Living with a cardiologist has its benefits. For one thing, there’s a greater emphasis on heart health in our growing family, which goes beyond simply more nutritious, home cooked food. I get my steps in! I have my cholesterol tested! I’ve even had a coronary calcium scan done recently. And for good reason. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, swooping in at a grim clip of one death every 33 seconds. But prior to Alex, I was admittedly living fast and loose with my cardiovascular housekeeping.
Alex was not the first doctor to tell me that I may have a problem. I was in my mid-twenties and living in NYC when a medical professional first mentioned that I may need to adjust a lifestyle habit or two. My primary care physician at the time worked at an integrative medical practice in Manhattan and informed me that my blood pressure was too high. “Pre-hypertension,” he said. For whatever reason — a lack of exercise perhaps, too much alcohol potentially — my heart was working overtime.
To bring my blood pressure back into the happy-range, I received a prescription for regular meditation (the Eastern half of integrative medicine, I suppose). And so after work one day, I took the subway to a zen buddhist monastery in midtown New York. I figured if I was going to take my medicine, I’d prefer the fully immersive kind. At 6 p.m. the doors to the monastery opened. I was escorted inside and instructed to remove my shoes and take a seat with my legs crossed on the floor of a large prayer hall.
The sound of a bell signaled the beginning of the meditation session. And for the next half an hour, a tiny bull ransacked the walls of my skull-sized kingdom as my mind ping-ponged from one random thought to the next. With my back in pain and legs numb, I wondered how this could possibly benefit my blood pressure. Given my semi-masochistic nature, I returned to that monastery on occasion; however, meditation turned out to be a challenging long-term habit to build. An on-again, mostly off-again relationship that I’ve carried through much of my adult life. Interestingly, that doctor’s visit was the last I would hear about blood pressure reduction for nearly the next ten years.
When Alex first saw my cholesterol labs a few years ago in my One Medical app, she asked what my PCP suggested that I do about it. When I relayed my PCP’s guidance that we would check them again at our next annual physical, Alex informed me that was unlikely because I would no longer be seeing that PCP. In addition to a new primary care physician, Alex suggested that I speak to a preventive cardiologist at Stanford. My new doctor was not so thrilled about my blood pressure, cholesterol, or family medical history — the great trifecta of cardiovascular disease prediction, he would tell me!
Much like my integrative-medicine-physicians of past, we first attempted the non-pharmaceutical approach. I had my blood pressure and cholesterol tested on day one, cut meat completely from my diet, replaced it with regular exercise, and re-tested my labs 45 days later. While I felt better and slept more soundly, unfortunately diet and exercise did little to dissuade my genetic inheritance. And so began a multi-year long experiment with Western medicine. One drug to reduce my blood pressure and another to bring down my bad cholesterol. Almost overnight, my LDL (the baddy cholesterol) dropped by over 100 points. It truly was a magic pill! Or so we thought.
One of the very rare side effects of rosuvastatin (a widely used and largely very safe cholesterol drug) is muscle soreness, potentially contributing to the severity of something called rhabdomyolysis, or the breakdown of muscle tissue, which can lead to kidney complications and in rare cases, death. Unfortunately I was the lucky one in ten thousand to hit the rhabdomyolysis-rosuvastatin lottery. After five days in the hospital and $100,000 invoice (a bill that that my insurance company first denied), it’s a winning ticket I’m unlikely to forget.
I’ve since cycled through a variety of cholesterol medications, each with an accompanying rhabdo-based experiment. If nothing else, it’s been an interesting glimpse into the future of more personalized medicine. While it was an unfortunate and potentially dangerous detour into the world of pharmaceutical side effects, my cholesterol numbers (and muscles) are now looking and feeling much better.
(LDL-Friendly) Mushroom Mei Fun
The Woks of Life, Page 119
Now that you’re all fully caught up on my personal medical history, I thought I would steer us toward something a bit more vege-forward this week. It turns out that most of my favorite Chinese takeout dishes include a lot of meat. Even though it has little effect on my cholesterol, odds are that less meat in your diet will benefit at least one of you. Consider it an experiment without the side effects.
Makes 4 servings
10 to 12 small to medium dried shiitake mushrooms
2 cups hot water
1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
3 tablespoons neutral oil (such as peanut, canola, vegetable)
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
3 medium garlic cloves, chopped
3 scallions, white and green parts separated, split lengthwise and cut into 2-inch pieces
4 cups oyster mushrooms, torn into bite size pieces
1 carrot, julienned
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
3 cups baby bok choy, leaves separated
8 ounces dried rice, vermicelli noodles, soaked in water per package instructions, drained
1 cup snow peas, ends trimmed
Chili oil, for serving
Step 1. Do ahead. Soak the shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 2 hours or overnight. Squeeze any excess water from the mushrooms, trim off stems and thinly slice.
Step 2. Make the sauce. Pour 1/2 cup of the mushroom-soaking liquid into a medium bowl, avoiding any sediment, and discard the remainder. Add the oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, light and dark soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and white pepper. Mix it up.
Step 3. Prep the noodles. Soak noodles per package instructions, drain, and set aside. Add a bit of oil to keep the noodles from sticking and clumping.
Step 4. Stir and fry. Stir-fry simply means to constantly stir over high heat. Heat a wok over high heat until it’s lightly smoking and add 1 tablespoon of the oil, along with the shiitake mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, along with ginger, garlic, and scallion whites. Cook for 30 seconds, then add the carrots and oyster mushrooms. Increase the heat to high and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Pour the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok and continue stir-frying for another 2 to 3 minutes, until no visible liquid remains. Add the bok choy and stir-fry for 30 seconds, until leaves begin to wilt. Add the noodles and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, scooping noodles from bottom of wok to prevent sticking.
Pour the sauce evenly over the noodles and add the snow peas. Using an upward scooping motion, stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until the noodles are evenly coated and vegetables are crisp-tender. Add the scallion greens and mix for 30 seconds.
Remove from heat, plate, and serve with chili oil!
