nateng- karne-ikan, balancing vegetable-meat-fish diet

Bulalo @ RGT Bulaluhan, Tuguegarao City.

Sure, that's bulalo (beef shank and marrow stew) wallowing in its delicious soup of fat, promising utmost delight with that prized bone marrow and with its truly red meaty succulence, cooked so tender and so tasty it literally melts in the mouth without much effort of chewing its savory essence... Well, once in a while I also indulge myself into red meats, a sort of guilty pleasure succumbing to sweet temptations of cholesterol, because, well, i'm still a human, after all, and I can't offer so much resistance to the seduction of food.

Yet, when I consume fatty or cholesterol-laden food, I also make sure to somehow "balance" or kind of "neutralize" it by eating more vegetables, and fruits. And so, that particular bulalo cholesterol feasting I countered with this wild mushroom and marunggay leaves dinengdeng:

Dinengdeng nga uong ken bulong-marunggay.

Of course, though I prefer more on a vegetarian diet as as I could, I also eat the usual other meat and fatty dishes as the need or chance arises. Sometimes I cook pinapaitan, dinakdakan, dinardaraan, igado, lauya at home, or order them when I happen to have lunch in a resto. But I see to it that there's always a vegetable salad side dish or a main course of dinengdeng or pinakbet. 

Dinakdakan or warek-warek.

Pnapaitan at an eatery in Capatan, Tuguegarao City.

Dinardaraan.

Dinengdeng nga uggot-kamote ken bulong-marunggay with bits of chicken.

Dinengdeng a sabong ken uggot ti kabatiti ken rangaw ti paria with chucked clam meat (nagasagas a tukmem).

Or, alternately, I have fish and other seafood dishes like this, in lieu of meat, either as sinigang, paksiw, grilled or fried:

Inalseman iti kamatis a yellow fin tuna with marunggay leaves.

Fried tilapia.

And this, I wish this is my viand, soured bukto soup with its roe:

Bukto nga inalseman iti pias. Photo by James Felipe.

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Technology Has Made The World Fat

(from Tech Crunch)

by GREGORY FERENSTEIN

Dinengdeng nga uggot ken sabong ti kabatiti, uggot ti paria, nalaokan iti narnar (nagasagas a tukmem).

The world has paid for the luxury of Angry Birds with its health and looks: a new report finds a strong link between technological advancement and expanding waistlines. According to economic think tank, The Milken Institute, a country the size of America will add 4.2 million Spanx-wearing citizens for a 10% growth in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). “The main culprit is the knowledge-based society,” states the report, “more processed foods, a greater amount of ‘screen’ time (watching TV, using computers, playing video games, etc.), decreased energy expenditure, and/or higher consumption of snack foods have all played a role.”

Around the world, obesity rates have shot up higher than the population’s blood sugar. China’s has more than doubled (2.5 to 5.7) in 6 years; India’s has almost tripled (0.7 in 1998 to 1.9 in 2008). But, that doesn’t hold a bacon-flavored candle to American exceptionalism: the U.S. is the Burger King of global obesity at a whopping 33.8% of the population.

The economic and human toll is astronomical. 2.8 million adults die each year from Obesity and weight-related diseases. It accounted for $147 billion in medical costs (or 10% of total spending).

The impact of technological advancement, however, is an average effect. The slender French are only mildly affected by iPhones and Xbox’s because they eat much smaller portions (even though they eat a higher proportion of fats).

Over the past 15 years, consumption has been supersized by 150-250 calories a day, and 300 calories in the U.S. Calorie consumption was dramatically more predictive of obesity than information technology investment. Controlling for calories, exercise, and type of consumption (booze, fat, veggies), Milken estimates about a 1.4 percent increase in obesity for every 10 percent increase in the share of the economy invested in ICT.

Exercise as simple as walking can make a big difference in reducing obesity. But, why stop there? Be ambitious. Go for a six-pack and have your whole business join a CrossFit gym. Or, you can just always order the growing line of mainstream Spanx-wear from the comfort of your well-worn chair.

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Avoid obesity, eat more vegetables the Ilokano way!

Dinengdeng a saluyot, uggot ken sabong ti kabatiti, nalaokan iti narnar ken gamet.

Ensalada nga uggot ti kamote.

Kinilaw a pako.

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