- Women: If you have intense pain in your jaw, it might just be a heart attack. This actually just happened to a dear friend a few weeks ago, so unfortunately I know first-hand how true this is. In fact, you might never even have chest pain. Jaw pain: Call your doctor immediately.
- Don't drink cold water after eating, because the water will solidify the oily stuff you've just consumed, which slows digestion. I won't go into any more detail, but this very long message ends with the fact that this eventually will lead to cancer. I checked it out on Snopes.com, which calls this "claptrap," one of my favorite words. My mom always used it when she saw through one of my "stories," aka lies!
- Never eat fruit after a meal. Another "not true" from Snopes! I first learned this bit of insanity from the Diamonds in "Fit for Life," which also advocated food combining to lose weight. Suzanne Somers' resurrected this idea in her diet book, which yes, I am now publicly admitting I bought. I am so not proud of this fact, and it was a waste of money, but some of the recipes were not bad. But back to the fruit-after-a-meal: There is nothing unhealthful about eating fruit before, during or after a meal. Go ahead and combine it all you want, which is a good thing since my favorite lunch is chicken salad with a diced apple. Yes, fruit will digest more quickly if you eat it alone, but contrary to that e-mail, it will not rot in your stomach if you eat it with other foods.
Thank you Snopes!
When I took Chinese cooking lessons many many years ago, I was told by a great teacher (Florence Lin) that the Chinese don't have need for dessert because they include fruit or something sweet, even a tiny amount, in the savory courses. I found this interesting at the time, never checked it as a scientific matter, but always assumed that eating sweets -- fruit, for example -- with other ingredients in a meal cuts down your desire for dessert.
ReplyDeleteWhy not try it?
Here's one of my favorites:
Stir Fried Chicken with Mango, Sugar Snap Peas and Jalapeno Pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup cut up sugar snap peas
1/3 cup chopped red onion
2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
1-1/2 tablespoons chopped jalapeno pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into chunks
3 tablespoons rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a wok or stir fry pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes or until the pieces have turned white and are cooked through. Dish out and set aside. Pour in the remaining tablespoon vegetable oil. Add the sugar snap peas and stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Add the red onion, ginger and jalapeno pepper and stir-fry for one minute. Add the garlic and stir-fry for another minute. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan, add the mango and stir-fry for about one minute or until hot. Pour in the rice wine vinegar, stir and serve. Makes 4 servings