Food and Detoxification

Tonight, I attended A&PI Wellness Center‘s program "Body Detoxification through Nutrition," with a guest speaker Nishanga Bliss from Immune Enhancement Project. It’s interesting yet scary to hear all the information about nutrient and toxicant we put in our mouth everyday. By no means, this is a solid science. So much information about what we should eat contradicts each other. Use some common sense can always help. My take is that every food can be harmful if I eat them out of balance. If I eat everything in moderation, then I will probably be okay. Of course, if anything is not natural, probably I am less likely to eat. For example, I hardly take any medicine from a pharmacy. And I want to live, happily. I should not feel guilty about indulge myself with some juicy barbeque spareribs, or some deep fried homemade meatballs. Not only they are comforting food for me, they also bring out nostalgic childhood memories. Mom used to cook them during Chinese New Year celebrations. But, I won’t eat them every week, not even every month. However, I almost never step into a fast food joint. They simply serve no purpose in my life. Period. Speaking of nutrition and moderation, I witnessed an interesting incident yesterday on a MUNI bus coming home from work. After I sat down on a bus, a middle aged white woman sat next to me. As soon as she sat down, she reached to a bag of Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups in her purse. One by one, skillfully and quickly, she peeled the wrapper and put them in her mouth. 1, 2, 3… Before even the bus closed the door and move, she had 4 already! Being observant, I discretely started to count silently how many she would eat. I know, I should have been doing a sudoku instead. Before the bus moved two short blocks, she swallowed 9 of those Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups!!! Then she stopped. Somehow, I felt relieved, for her. However, in less than 30 second, she opened her purse, reached inside, got more Chocolate Cups, peeled them, and threw them in her mouth! I doubt that she knew that I was counting for her. She probably felt self-conscious for non-stop eating them, or probably simply because I sat next to her, she said to me: "I am addicted to these, I love them." Of course you do! I didn’t say that of course, I replied her politely with a smile: "Hey! Enjoy life!" Although that was indeed what I thought—at least she was enjoying herself—I felt bad that I said that to her, because it sounds like a small talk that is so fake and non-sincere. Since I was counting how many she was eating those chocolate cups, deep inside, I know that I don’t think she should be eating like that. She said: "Yeah, but I probably have a heart attack soon, I should not have bought the whole bag." I kept silent. I didn’t know what to say, nor carry on a small talk. Besides, I needed to keep counting. 12, 13, …, 17, 18… Ops, it’s time for me to get off the bus! I hope she stopped at 18 after I got off the bus, although I seriously doubt it. I am glad that I don’t have an addiction like her. I feel even more fortunate that I enjoy cooking at home, even when I eat by myself. Because I already promised myself: "I need to live each day like it were my last day," I set up the table after I cooked some bitter melon (an excellent detoxicant!) a few days earlier. I want to enjoy food, life, and health. However, living in this polluted modern age, to have them all has become a great challenge. I will strive for the balance among these three, without giving up on any of them. Call me greedy.