I'm really grateful that Kellogg's have introduced heart friendly cereals, like Optivita. This is made with oats, the beta glucans in which has been proved effective in driving down 'bad' LDL cholesterol levels. But could it be that humble porridge contains more beta glucans per portion, at a fraction of the price? Am I wrong?

Not many people have heard of Tempeh; quite a lot of us have heard of Quorn. Since I went veggie I've had a lot of both, as well as Seitan, Tofu and Soy Protein.

Quorn scares me a bit as it's a processed food and made by boffins somewhere. The manufacturer is part of a huge food manufacturer.

My Tempeh is organic and people have been eating it for centuries. I can get it from most health food shops for about £2 a pack. I usually get 5 portions out a pack. I think some of the Quorn products are delicious and can be excellent value, but the sat fat content of some forces me to put them back in the freezer cabinet.

It seems to me that Tempeh can play a positive part in my Angina plan while Quorn probably does no harm. What do you think though?

Just when I thought that the new mix of meds was working, I found that towards the end of a 20 minute walk I was on the verge of reaching for the trusty GTN Spray. I haven't used it for 3 weeks now.

It was a bit colder this afternoon. I'd had a sedentary morning trying to tick off banks statements and perhaps my light, low fat, lunch hadn't been fully digested. Perhaps these factors didn't help.

So the struggle continues!

Hi, I'm certainly not giving up on the statins but it would seem that humble, inexpensive porridge does reduce bad LDL cholesterol. 

All down to the beta glucans....

She won't go away, always lurking. Yesterday she pounced again. Perhaps she didn't like my 100m walk to Sainsburys. It was a cold morning but not as cold as today. I hadn't eaten anything and had just a cup of caffeine free tea.

Today she hid. Same walk; same amount of tea.

Well tomorrow the struggle continues, as we used to say in the early seventies. It's a different sort of struggle now!

I'm due to meet a Cardiac Rehab Psychologist. I'll report back.

I should perhaps mention that this Christmas has been a bit stressful so Angina has had every opportunity to play up. 

There was the shocking news that Carol had died.  Carol and I were friends and had been married. We'd not been in touch for 10 years or so but I fully expected to hear from her. Thanks Olly for letting me know. Carol was a very special and lovely person. More on this soon. 

Then there's been a problem with a member of the family who lives and works in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. I won't go into detail other than say it's been a massive challenge for Angina.

So far, the new mix of Amlodipine and Ranazoline is giving my Angina a hard time and whereas I'd have to use my GTN spray at least once a day, I haven't used it for several weeks....