Brother Simpleton

I have already mentioned how my new diet managed, just in three months, to dramatically improve my “lipid profile” (cholesterol and triglyceride counts) and my liver. However, I am always skeptical about one-time results. Obviously, one needs at least two data points to draw conclusions.

So I was quite curious to get the results of my 6-month blood test, and here they are:

Quite satisfactory, in my opinion. No substantial changes, so the diet is working. HDL is a bit higher than before; ideally it should be above 60. Let’s see if I can get it there.

Some time ago, I started to look for a challah recipe that would be healthy (100% whole wheat if possible) and simple to make. Still haven’t found it, but on the way I am slowly learning how to make bread in general, and whole wheat bread in particular. (It is both harder and less well described in the literature comparing to the “white” bread.)

The main problem with making bread by hand is how long it takes. Even though the most of the time the dough is just seating there and rising all by itself, it is still very hard to fit into one’s schedule.

Because of this, I am even more impressed by this recipe, for 100% whole wheat bread, which doesn’t even require kneading, and uses only one short rising. (By way of comparison, most recipes in the excellent book The Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking use three risings!)

This recipe is originally taken from a rather old book Beard on Bread by James Beard (long out of print, but available at your local library), and described in great details at http://www.sourdoughhome.com/bakingintro1.html. Here is just a quick summary:

Ingredients:
3¾ cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp salt
4 tsp of active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
2 tbsp molasses

The recipe, as given, is designed for one 9″x5″ loaf pan. I usually split it to two 8″x4″ pans, or multiply by 2-2.5 to get three 8×4 pans. I sometimes sprinkle the pans with sesame seeds for a little bit extra flavor.

Algorithm: Combine flour, salt and yeast in a bowl. Separately, mix water and molasses. Pour to the flour bowl, mix well. Put to pan(s), cover, let rise for 1½ hours. Preheat oven to 450°F, bake 40-50 minutes “until ready” (brown crust, hollow sound, 205°F internal temperature). Take out of the oven and of the pans, and let cool before slicing.

Result: Not a great bread (no surprises here, the recipe is just too simple), but quite good, and, to my surprise, well liked by other people. I’ve already baked quite a few loaves, and will continue to bake them until I master more involved recipes.

Grade: 4+ (out of 5).

I was so busy lately (with the Fast Experiment) and otherwise, that almost forgot to report probably the most striking improvement in my health.

It has to do with my spring allergy, called hay fever (or pollinosis). Basically, it’s an allergy to the tree pollen, which for last 25 year was making my life quite miserable for a few Spring months (typically, in Boston, from March till June). I was finally prescribed three medications: claritin, a nasal spray, and some eye drops, and together they made my life more tolerable, though still challenging (I would try to avoid going outside, or at least stay away from parks and woods).

Well, after the quarter century of suffering, I was in for a surprise this year: the allergy was gone. Vanished. Disappeared. I didn’t take any single dose of medicine this year (neither allergy-related, not otherwise). For a very few days, I felt somewhat uncomfortable (but still better than the previous years with all these drugs); all the other time I was just fine! I was spending a lot of time outdoors, including visiting the local arboretum, and didn’t have any problems.

I am really shocked by this development: on one hand, ecstatic that my probably most serious health problem has just evaporated; on the other hand, really angry with all the doctors, who treated me all these years, instead of just telling me to eat properly. Of course, they were no evil, just ignorant.

Still, consider this. The most effective treatment for hay fever is allergy shots. The course takes a few years to complete, and typically makes the symptoms milder, but doesn’t completely cure the disease. In the contrast, in my case, it took just a few months of proper nutrition to get rid of it completely, for all practical purposes.

In real life, I am not eager at all to talk about my health problems. The only reason I am doing it here is to send a message to other people: you, my readers. Hay fever affects one in every five Americans. Over one billion dollars are spent each year in this country to treat this disorder. Hey, Americans! Just eat better.