Director, Emergency Services, Bikur Cholim Hospital
You are what you eat? To a certain extent. Eating too much of
anything is not a solution to any problem, so I am against
mega-this or mega-that diets. Low carbs? Low fat? Both are
probably important, but hard to abide by. Key is to start
early and to make them tasty. They will add vitamins and
roughage, which will lower cancer. Vegetables are now said to
be good for lowering pancreatic cancer — a disastrous
cancer with few survivors of more than a year.
Here are some hints: Beets are very tasty if not overcooked.
Green and yellow beans are also tasty, and they are good raw.
(I suggest that you not call them wax or string beans. Who
wants to eat wax or string?) Cauliflower and broccoli are
great with a good sauce. Try a sweet-and-sour sauce or a good
soy sauce. I love spinach. Onions that are fried? OK that is
a no-no, but it makes them tasty. However, also boiling or
steaming them cuts the hard taste, and I love a good onion
and leek in chicken soup. Parsnips and carrots are great when
boiled and in soup, and my kids like turnips in soup. Cabbage
and lettuce can be used in Chinese cooking and some acquired
tastes include Brussels sprouts — now available bug
free in Israel — and parsley which has more vitamin C
than an orange. Pea pods are crunchy, and sweet potatoes can
be done in many ways to please most kids. Zucchini is very
popular here in Israel and is very versatile.
Trans fatty acids are being reduced in the USA, but are still
popular here in Israel under the name "partially hydrogenated
vegetable oil." Hydrogenated vegetable oil is also a
nightmare. Both cause indigestion and cancer. Your best bet
is to leave the Bamba at the store and to make it yourself. I
would guess that there is no way you can put as much oil on
your popcorn, for example, as is put on by the store.
Eat well. This is good advice from day one. Write me in care
of the Yated.
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