Fruits and vegetables

Are your eating enough of them? Sometime ago we found out that to stay really healthy, one needs to have five servings each of fruits and vegetables daily. Lately we have become semi-vegetarian by limiting our dinner to just a small scoop of rice and generous helping of vegetables, punctuating the meal with fruits.

Helping us get the most out of fruits and vegetables is the book, “Medicinal Fruits and Vegetables,” from our friends, Jaime “Jimmy” Z. Galvez Tan, MD, MPH and his wife, Maria Rebecca “Becks” Maranan, MAN, RN. Nothing could be a more welcome read than this, especially now that a lot of us are concerned about our health and wellness. When we met the couple a few years ago, we did not know they were involved in natural healing and integrative medicine. We were aware, however that Jimmy was at the top of a program encouraging medical practitioners to go to the barrios. This must have given the doctor the chance to do a research on how natural methods were used in treating illnesses. The practices of the herbularios, our traditional healers, have now, in this book, been enhanced by research findings.

The book is a compilation of data on 60 of the most commonly available and accessible Philippine fruits and vegetables, some of which are familiar, having used them either for the ailing or as kitchen elements, while others are pleasant discoveries. Do you know that asparagus is good for cough? Or that abukado (all items are spelled in Filipino) has a high fat content? The format is ideal and easy to read. The first part defines how the book is used, followed by the glossary of terms – a departure from the usual system of putting the glossary in the last pages. We think this is a very logical idea because then, as we go through each page, we are already familiar with the different terms used. Housewives would do well to get this book. It will be a great help in preparing healthy meals and natural remedies for the family.

We remember how solicitous our Inay was about our health. I was very skinny and therefore, she did everything to fatten me up. I had my fill of health drinks, vitamins and milk. We were living in Biñan and she would travel all the way up to Alabang Stock Farm, now part of the Filinvest development to get gallons of fresh carabao’s milk, which I had to drink.

Recently, our friend Jeannie at Dizon Farms introduced us to fresh cow’s milk. There is this company in Calauan, Laguna called Hacienda Macalauan, which produces a line of dairy products, now carried by the Dizon Farm chain. Their line includes choco, non-fat, low-fat and full cream milk in 1 liter bottles. The taste is good and consistency just right. A bottle of the chocolate milk costs P150 while the rest sell for P100. They’ve got yogurt, whipping cream, ricotta (P110), and cottage cheese (P100) as well. We also tried their kesong puti which we cut them into small cubes, and poured on some olive oil (extra virgin) and spices to make a good salad dressing and bread filling. Dizon Farm now also carries bottled puro macapuno (glutinous coconut meat), selling at P150 for 300 gms. This is produced by Philhybrid Laboratory Center in UP Los Baños. It has no cholesterol.

Price Watch – at a supermarket a few days ago, we had our list and, not surprisingly, a lot of the shoppers had their own lists as well. That shows how price conscious we are now and how conservative we have all become, driven by the fact that prices just a few days before have now risen by 15 to 20 percent. Detergents – the bar that was around P16 is now ranges from P19.25 to P22. The liquid detergent went from P22 plus to P25.25. Don’t be tempted by the scrub-size individual bar soaps as they come out more expensive. Extra large eggs, though they are not even large, cost P155.50 for a tray of 30. Brown sugar costs P59.80 for a pack of two kilos. At the fish section of South Supermarket, Venus, the one in charge of the counter we were at, was as accommodating as can be even if we only got one fourth kilo of their tawilis for P24.25. Our best buy that day!

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