Is My Diet too Acidic?

When life gives you lemons, go bananas, and take them with a grain of salt.

Understanding our bodies’ nutritional needs can sometimes be a mind game, but current research reveals that the key to a healthy diet is all in finding the right mix.

High in calcium, potassium and magnesium with a characteristically low acidic intake, The Alkaline Diet is a throwback to the food of the pre-Industrial era. Some of its features have major potential to boost health around the globe.

Turning to trusty provisions from thousands of years ago, alkalized eating seeks to relocate the high-potassium low-sodium balance peculiar to hunter-gathering societies who once roamed the land foraging for meals.

Studies show that a diet higher in alkaline can preserve muscle mass and support bone health; narrowing the potential for injury-related fractures while kicking up the body’s Vitamin D levels responsible for mending lower back pains.

Other benefits include reduced risks of osteoporosis, and less chance for high blood pressure in women.

The Alkaline Diet steers from “acidic foods” like salted meats (i.e. ham, sausage) and processed items that contain organic acid - a compound that the body can’t fully break down and in turn leaves trails of excess acid in the system.

This debunks the myth that high-acidity refers to a diet rich in foods like lemon or citrus. So, as mentioned before, go bananas with these vitamin-packed citrus fruits, eat less salt, and enjoy potassium loaded bananas while you’re at it (But watch out, they're pretty starchy, so don’t go excessive!)

While too much acidic food can contribute to a lack of energy, apathetic sex drive, frequent headaches and chronic disease (yikes) -- experts say eating less meat and/or junk food is not the only answer.

Present research instead suggests we should increase our fruit and veggie intake and pay more careful attention to soil nutrients surrounding the foods we eat.

“The links among healthy soils, healthy foods, and healthy people certainly makes sense,” says UMissouri Agriculture and Applied Economics Professor John E. Ikerd, “In this, there is hope.”

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So, now that we’ve bridged those misconceptions, let’s explore what other nasty things poor nutrition can do for our bods. Only joking, I’m an optimist. Check out this nifty infographic from the Harvard School of Public Health. It’s sure to help you stay on track. :)

See also: this how-to video from Howcast.

Food Secrets of the Netherlands

Words of wisdom from an eighty-something Dutch grandma and more.

Anyone who has traveled to Holland will tell you two things: First, they really are known for their tulips. Lots of them. And second, much of its food is a rich fusion of Dutch and Indonesian ingredients.

What might seem like a random mixture actually traces to the days of Colonialism, during which the Netherlands claimed Indonesia (once called the Dutch East Indies,) and in turn offered an open immigration policy to island natives.

Under this charter, Indonesians were free to emigrate to the Netherlands, forming a cultural exchange between the countries early on. This history is largely reflected in Dutch-Indonesian cooking today.

I was delighted to learn more about this and other aspects of the Netherlands' cuisine at Hofstra University's 29th Annual Dutch Festival.

Among dozens of visitors celebrating the school's European history was Texan Phil George, part-owner of Dutch-Indonesian specialty foods store Kaas & Co (located in South Norwalk Connecticut.) 

George thinks of Dutch food as a "stick-to-your ribs kind of hearty," with meals like vegetable hot pots brimming with potatoes, carrots, leaks, beans and pickled meats -- and Indonesian basics like nasi goreng (fried rice) and sambal oelek (a spicy pepper paste typically made from fresh chili, cayenne and the Madame Jeanette variety.)

George fell into Netherlands-style cooking years ago when he met his other half, a Dutch gal.

He remembers Holland as a food hub that has many street vendors - take its infamous pickled herring stalls, where it is customary to plop the fish into your mouth with one sweeping motion.

Because the Netherlands is bordered on one side by the North Sea, sea-based ingredients like these have eased their way into its national cuisine.

"It's fresh, delicious and natural back-to-basics food," says George.

Then there's Edam, Gouda and Leyden cheese, currant buns and rye breads, spiced honey cakes and licorice tea, poffertjes pancakes and tompoezens (aka napoleons.)

Ketjap sweet soy, ginger, cumin and Java peanut sauce join in with some Indonesian flair to form a varied, contented balance between Oceanic and European choices.

"Be adventurous and try Dutch cooking," urges George, "It's really good stuff."

Kaas & Co's Dutch Festival Tent

Luckily, George has an eighty-something festival attendee and Dutch expatriate to back him up.

Cornelia VanPienbroek came to the US sixty years ago and resides on Long Island today. "I speak 1952 Dutch," said VanPienbroek, "I still speak it better than English."

Though VanPienbroek humbly reflects on her English skills, she is by no means tied to a one-track sense of nationalism. 

In fact, some of her earliest table joys are attributed to the waves of Indonesian immigration that followed WWII and reshaped Dutch food ways.

"We'd have Indonesian food once a week," said VanPienbroek, a globetrotting kind of gal who met her Vietnamese husband while walking the streets of Paris.

Cornelia knows many languages, and praises hybrid instances like her Dutch-Vietnamese grandchildren's speaking Spanish and Japanese, or the classic Dutch-Indonesian dish rijsttafel -- An Indonesian staple which literally translates to "rice table."

VanPienbroek recalls some meals and memories in the video below.

P.S. She'd want me to tell you that her last name means "from the froggy marshes."

Mālō e lelei, Tonga! A Love Story.

Tucked between thousands of South Pacific isles, the Kingdom of Tonga is just a few sprinkles on the map; but this tiny nation known to many as "The Friendly Islands" has much to give.

Tonga is comprised of 176 islands, 52 of which are inhabited by little over 103,000 people. Its capital, Nuku'alofa, is found on Tonga's mainland Tongatapu - whose terrain is made of coral limestone and doused with lush volcanic soils.

Slightly chillier than Tonga's other islands, Tongatapuans suffer temperatures as low as 60 degrees in their winter months. Arctic, right? Only joking, the weather in Tonga is absolutely gorgeous, everywhere, year round (Well, minus cyclone season.)

Given its bountiful landscape and incredible biodiversity, the Kingdom's national cuisine is characterized by a variety of Tongan staples like coconut, wild pig, seaweed and arabica harvests which thrive in Tonga's toasty, dewy climate.

If you're in town for a few days, you'll find welcome in most Tongan households, where it's casual to drop by for a hello/Mālō e lelei or arrange that you have dinner in a home.

Intimate in nature, Tonga is truly a Pacific treasure and an approachable doorway into the twists and tangles of islands that span the South Pacific. Take its kava presence - also seen in neighboring Fiji and Samoa.

In many parts of the Pacific, it's customary to gather round a heaping bowl of this murky-looking liquid made from the root of Piper methysticum, socializing and clapping between swigs of the numbing, relaxing drink (that tastes slightly like dirt. If my childhood memories spent playing in the woods serve me well.) That's not to say if you understand one Pacific Island, you understand them all - but shared features like kava circles are truly the glue to Polynesia's cultural collage.

Having spent a week in Tonga last year, I've created a "Friendly Islands" Food Bucket List for you! -- So you can be sure to explore the most of what this glorious little dot on the map has to give.

If you're thinking about island hopping, look into ferry travel between Tongatapu, Vava'u and the Ha'apai groups, and begin your research here. :)

Must-Dos/Bucket List:


1) Start with a traditional Tongan buffet.

Trust me, even the snobbiest foodie would be surprised by the unique ingredients served at what might seem like a tourist trap. There's really no sense feeling like you're doing anything cliche in Tonga - it's tough to avoid going local on this ultra Friendly Island unless you're literally locked inside your beachside fale (Tonga's version of a hotel.)

So, when you get to this buffet, breathe through the sort of droning, sort of amazing Tongan fire dances and get to the meal itself - wherein you'll find sea grapes or limu (a beady, almost alien-looking seaweed,) taro root and other tubers like cassava, seafoods cooked in coconut milk, a pig roast and a gracious mix of fresh tropical fruits. For dessert: Sticky, glossy, caramel bits of Tongan Sweets or steamed Puteni are often served.

2) Visit a nearby marketplace.

There is no better way to feel like you're a part of Tongan society and even see some foods exclusive to this part of the world.

Strands of tiny peppers that look like Christmas lights, umea nuts, lemani or lemons that are green on the outside and yellow-orange on the inside, and a digestive water made from various herbs said to have healing properties, are all part of a classic Tongan outdoor market. Enormous roots of taro and cassava with straw-poked coconuts are nestled between jewelry stalls displaying carved whale bone and shells, and a beauty aisle with items like a handmade body oil mixed from indigenous plants.

In the corridors, you'll find Tongans weaving skirts, baskets and fans atop grass mats (Yes, they really do wear thatch skirts on this side of the Earth.) The sound of guitar and friendly natives fills the streets, the air is warm, the grass is green, and you think to yourself, what a wonderful world.