This Pilgrim's Progress

Tea

I tapered off on my coffee drinking a number of years ago. I found that if I didn't limit it to about 4 cups in the morning, I would have trouble sleeping and feel jangly.

So, I switched over to tea. The only problem was that I was using tea bags. The company I work for provides free coffee and tea, so it was a natural thing to do. But after a time I realized the tea-bag tea was staining my teeth badly, and I got tired of it. I started drinking loose-leaf tea, and I've found it a much more satisfying cup to drink.  Plus the better quality tea has a lot of health benefits without the drawbacks of the tea brewed from from tea-bags. Most people don't know that most tea in the U.S. is pretty poor quality, even in the "premium" brands, and the cut-up leaves produce more tannin and bitterness than whole-leaf loose tea. I decided if I was going to drink so much tea, I might as well drink the good stuff that would be beneficial to my health.

I'm buying most of my tea these days online, mostly from a company called "Seven Cups".  They have a great selection of teas of all sorts: green, black, oolongs, white, puer, flower-scented, etc. Most of their stuff is from China. One of the owners is also a certified Tea Master from China, so they really know their stuff.  Their web site is real good too, with a lot of great information about tea and tea-culture. Their web-site is:  http://www.sevencups.com/   

I've discovered a new tea (for me at least, the tea has been around for centuries) called Puer or Puerh tea. It's named after the town that served as kind of the production and distribution center for this tea.  This tea has a lot of health benefits, and has a long tradition of being favored for a number of maladies.  I really like it and usually drink it in the evening.  Check out the web site for more information on this tea and others.

Food Gestapos Strike Again!

This week had a number of interesting "science & tech" stories  (living fossils -bird-squirrel, Hawking's latest, Gates stepping down, etc.) ,  but the one that caught my eye was about the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) suing KFC over the fast-food chain's use of cooking oil containing trans-fats.

Steven Milloy in a Junk Science article on Fox, correctly points out the whole "fat is unhealthy" argument has never been proven conclusively by science.  That includes the old argument against animal fats like beef tallow, lard, and butter and tropical oils like palm oil, as well as newer partially-hydrogenated oils (vegetable shortening, margarine). 

Obesity is caused by a number of inter-related factors, and science is still trying to nail down the specifics.  Lack of activity plus gluttony plus genetic factors make a difficult stew of pathology to nail down. In the end it is science once again trying to make us "victims", rather than having us be responsible for our own behavior (sin).

KFC and other fast-food companies have been reluctant to change oils because it affects the taste of the food. If the chicken doesn't consistently taste yummy, who's going to buy it!! 

Back in the 60's and 70's  animal fats were the big, bad, bugaboo and the scientists, including CSPI, wanted everyone to switch over to vegetable based oils because they were supposedly better for you. So margarine and shortening were pushed as replacements for lard and butter. And we were supposed to use "poly-unsaturated" oils rather than good old olive-oil or peanut oil in our salad dressing. The whole fat thing also destroyed the flavor of milk!!  Low-fat or non-fat milk tastes like liquid chalk and is awful!! 

As a kid growing up we always used margarine for our toast. I really didn't mind because I didn't know what butter tasted like. When I became an adult and started oooking (and baking) for myself I discovered that butter and olive oil were delicious, and you actually tended to use less because of the rich flavor. I also discovered that about Maple syrup, and nowadays in my household pancakes aren't pancakes unless they are slavered with real butter and real Maple syrup!!

For myself, I find that my appetite is quenched by rich and spicey flavors. I tend to eat less and feel more satisfied if the food is well seasoned and delights the taste-buds.  If it's bland I tend to eat more than I need to just to feel "full" or satisfied. I like to cook with full-flavors and use ingredients that are not over-processed. I like fresh vegetables that are steamed but not-over cooked, with maybe some butter (or olive oil) and salt for seasoning.

"Made from scratch" is always better for you and tastes better, but having the time to cook is a big challenge for modern families. Busy schedules keep us not only from having the time to cook well for our families but to also spend the time socially as a family around the dinner table.  I've become addicted to eating in front of the TV, and that's a very bad habit, but please, don't have Congress pass laws prohibiting fast-food, convenience-foods, or bad TV habits.  In the end it's our responsibility to take care of our own and our family's health, not the  Nanny-State's!!