Saturday, December 15, 2012
Don't Let Applebee's Sting You
You are literally taking your life into your own hands when you go out to eat in most of the chain restaurants across America. But that statement has so little meaning since everything that we do is taking our lives into our own hands. When do we ever transfer the responsibility of our life to someone else? Don't do it. So don't put your health at risk by eating out at a restaurant chain. Honor your good health. Your health is not a deep-pocket account.
Last night I met up with some friends, and they wanted to grab some dinner at Applebee's. Not my favorite place, because the food and the atmosphere are so commercial, but not the worst either . . . or so I thought. I ordered a sirloin steak with shrimp. And a Newcastle beer. I took only a few sips of the beer and left it. I knew, too, that the shrimp would be farm raised; all of the shrimp in restaurants are farm raised. One of the friends ordered a spinach cheese dip with tortillas. All of the corn in the US is genetically modified, so I do not even touch the chips. I look at them. But my guest, friend wanted me to try the spinach cheese dip. I thought cheese and spinach, what could go wrong? But God knows what else is in that dish or what was used in its preparation. I tasted it and it tasted like a lab . . . not a Labrador, but a laboratory. It was so bland. No flavor. No pungent bite back from sharpness aged in the cheese or anti-oxidant aftertaste from the spinach the way that you might detect the smell and the tastes of the earth in a bottle of wine. None of that. So besides sabotaging my gastro-intestinal health, I got no enjoyment from the food. But my guests went after it, mixed it, sampled it. Ate it.
Then the dinners arrived. My steak was plated with a few sliced rose potatoes and a broccoli and carrot mix. It was prepackaged food. Again, nothing fresh. No flavor. Flavor, and I know this, is an indication of nutrient dense, anti-oxidant rich foods. No taste means no nutrition. Will you get full? Absolutely. Quicker than you expect. It's not food food: it's Frankenfood. I finished my steak and the tiny shrimp that surrounded it. Even before I got home I was beginning to feel the effects, the neurotoxic effects of the food. I became a little light-headed. My patience short-circuited a bit. By the time I got home I went for the fish oils that I have in my freezer, ate an apple alternating it with peanut butter then cream cheese and drank some instant coffee. I was revived. I went to work on a small project. Then called a friend. It wasn't until 12am that I finally got to bed. My dreams were harried. Blurry, hurried. Running from people shooting after me. I woke at 4am. Grabbed some coffee, an apple, and some coconut oil. Tried going back to sleep at 5:30am. Some guy was sifting through the trash bin for cardboard boxes behind the local Shakey's. He found a few and began flattening them. The popping shattered the peace and quiet and the promise of more sleep. I got up. Got dressed. And went out for a walk.
Here are a few pics of what I saw this morning.
Last night I met up with some friends, and they wanted to grab some dinner at Applebee's. Not my favorite place, because the food and the atmosphere are so commercial, but not the worst either . . . or so I thought. I ordered a sirloin steak with shrimp. And a Newcastle beer. I took only a few sips of the beer and left it. I knew, too, that the shrimp would be farm raised; all of the shrimp in restaurants are farm raised. One of the friends ordered a spinach cheese dip with tortillas. All of the corn in the US is genetically modified, so I do not even touch the chips. I look at them. But my guest, friend wanted me to try the spinach cheese dip. I thought cheese and spinach, what could go wrong? But God knows what else is in that dish or what was used in its preparation. I tasted it and it tasted like a lab . . . not a Labrador, but a laboratory. It was so bland. No flavor. No pungent bite back from sharpness aged in the cheese or anti-oxidant aftertaste from the spinach the way that you might detect the smell and the tastes of the earth in a bottle of wine. None of that. So besides sabotaging my gastro-intestinal health, I got no enjoyment from the food. But my guests went after it, mixed it, sampled it. Ate it.
Then the dinners arrived. My steak was plated with a few sliced rose potatoes and a broccoli and carrot mix. It was prepackaged food. Again, nothing fresh. No flavor. Flavor, and I know this, is an indication of nutrient dense, anti-oxidant rich foods. No taste means no nutrition. Will you get full? Absolutely. Quicker than you expect. It's not food food: it's Frankenfood. I finished my steak and the tiny shrimp that surrounded it. Even before I got home I was beginning to feel the effects, the neurotoxic effects of the food. I became a little light-headed. My patience short-circuited a bit. By the time I got home I went for the fish oils that I have in my freezer, ate an apple alternating it with peanut butter then cream cheese and drank some instant coffee. I was revived. I went to work on a small project. Then called a friend. It wasn't until 12am that I finally got to bed. My dreams were harried. Blurry, hurried. Running from people shooting after me. I woke at 4am. Grabbed some coffee, an apple, and some coconut oil. Tried going back to sleep at 5:30am. Some guy was sifting through the trash bin for cardboard boxes behind the local Shakey's. He found a few and began flattening them. The popping shattered the peace and quiet and the promise of more sleep. I got up. Got dressed. And went out for a walk.
Here are a few pics of what I saw this morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment