A Cuisinera’s Goal

Here’s a nice article I found on Manila Standard online.

Every crunch of that potato chip is like heaven.

Every gulp of that soft drink quenches every trace of your thirst.

However, every bite of that red meat and every piece of fruit that goes to the trash bin becomes the trigger that magnifies your chance of suffering from malnutrition.

Yes, now is the time to take notice. Now is the time to put your food regimen on hold and realize that your unhealthy diet is not only endangering your health but your children’s as well.

The Doña Elena Cuisinera Club is calling out to every man, woman and children to lessen (with the eventual hope of completely stopping) the intake of junk and fatty foods.

But how do they plan to make their voices heard, you ask? Well, if you think a new reality show is on the wraps, then the answer would be no. These cuisineras also have no plans of posing a 5-min “Get the Right Kind of Diet” video clip on YouTube. Instead, our cooking femme fatales are going the classic way of do-it-or-else strategy.

Reality bites

According to Doña Elena, obesity rates in the Philippines have skyrocketed by 400 percent within the last 10 years, a figure that largely affected children aged 5 years old and below. “We have 10 million Filipinos who have a diet almost entirely comprised of junk food. To make things worse, 41 percent of our population consumes no fruits and vegetables at all,” said Prof. Luchie Callanta, the official nutritionist of DECC.

DECC also attributed the obesity-rate increase to unhealthy lifestyles as instigated by either the parents or the people left to guard their children. Bags of chips, carbonated beverages, candies, oil foods as well as leniency on granting children long TV and video-game hours contribute to the unhealthy patterns that eventually pollute their young minds. Relaying a strong sense of discipline to the children is one of the basic ways to safeguard the health of your kids, Callanta said.

Callanta added that another objective of DECC is to turn every Filipino into becoming a cuisinera or a person who celebrates life through healthy eating without sacrificing every Pinoy’s penchant for tasty and delicious cuisines.

First things first

The club acknowledges the fact that a sudden turnaround from your usual and typical ways would be like entering a crash diet: it is bound to fail with consequences that are set to hit you hard in the face.

Since what your children eat ultimately becomes the most significant factor in drawing a sound mind and body, the club suggests that the parents must slowly get into the habit of using olive oil in their everyday cooking.

Olive oil naturally has oleuropein, which prevents the arteries of the heart to harden. It also contains oleic acid, which lessens the effect of a gene that activates a cancer cell called oncogene. The many benefits of olive oil come in dozens and one of these is its ability to curb high counts of blood sugar, something that many Filipinos suffer from.

Furthermore, encouraging your children to engage in physical activities also aid in warding off several risks that come with irresponsible health management.

The reluctant health buff’s manual

The Doña Elena Cuisinera Club also plans to unveil a new book titled 21 Ways to a Healthier Life as part of its aim to provide the Filipinos a more detailed program to lead and live a healthier life. The book contains several classic Filipino recipes given certain healthy twists to allure not only the adults but the choosy children as well.

Staying true to their stand, these cuisineras are on the prowl to target every Filipino’s proven weakness: food delicacies. The club stated plans of regularly holding cooking classes every month all over the Metro.

This way, they would be able to effectively deliver their guidelines on healthy cuisine by providing ways of interweaving interesting delicious twists to ordinary recipes.

However, DECC reiterated that the goal’s success rests entirely on the individual’s drive to stay fit because at the end of the day, every man is left alone to fight against temptations of über-tasty junk foods, ice-cold canned drinks and what-have-you. — Anna Margarita Pambid

I think DECC may be right about the sudden rise on obesity rate. The fast food industry in the country has been steadily growing.