Yumm, breakfast!

One week ago I moved into a house with roommates in Somerville, Massachusetts. In that first week of transition I had a lot on my plate, so I did what most temporarily scattered people would do – eat shitty food. I ate plain ramen, peanut butter bread, cheese on toast, dunkin donuts sandwiches, rotisserie chicken from Shaws… barely any vegetables or fruit. I also exercised very little… maybe a few push-ups and sit-ups. I wasn’t depressed but I felt like I was just… existing.

But today, I feel like a million bucks. Here’s what happened…

Yesterday morning I was having my peanut butter on toast with banana slices when one of my roommates explained why he makes fruit smoothies every morning. “I eat fruit only in the morning.” he said. “It’s actually really good for you and the body breaks it down quickly, which in turn gives you a lot more energy to burn.”

“And mixing fruit with other food is not good for your digestion. It’s as if you never ate it and your body won’t process it well.” It made sense to me but I didn’t understand why. And that’s when he asked if I had read “Fit for Life” which is a New York Times Bestseller and focuses on how human beings used to eat… a loooong time ago!

I borrowed his copy and started reading about the how and when of efficient food consumption. With proper food combinations (the how) and keeping in mind how long it takes to process them (the when), your body rewards you with more natural energy. For example, most fruit takes 20-30 minutes to digest but processed food and meat can take up to 8 hours! Meat eaten alone or with vegetables will take closer to 4 hours. And if you try to process fruit while the stomach is acidifying proteins and starches, it will not properly absorb the nutrients of your fruit- hence, my roommate’s comment – “your body won’t process it well.”

By eating fruit on an empty stomach in the morning, your body has an undisturbed chance to break it down and provide you with a boost of energy for the day. Lumberjack breakfasts take forever to break down and actually slow you down because there’s so much different stuff in there that needs to be processed in different ways.

Fruit heaven

My first day
Today I figured I’d give the concepts in Fit for Life a whirl. It started with an apple and at about 10am I ate a banana. I wasn’t hungry after the fruit for some reason. (Maybe because I didn’t put bread and coffee in there with it?) I planned my lunch for 11:30am which is what I was used to in China.For lunch I cooked up rice with potatoes, onions, and mushrooms with garlic. It was a typical stir fry dish which tasted great. And after that I went to a meeting.

I got home from my meeting at about 4pm feeling quite refreshed. The lunch I had eaten included 2 starches (rice and potatoes) and there was no animal protein. The digestive system was allowed to work on fewer types of food and probably did so more efficiently. Even with a large helping of rice I didn’t feel heavy.

Now, at 5pm, I feel like I could eat soon but I don’t have any real cravings. I’ll probably eat fish and salad, without bread or rice. But overall, I feel great! I don’t need stimulants of any kind- no coffee in the morning or wine at night. It just feels right.

Final thoughts
A lot of what I try to cover in Asianliving relates to traditions and getting back to the old ways of cooking, eating, and drinking. There’s a lot that we can learn from our grandparents… but there’s even more that can be learned from humans who existed thousands of years ago. They normally ate only one or two foods at a time. Just like how wild animals eat their prey or snack on leaves. Let’s simplify our meals and eat more like our ancient ancestors did. Your body will probably reward you for it!

For future reference, I’ve added the Detoxinista’s food combining chart below (Click to zoom in):

She needs a diet?

Believe it or not, a majority of the “skinny” women that you see when visiting Asian countries believe they are, themselves, “fat” or “overweight”. It is appalling to Western women when I tell them this but it is a reality. However, the reality of being “overweight” in a country like China is no different than in the US. Why? Because it is 100% relative and culture-based.

In China, women are worried about roundness and often strive for an image that westerners would call “boney”. When asked about the Western “plus-sized” models, many women here think that it’s not right to be so big. They agree with the fashion magazines that show thin, tall women. The first time I heard someone say that plus-sized models were not necessary was a strange moment for me, but then I realized that this culture (and their eating habits) seem to allow most women a fair chance at achieving a healthy, attractive figure. This “chance” is the result of traditional healthy eating habits, which one of the many reasons I started writing AL.ME.

But with the increase in Western-style eating, that healthy figure is becoming less of the norm. Since there is always a competition for being the hottest (in virtually all modern cultures) many of them want to get even thinner! As you might expect, confusion sets in for some of them and the results are quite unexpected, to be honest. The following are a few before and after photos of typical young women in China trying to reach their ideal weight… (All images were self-posted on Weibo in late 2012)

Before/After Dieting in China

This girl thinks a round face is the same as “fat”.

Before/After

And the next girl thinks she looks better in her after photo…

Before cute/After skeleton

And this next one is a Cantonese girl who thinks she has lost weight… but I can’t make out any difference…

Before and after?

The above are all very common misunderstandings of what “going on a diet” really means. Actually, this last photo I’m posting in this article is from a Chinese mom in Taiwan. Her pregnant photo is probably less fat than she tried to make it seem, and her after photo is actually quite beautiful. With a traditional diet after child birth, the after photo is not as unlikely as you might think.

Before/After a baby in Taiwan

So, there you have it. The expectations that are put on women (and men) to be a certain weight can be blown out of proportion quite easily, but it really is a matter of where you live and what your local culture expects. When Chinese students visit the US, and again extra 5 pounds, they might not see a big difference while abroad. But when they come home it is a different story; They WILL hear family and friends make direct comments about their weight and shape. For whatever reason, it is normal for them to make comments about a friend looking “fat” in front of friends or the entire family.

What does all of this mean for westerners? Nothing. We have our own unique ways of understanding beauty and that’s fine. But if you have any concerns about your weight, it’s probably not a good idea to visit an East Asian country until you are ready to be hounded about your weight and shape.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture, as with massage, is often misunderstood by the West. Although Traditional Chinese Medicine is gaining popularity, this procedure looks more like a painful circus act than anything truly healthful. With a little bit of belief, it actually serves many purposes for both repairing your body and staying healthy.

But even if you wanted to try acupuncture for whatever reason, where would you get it done? A flight to China isn’t exactly in the cards for most people… Here’s a map that might help you get started.

Recently an American friend of mine in China started going to a local acupuncturist in Zhuhai for weight loss. A combination of weekly acupuncture and massage has helped him lose 20 pounds in the past 4-5 weeks. The long-term strategy with acupunture, he learned, includes two parts: 1) Processing the food you eat better by restoring balance in your system. 2) Control your appetite, and develop the habit of drinking water as opposed to sugary or caffinaited drinks.

It sounds straight forward but it is not a quick fix. Not everyone is starting at the same place or has the Asian-style eating culture around them. For instance, it is much easier to lose weight while running his trade company and living in China, as opposed to the fast-paced, car-driving life in much of the States. But with consistent treatment and support, acupuncture should make a big impact on your healthy dieting goals.

Italian Chinese Meal

Any discussion about Italian food in China is bound to curtail into how pasta originated in China over 4,000 years ago[*]. I would say the Chinese have perfected the noodle over years of trial ‘n error, mostly due to their choice of seasonings. (My favorite Chinese noodles to this day are from the north and are pulled thick just prior to being tossed in a savory broth or pan-fried with seafood.)

Getting back to Italia, and the point of my post today, I’d like to show off my new preference for the decades-old family tradition of “Monday Night S’ghetti!” Like with many of the meals I cook I highlight portion control, so you’ll often just need cereal bowls instead of plates. Also, chopsticks are useful in order to take smaller bites and to drain excess oil from your food.

One Serving of S'ghetti

I bought multi-grained, spiral pasta from the import store here in Zhuhai. Then, I boiled it with a pinch of salt and dollop of sesame oil. (You can use olive oil if you want. Any oil works!)  What is often missing in our S’ghetti Night routine is a big portion of vegetables. So, when the noodles are ready I begin to cook my veges. Follow my simple Green Vege recipe here.  Meatballs are common place at a meal like this. You continue with your normal tradition, although I didn’t add meat in this meal.

Fresh bread with some butter is a common part of the tradition, so this is present too. Dip your bread into your spaghetti sauce to add flavor instead of using butter, which is often how it’s done across the world! Pour your spaghetti sauce onto your noodles, add a splash of grated-cheese if you want, and Voile! The S’ghetti Night tradition has made it’s way back to the Orient, and hopefully it was simple!

A popular request I get is related to the medicinal use of tea. I’m finally writing this article after discussing this topic with various Chinese friends who have nearly 20 years of experience in the tea business. After discussions with them and other trusted tea connoisseurs I’m ready to post on this topic. I suggest reading a previous post about understanding the world of tea in order to get more familiar with the major varieties of tea.

You’ll find that two major substances in tea do most of the leg work: epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and polyphenol. Remember: I’m not a doctor and the following is a collection of information told by friends, which I’ve cross-referenced with scientific studies.

Dieting: Pu’er Tea is known as the most effective of the major tea varieties for metabolizing fat, which is why it is often a major part of diet tea concoctions sold commercially. It isn’t a silver bullet to weight loss, but should be included as a supplement to your weight loss or dieting regimen. Pu’er Tea also has great benefits to combat heart disease, see below. Also see my overview and disambiguation of major teas here.

Cleansing and Digestion:  From a Chinese perspective, “cleansing” means the process of pulling oil from your intestines. It doesn’t mean you should have diarrhea, but a person eating an oily-food diet will have better cleansing results. The precursor to cleansing is actually an improvement in digestion. Hopefully this serves to clarify what “cleansing teas” on the market should actually do.

Cancer and Degenerative Diseases: The most useful time to consume tea for the purpose of combating cancer is before the cancer in question has arrived. Tea, Green Tea in particular, is more effective with digestive and urinary tract cancers, however, there is a long list of other cancers that have been inhibited with animal testing, including:”lung, forestomach, esophagus, duodenum, pancreas, liver, breast, colon, and skin cancers”[*]

The immune system gets a boost from what The Green Tea Book articulates as the “secret ingredient”of Green tea, which is its high content of polyphenol (a phytonutrient). For people who crave details, the reason polyphenols are effective combatants to potential cancers is due to their high amounts of antioxidants. Basically, antioxidants prevent free radicals from flipping out all over the body and kicking off chain-reaction scavenging for reactive cells.[*] (In a nut shell free radicals damage cells, which can cause a range of problems from aging to cancer.)

A 2007 study done in China shows that Alzheimers and Parkinson‘s patients could have benefits from the polyphenol of Green Tea, because it  “may protect neurons against the detrimental effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO)…” Basically, with enough pure green tea extract (EGCG), it could inhibit the death of neurons which causes these degeneration, leading to Alzheimers and Parkinson’s.

The following are specific studies that I’ve grouped here and linked to their respective sources.

Heart Disease: There is a “preventative effect…on coronary heart disease, high blood cholesterol , and high blood pressure…” according to a 2000 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Skin Damage: Topical applications of green tea extracts (EGCG) have protective effects on UVA- and UVB-induced skin damage (photoaging and carcinogenesis) [*]

Lung Cancer: “Among smokers, those who did not drink green tea at all were more than 12 times as likely to develop lung cancer than those who drank at least a cup a day.” (Read more in this BBC review of the study) Of course, quitting smoking makes more sense…

Stress: A study released in 2010 by University College London shows that black tea consumption after a stressful event can reduce levels of the stress hormone “cortisol”. [*]

Stroke: In 2009, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) conducted research which found that “drinking three or more cups of tea per day can reduce the risk of suffering a stroke by as much as 21 per cent.” [*]