I told her I’d been sick for a long time. The first week I had a fever, followed by a cough in the second and third week that just wouldn’t go away. I didn’t know it that morning I visited the doctor, but later that night I’d have another fever.
After she checked me out, I asked her if there was anything I could take that could make me better. Some kind of supplement perhaps?
“Well, the most important thing you can do is watch what you eat.”
And that was all she said on the matter. Wise doctor.
Food is the best medicine. There really isn’t anything more important than the food we give our bodies. There is no magical supplement to make up for what we eat everyday; if we eat well, there wouldn’t be a need for any supplementation. The question then was; how was I eating?
After done quite a bit of reading on diet through the ways, one way to answer that question seemed to be: It depends on who you ask. Browse through the diet and nutrition section of a bookstore and you’re likely to go nuts on the width and breadth of conflicting information. One camp swears by the vegetarian diet, others on a meat-rich diet, some say fat is good for you, some say fat will kill you. Eating raw is the best way. Or not. Milk builds your bones. Unless you’re lactose intolerant. Cholesterol is bad for you. Bad cholesterol is a myth. Eat like the Okinawans. But not white rice, as refined grain is bad for you.
I think I may just have found a mother-lode today.
Burger Bench & Bar, found on the first floor of Orchard Cineleisure, is a fast food burger joint quite unlike any other. According to them, their burger patties ‘are always oddly shaped’ because they’re hand-made, and they believe that ‘fast food does not have to be processed by machines or artificially flavored.’
Unprocessed, hand-made food coming in the shape of a burger – one of my favorite foods ever – I am so in. And, I am lucky to report, the most important part didn’t disappoint; I had the mushroom beef burger and it was delicious.
The mushroom beef burger, absolutely delicious.
It was pricier than a typical fast-food meal at S$8 a burger, an extra S$1 for potato and radish chips, and S$2.80 for a drink. But you know what, I’d rather pay a little extra to know that I’m eating something real – not something that’s been pumped full of chemicals and dinged up in a microwave. Good stuff, I will be back, and if you’re in the neighborhood, go check it out!
No preservatives, no MSG, no processed meat? Booyah!
If you’re wondering about it from my vegetarian posts, no, I haven’t become a vegetarian.
What drew me to explore vegetarian restaurants is what I’ve learned about food these last few months, which made me look for places that serve nutritious and environmentally friendly foods.
This post is about that learning journey, but I want to warn you that it’s slightly over 2000 words long. If you don’t want to go through all that, Mark Bittman summarizes the important points in his much more entertaining TED talk, which will only take you 19 minutes to watch.
Living the Life
It all kick-started for me when a friend introduced me to British chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s TV show River Cottage. I instantly fell in love with it.
In 1997, Hugh moved from the big city to the countryside for an experiment in self-sufficiency. He learned how to grow his own crops, rear his own animals and every episode he took the best advantage of these beautiful harvests, using his culinary skills to whip up delectable dishes. Here’s a taste of the first episode:
Watching River Cottage made me realize how far removed I was from where my food came from. Whereas Hugh grew and slaughtered his own meat for example, I thought of my meat coming from the supermarket in clear plastic wraps. The sources of my food were intellectual facts in my head, but never something I had experienced firsthand, and it made me interested to learn more about food and where it came from.
I thoroughly enjoyed an avocado salad (the avocado spread was great), a potato wedges starter (delicious with the dip) and the mango sushi (crunchy and full of flavor) with my girlfriend. Also had a coffee substitute called orzo for the first time, it’s made from roasted barley and had a satisfyingly similar taste to a warm cup of coffee. This is all part of my recent drive to eat healthy and be healthier.
This next part’s gonna sound kinda sappy and out of point, but whenever I have a great meal out with the people I love, I feel like the luckiest person in the entire world.
I was attending a PDR (Personal Defense Readiness) class this evening near my workplace, and thinking of what to have for dinner I was sick of the usual unhealthy food choices in the area, and in my life in general.
Wanting to find better places to eat, I searched online and found vegetarian Yes Natural restaurant just a short drive away (I’d eaten an oily chicken rice dinner just a few meters away and never suspected a healthier option was just around the corner!).
After parking, I walked in the place and an Indian gentleman and I reached the only small table left at the same time, so we agreed to share it. He was quite friendly and we started talking, he shared that he was a life-long vegetarian, and I told him about my quest to find healthier places to eat.
Note: This is a short post to remind myself that not all my blog posts need to be long and lovingly slaved over, but can also just be simple updates on my life for my friends. Namaste, friends.
About 21 Dragons
21 Dragons is a personal weblog about personal growth & the search for wisdom.
