition for the heart.

Nutritional analysis per portion
Finally, the Heart Foundation has analysed the recipes and provided a heart-friendly nutritional analysis for each recipe.

The energy, protein, total fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, cholesterol, carbohydrate and dietary fibre contents of a portion of each recipe are summarised in a neat box so that you can check exactly what you are eating.

This is a particularly valuable contribution because it means that you can easily calculate how much total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol you have eaten on any given day.

Get a copy of 'Fresh & Healthy. Step-by-Step to Life' by Annette Kesler from one of the leading bookstores countrywide or order it online. - (Dr Ingrid van Heerden, DietDoc, November 2005)

Any questions? Ask DietDoc.