Pantry

Dry goods:
- PASTA/NOODLES: different kinds of pasta, some rice, some oats, some dry beans and
lentils. Quinoa, and quinoa is a high protein grain that's also high
in fiber.
-  Flour on hand for baking: baking powder, and a little bit of sugar on hand, for days when you feel like baking something. I also love using nut flours, like almond meal and hazelnut flour. But if you're not a big fan
- Nuts:  different kinds of nuts and some dried fruit in your food cupboard.
- SPICE: chili powder, coriander, black pepper, and dried thyme. There's a bottle of vanilla essence in
there too, for days when I want to bake.
- Onions, garlic, and potatoes in a dark cupboard near my pots and pans. Apparently keeping them in a dark place prevents them from sprouting, at least for a week or so.

- Fridge: eggs, some milk, butter, cheese, and yogurt in it. Carrots and tomatoes
in the vegetable drawer, and some frozen peas in the freezer.

- In some places you can actually order a farm box to be delivered to your door every week, from
a local farm. It's kind of an automatic way to increase the variety in your diet. And it's also surprisingly affordable.

=>  you can make a simple pasta dish with a tomato sauce and some sprinkled cheese. You can make a quinoa salad with chopped carrots and some fresh lemon juice, or lentils and rice, or
beans and rice.

And you can dress these up with your favorite spices and flavor them with
onions and garlic.

For breakfast, you can always make oatmeal or scrambled eggs if you're in a pinch, and you can make pancakes, cakes, or cookies for occasional treats.

Now another benefit of storing some non-perishable food items in
your kitchen, is that you can buy in bulk, and sort of stock up when these
foods are on special at the supermarket. So you end up actually saving money on
your meals. Remember that even if you only have time
to boil some pasta and sprinkle some grated
cheese on top, and maybe cut up a fresh fruit, that meal
will almost certainly be healthier for your
family than a fast food dinner. My mom used to say, it's better to be real
than to be perfect. You don't need to cook like Julia Child in
order to feed your family well. Even Julia Child emphasized fearlessness
in the kitchen. One of her most famous quotes was this.
She said, learn how to cook, try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be
fearless, and above all, have fun.

6 ingredients for every kitchen

1 - Olive oil: more expensive one for your salads, cheaper one for cooking
2 - Salt: good for your salty tongue receptors!
3 - Lemons/Limes: good for your sour tongue receptors!
4 - Onion
5 - Garlic
6 - nice-looking meats
=> enough to make a meals!

Processed foods

Highly processed foods have a lot of ingredients. 

Less processed foods have fewer ingredients. 

Buy the one with fewer ingredients

Processed foods mean anything that canned or packaged. 

diet mnemonics

CARBOHYDRATES (My Favorite Game is Volleyball)
Milk, Fruits, Grains, Veggies

CHOLESTEROL (A Sedentary Lifestyle Ends)
animal products, shellfish, liver and organ meat, egg yolks

SATURATED FATS (LasVegas Bars BeatsHollywood)
luncheon meats, beef, butter, hard yellow cheeses

POLYUNSATURATED FATS - plant oils (corn, safflower, sunflower)

PROTEINS (Proteins BuilD Fearless Men)
poultry, bread and cereals, dairy products, fish, meats (w/c has complete proteins/contains all essential amino acids)

FOLIC ACID (FOOL) fish, organ meats, oranges, leafy green veggies

NIACIN, THIAMINE (B1), RIBOFLAVIN (B2) - (Gain Money & Lives Forever)
grains, meats (pork), legumes, fish

PYRIDOXINE (B6) - (YMCP) * remember, isoniazid(INH) increase B6 intake; levodopa decrease B6 intake
yeast, meat (fish), corn, poultry

COBALAMIN (B12) - (ML) 
meat, liver + citrus fruits, dried beans, brewer's yeast

VITAMIN C - (CCTB) citrus fruits (strawberries, oranges, kiwi), cabbage, tomato, broccoli

VITAMIN A - (Eye Must Feel Very Lively)
egg yolk, milk (whole), fruits, veggies (lively - green, orange, yellow), liver

VITAMIN D- (Cute MilkFish Oil)
cereals, milk (fortified), fish, oils

VITAMIN E - antioxidants (ANTOV)
apple, avocado, apricot
nuts
tomato, potato
oils, vegetable
veggies, green and leafy

VITAMIN K (greens) green leafy veggies, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, brussels

POTASSIUM (K+) *Remember Vitamin K-clotting factor; K/Potassium-electrolyte!!
think of rainbow colorsRed - strawberry, tomato (but not apple!!)
Orange - oranges, cantaloupe, carrots, apricot
Yellow - banana, potato
Green - avocado, kiwi
Blue from blue sea - fish
I/V Indigo/Violet - raisins
+ salt substitutes

SODIUM (Na) Think of: Fast foods/processed, saltwater fish, canned foods

CALCIUM (Ca) Think of: Dairy and Creamy (cheese, collar greens, milk, rhubarb, tofu, yogurt, etc

MAGNESIUM (Mg) - (MAGNET)
milk, meat
avocado, potato
greens (spinach, broccoli)
nuts, peas
etc. (raisins, yogurt)
tuna, canned & white

PHOSPHOROUS (PO4) - (FONG)
fish
organ meats - pork, beef, chicken
nuts
grains (whole)

IRON (Fe) think of: Iron is found in the blood, you inject meds w/ a syringe, and a syringe has a BEVELed needle
Breads & cereals
Veggies (dark green)
Egg yolk
Lliver meat
*Orange juice increases Fe absorption via PO

TYRAMINE-RICH FOODS - (TYRACS) *CI to MAOi's
Tuna fish
Yeast, yogurt
ROH - chemical symbols for alcohol or if you like Rum
Avocado
Cheese, swiss; caffeine
Soy sauce, sausages, sour cream

Citation:
http://allnurses.com/nclex-discussion-forum/some-of-my-686000.html

Cholesterol or lipid profile

Mini-Case*: Patient - My cholesterol is 295.... Don't remember what type of cholesterol. Aren't they all the same?

Thinking: Cholesterol values include Total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, VLDL, which one? What is what?
=> Conclusion: most likely to be 'Total cholesterol' if pt only can only report 1 # but not any other #'s.


Case*: Pt is 50y/o with diabetes. Which Cholesterol level to start on Simvastatin?
Answer: Cholesterol level doesn't matter. No need to obtain lipid panel test. Just start them on Simvastatin.

Case*:  Pt asks How does Simvastatin affect HDL and LDL?
Answer: Lower LDL but very miniscule effects on HDL

Why it works?

Blurb:

Total cholesterol

LDL (bad) cholesterol--the main source of cholesterol buildup and blockage in the arteries

HDL (good) cholesterol--helps keep cholesterol from building up in the arteries

Triglycerides--another form of fat in your blood

What is total cholesterol?

Total Cholesterol (done by enzymes, measured directly from blood):  Total cholesterol can be measured directly from blood. Enzyme (cholesterol oxidase) is added to produce reaction byproducts, H2O2.  Enzyme (Peroxidase) is then added to produce color. This color is electromagnetically analyzed at 500nm. The intensity of this color is directly proportional to cholesterol concentration.

Triglycerides (done by enzymes, measured directly from blood) - must be fasting for correct level of triglycerides

HDL (done by special agents, measured directly from blood, read by color intensity produced from electromagnet)

LDL: very expensive to measure directly from blood via ultra-centrifuge. So, use Friedwald equation (only correct if pt is fasting)

LDL-Cholesterol: Most of the circulating cholesterol is found in three major lipoprotein fractions: very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), LDL and HDL.

[Total chol] = [VLDL-chol] + [LDL-chol] + [HDL-chol]

LDL-cholesterol is calculated from measured values of total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol according to the relationship: 

                          [LDL-chol] = [total chol] - [HDL-chol] - [TG]/5

 where [TG]/5 is an estimate of VLDL-cholesterol and all values are expressed in mg/dL. 

~Miss Student

*All cases are fictitious. No real patient encounters. Just my rich imagination! :)


Read lab values:
Mnemonics: High Healthy HDL; Low Let it down LDL ~Miss Student

Nutrition:

Diet restrictions: 
1 - No Alcohol 24hrs before tests (elevate #)
2 - No eating 12 hrs before tests (elevate triglycerides)
3 - No water restrictions

Clinical procedure:
- Blood lab test (venipuncture)
- Red tube (fasting)

Who should be screened?:
In priority order:

1. - All men over 35 y/o even in absence of any risk factors for CHD
2. - Men & women >20 y/o with increased risks for coronary heart disease (CHD)

Increased risk, for the purposes of this recommendation, is defined by the presence of any one of the risk factors listed below. The greatest risk for CHD is conferred by a combination of multiple listed factors.

• Diabetes.

• Previous personal history of CHD or non-coronary atherosclerosis (e.g., abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral artery disease, carotid artery stenosis).

• A family history of cardiovascular disease before age 50 in male relatives or age 60 in female relatives.

• Tobacco use.

• Hypertension.

• Obesity (BMI ≥30).

10-year CVD risk factors: http://cvdrisk.nhlbi.nih.gov/

Helpful link:
http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=x20030114211535665170: short need-to-know details for lipid profile info.
(2) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/nhanes_03_04/l13_c_met_lipids.pdf: how to calculate total cholesterol => not how total cholesterol is usu. obtained since you can do measure total cholesterol by hands
http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Total-Cholesterol => how lipid panel is really measured
http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/RecommendationStatementFinal/lipid-disorders-in-adults-cholesterol-dyslipidemia-screening#consider