MANILA, MARCH 19, 2011 (STAR) [Photo is loading... ILLUSTRATION BY REY RIVERA] CONSUMERLINE By Ching M. Alano - Do you know what Manny Pacquiao eats to keep himself in fighting form?
Camote! (This lowly root crop also happens to be part of the highly famous Machete diet of TV heartthrob Aljur Abrenica, but he's not telling how often he passes gas after eating camote.)
The Pacman's camote diet was revealed by former Health Secretary Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, now president of the Health Futures Foundation Inc., at the 169th assembly of the Foundation for Upgrading the Standard of Education (FUSE). He's a faithful disciple of holistic health and organic medicine which seeks to merge North American and European medicine with Asian and Filipino traditional medicine.
According to the good doctor, the world boxing champ eats camote to last 12 rounds in his fights. He says root crops like sweet potato (camote) are simply tops because they contain oligo carbohydrates, oligo starch, and oligo sugar which not only provide an extra dose of energy but also help ward off diabetes and cancer.
Dr. Tan shares an ample serving of food for thought: He asserts that indigenous foods are good anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-heart disease medicines. Like nuts from pili, kasoy, peanuts; root crops like kamote, kamoteng kahoy, ubi and gabi; native fruits like pineapple, dalandan, papaya, bayabas, and guyabano; garden vegetables like malunggay, patola, sitaw, bataw, patani (just remember the Bahay Kubo song); as well as deep sea fish like tuna (from Saranggani, where Pacquiao is congressman) which has the beneficial omega 3 and has no toxins because the waters of Mindanao are not yet polluted.
He recommends a daily diet rich in raw or pickled vegetables, fruits eaten fresh or taken as fresh juice, whole wheat bread, whole corn, gabi or ube.
Dr. Tan is also nuts about our coconuts and is proud to say that our coconut oil is the best in the world, even better than olive oil. Oil right! It's anti-bacterial and anti-viral, which is acknowledged by international leaders like US President Barack Obama and former President George Bush.
Here's more: Even the Philippine cacao (converted into tablea or dark Pinoy chocolate) is fast gaining world recognition because it helps lower blood pressure.
Brown is truly beautiful that is, brown rice and brown sugar (muscovado, molasses), complex carbohydrates which are good for the heart.
[PHOTO - Dr. Jaime Galvez-Tan (5th from left) speaks on total wellness for educators at the recent 169th general assembly of the Foundation for Upgrading the Standard of Education (FUSE). With Dr. Tan are Evelina Vicencio, dean, College of Education, University of the East-Recto; former DepEd Secretary Fe Hidalgo; UP professor emeritus Dionisia Rola; Sorsogon Representative and FUSE president Salvador Escudero III; Miriam College professor emeritus Milagros Ibe; Chiang Kai Shek College president Bee Ching Ong Kian Koc; and Wyona Patalinghug, chairman, chemistry department, De La Salle University.]
Dr. Tan prescribes taking these local natural foods raw or fresh and avoiding products with trans fats, processed foods using white sugar, refined flour or processed grains or those fried in soya oil or corn oil or hydrogenized vegetable oil.
Also, avoid as much as possible: animal meat, especially processed meat; animal milk and milk products like butter; shell fishes (squid, tahong, talaba, tulya, alimango, alimasag, shrimps, prawns, lobsters).
Yes, let's drink to our health! Dr. Tan says it's good to drink every day: warm or room temperature liquids, mineral water, dark chocolate (Pinoy tablea), green tea, soya milk, coffee (3 to 5mg per kg body weight or one to two cups/day or no more than 3 cups/day), wine or beer (no more than one to two glasses) or whisky, gin, rhum, vodka (no more than one to two shots/day, which is how much the liver can take).
More cheap health tips from Dr. Tan:
• Supplement your healthy diet with exercise of at least 30 minutes to one hour three times a week. Walking a minimum of 10,000 steps is the most convenient physical activity, but the best exercises are dancing, swimming, biking, hiking.
• Have regular doses of relaxation, humor, and safe sex.
• Get six to eight hours of undisturbed sleep every night, preferably between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. or 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sleep in complete darkness, with your mouth closed for full nose breathing. Do not repeat, do not sleep with your cell phone and digital watch. Message sent!
• Once in a while, enjoy moments of quiet time, silence, meditation, and prayer.
Dr. Tan stresses that clean living (free of vices) and living in a clean environment (toxin- or pollution-free) can lengthen one's life. Why, you can even live to be a hundred!
In addition, to lead a healthy life, Dr. Tan says we must make friends with kindred spirits, have unconditional loving relationships, which require the capacity to forgive and to ask forgiveness, to love and be loved.
Yes, eat right, pray hard, love with all your heart! * * *
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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