Monday 13 October 2008

the health fair...


Health Food

I went to a health fair on Saturday. I didn't know what to expect to be honest, never having gone to anything like that before. I wanted to find some good recipes that use the foods I'm supposed to be eating at the moment (vegan basically, with a bit of raw food diet thrown in). Unfortunately, I'm also avoiding sugar as much as possible, and you be bloody amazed at how much 'healthy' stuff is full of sugar, and that's before you even look at the foods' natural sugar contents!

But Louise Hay reckons we should listen to our body and feed it well, that all of the 'for health diets' have cured someone or other. It doesn't matter which one apparently. So I ate the free sample of vegan banana loaf (with the added sugar) and it was delicious!

So the fair was chock full of foody stalls, all claiming that their food or supplement was the best that money could buy/could be found in the UK/Europe, The World. There were huge claims for supplements; they cured everything apparently, for an average of £45 a month per miracle potion. One wonders why anyone ever gets ill or dies at all, if we are to believe all of these claims!

And there was a talk on cancer: an alternative approach. It was a bit disappointing to tell the truth. He went on about how his wife cured herself of breast cancer with foods, supplements, and positive thinking (that was good - I was interested now). He said all the same stuff that I'd found on the net, some of which has been heavily refuted on other sites. But then he went on about allopathic medicines (your chemo and such like - normal Western treatments), and how no one should use them, how damaging they are. Which of course makes you feel just great when you've had it already! Plus, on the way out some man accosted me with, "He's full of shit, that fella. People like him should be shot!"

Hmm. I think we'll go with the allopathic AND the naturopathic thank you! The middle way, and all that.

I did get lots of free samples of natural soaps, vitamin tablets etc., and half a forest worth of leaflets.

Natural: Funny word. Surely everything is natural?! Okay, so meaning not-man made. Even so, arsenic and cyanide are natural, so are lead, mercury, and radio-activity!

Health Food: Another funny one. Isn't 'food' meant to be healthy? Isn't it odd that we have 'junk-food' and 'fast-food', and 'processed-food' - all stuff we eat without thinking twice, and yet these substances have very little 'food' left in them!

Trouble is, the stuff that is full of food (vitamins, enzymes, minerals etc.) tastes so different to what my Western palate is used to. I've been struggling to finish my meals for the past few weeks, getting slimmer by the day. I couldn't come up with any ideas at all, and then little 'un picked up and aubergine in the supermarket yetserday, and asked what it was. I was inspired! Ratatouille! Why didn't I think of it sooner? So last night I sat and wolfed down my wild rice and organic, home-made ratatouille - fantastic! Any other recipe ideas gratefully received!!!

Right. Off to write!

P.S.

Am going into uni tomorrow lunch time, so will be in the SCR if anyone fancies saying hello!

10 comments:

Jenny Beattie said...

I think a wholefood approach is the best way. Unfortunately I'm addicted to white flour and sugar...

I think people who promote alternative and decry conventional medicine are tinpots. Surely the best thing to do is fight it on all fronts?

hesitant scribe said...

jj - yeah, i think you're right - fight on all fronts! the middle way :)

Anonymous said...

sorry - I won't be in Uni tomorrow Lisa, so will miss you. So glad to read your positive posts. Thinking of you and hope to speak to you soon.

hesitant scribe said...

hi kym - you know where i am if you have a spare half hour - you're always welcome!

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Well it certainly sounds interesting, especially the bit where arsenic is natural etc. I hadn't thought of that.

Your ratatouille (sp?) does sound tasty. I'm rather lazy and when I need to eat something tasty but not loaded with sugar I tend to eat a mixture of chickpeas, sweet pepper, sweet potato and sweet corn (there's a lot of 'sweet' in there I notice).

Zinnia Cyclamen said...

I agree completely about allopathic plus complementary. Hardly anyone ever wants to have surgery, for example, but there are times when it's the only option and no herbal anything is going to solve the problem. There are some good vegan cookbooks around, especially from America, I'd suggest you have a look on amazon.com. Do you have a juicer and/or smoothie maker? I love fresh juices and smoothies, I'm not a raw foodie or a vegan but they are soooo delicious.

Rob said...

Hi Lisa - good to see you today, albeit briefly. Next time, let's do lunch, veggie style.
The Guardian's veggie food guru always has interesting recipes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/11/seasonal-vegetable-tempura

hesitant scribe said...

debs - hmmm sweet... I sooo want something sweet! chocolate sweet ;-)

zinnia - yes - it should be the best of both worlds, rather than halving our options, eh!

rob - sounds great. you're on!

hesitant scribe said...

p.s. Rob - thanks for the website too x

Fiona Mackenzie. Writer said...

Ratatouille is my most favourite meal.

Agree with jj. That's what my mother did with her two cancers although she did drink organic wine too.