Little red wagon - Disneyland : Restaurant review on Yelp (No.2)

- Locale destination -
The wagon is located in right next to "Plaza Inn" on Main Street USA. The line is always long....

- Gluttony expedition -
Corn dog: The BEST corn dog ever - hands down !! One of the best foods you can get at Disneyland ;p Outside is crunchy, yet inside is very soft. I don't know why it tastes so great out of the little kitchen in the Red Wagon :) Very huge, though it used to be a little bigger...

- Conqueror's deduction -
Don't underestimate this hand-dipped corn dog!!!! It's really one of the best foods you can find in Disneyland. It's like $6 with potato chips or apple slices.... It's not cheap but priceless for the taste :)

Bengal Barbecue - Disneyland : Restaurant Review on Yelp (No.1)

- Locale destination - 
It's in an Adventureland, right next to "River Belle Terrace". It's a food stand with some seating in front of it. You see a long line though they offer you foods quickly. Annual Pass discount and credit card usage are available. 


- Gluttony expedition -
Banyan Beef skewer: One of the best foods at Disneyland!!! The sauce is the bomb - spicy yet complicated seasonings ;)
Beef cooked a bit too much often times, but It's soooo good and I use it for Outback (Vegetable skewer) and french fries from other locations :) 

Outback: Vegetable (bell pepper, potato, mushroom, onion, zucchini). I dip it into "Banyan" sauce ;) I like it!
Bengal Beef: Light teriyaki sauce with lime. It's OK..
Chieftan chicken: It's kinda like a ketchup sauce. It's OK...

Safari: Asparagus wrapped with bacon. Great!
Jalapeno Pretzel: LOVE it ;) Little spicy Jalapeno cheese inside. With "Banyan" sauce, mmmmm.... so good ;)

Fruit yogurt parfait: Granola, berries, and yogurt. I don't like the yogurt because it has some sort of chemical flavor... ;(


- Conqueror's deduction -
You feel a lot more value than full service restaurants there :) Foods are good - it's a great munch food place. My favorite place to eat in Disneyland ;)

Save Japan Dolphins !!

Why do I say "Save Japan Dolphins" on my food blog?! 
It's a very food related topic. I'll explain the reason why.

I do want you to watch the Oscar-winning movie "The Cove". The movie was created to "save Japan dolphins" by exposing what was and is happening at the little cove in Japan. I couldn't watch without tears. It's a great but sad documentary movie to show horrible dolphin slaughters in Taiji, Japan. The cove is purposely hidden and guarded from the public - even to Japanese. I'm a Japanese from Tokyo who used to live there 20 years. I'm a big time foodie as you know. I know there's few places you can eat a whale in Japan but it's rare. It's a tradition in certain areas. But I've NEVER heard of eating dolphins in Japan, I swear!! In the movie, they interviewed many Japanese in Japan whether if they knew about the dolphin slaughter in Japan or not. They all said no and wanted to stop this like me. I didn't know this is happening in Japan till I watched the movie. I was embarrassed and shamed of it as a Japanese. This movie torn me hard... I'm a hardcore animal eater and foodie, but it makes even me think about becoming a vegetarian, which is so crazy to me.... 

I don't know why but somehow I always love dolphin since I was a kid. It's not just cute. I love the shape, the way they move, and how smart they are... I'm fascinated by them. Dolphin is my dream pet - I always wish I could swim with my dolphin like the movie...lol. When I body boarded in Australia, 3 dolphins included a little one swam right next to me!! I was so scared when I saw them at first because they could be sharks. They were so playful and jumped a few times close to me. Especially water in Australia was crystal clear and you can see EVERYTHING. I still remember their big bodies and the little baby dolphin swam right underneath me... It was so great...;) Every summer my family went to Okinawa, which is in a southern part of Japan, for vacation. We always went to "Kaiyo-haku", which is one of the greatest aquariums (at least for me) in Japan. They got a big dolphin pool with a window. I loved to stand right in front of the window to watch the dolphins for a long time... They always came to the window and smiled at me - they seemed so happy to see me ;) I do believe they were happy to interact people. 

Let's get back to about the movie:
In Taiji, the largest dolphin slaughter is happening - more than 20,000 dolphins per year. Taiji is known as the biggest dolphin seller to the world - aquariums, resorts and the dolphin entertainment venues. There's certain specifics to train the dolphins easier. Those dolphins that meet the requirement are sold like $15,000 or something like that per dolphin. But the rest of the dolphins that didn't meet the standards are slaughtered as a meat and are sold for $600 or 700 per dolphin. As I told you, eating a whale is rare in Japan, which drives the meat price high. Nobody knows about eating dolphins in Japan, so the dolphin meat must be cheap, I assume. (In the movie, it seemed like only little areas around Taiji eat dolphins.) The movie exposed that some bad fishermen sell dolphin meats labeled as a whale meat for higher profits. I'm sorry if the numbers were wrong. But I believe those are about right. The point is dolphins for dolphin entertainment businesses drives this cove and the dolphins here crazy. 

The way the fishermen capture the dolphins is horrible. They capture them with huge nets, force them to get closer to the cove. The captured dolphins were crying for life. It's not a few - TONS OF THEM at a time. The sounds are quite horrifying... After they made them close to the edge of the cove, they pick the ones for selling to the dolphin entertainment business - more expensive ones. The rest were poked by the long sticks till they die. They don't die instantly. It's a slow and cruel slaughter. The cove is quite small in size by the movie. But the little cove gets so red because of the dolphin blood as pictures shown. I've never seen "RED ocean" like this.... NEVER. It's real and happening in Japan, which disgusts me a lot more as a Japanese... You can also watch this video: Dolphin slaughter video

As you know, dolphin is in a higher food chain - they eat tons of fish and sea shells. Dolphin contains a toxic leveled mercury. Eating dolphin IS NOT SAFE. In the movie, they even tested how high the toxic level the meat was. It was kinda funny and ironic that the person who encouraged the dolphin slaughter (and of course eat dolphin!) on the goverment level had a very high mercury in his body!!!!! You know how horrible what mercury does???? Mercury caused one of the 3 biggest industrial diseases in Japanese history - "Minamata disease" (Picture on the left). In the mid 50s, people in Minamata who ate fish from the bay got sick. People had numbness in their limbs and lips. Some had difficulty in hearing and seeing. Others developed shaking (tremors) in their arms and legs, difficulty walking, even brain damage. They didn't know what was happening to them till they figured out the chisso corporation, which is a large petrochemical plant, dumped an estimated 27 tons of mercury compunds into the bay.... Do you still want to eat dolphin with high level mercury???


Like I said, this is not just about the dolphin slaughter. It's also a warning how dangerous to eat dolphin. Dolphin is not some food that we must eat and can farm-harvest like cows and pigs. WE DON'T NEED IT, and WE SHOULDN'T EAT IT - it's dangerous to your body!! 


As a Japanese and foodie, I want you to know these facts and spread the word to the world so that we can stop this madness. I'm ashamed of this as a Japanese. But I'm the one of the many Japanese who are against this - most of us won't allow this. We just didn't know... till now. I'll support this campaign as a Japanese and dolphin lover. Help us stop this - if we can get together, we can stop this quicker. Petitions, donate, spread words etc. It's very easy to do. Dolphins are our friends, not a food. Please help me to save Japan dolphins. 


What you can do to stop this: 
Official Ric O'Barry's website
SaveJapanDolphins.org
Petition for the Cove
Donate and petitions

SaveJapanDolphins.org | Ending dolphin slaughter in Taiji

SaveJapanDolphins.org | Ending dolphin slaughter in Taiji

doner G (Anaheim, CA) - Restaurant Review (No.2)

Turkish food... Do you know what's real Turkish foods?? I misunderstood it till I came here, "doner G" in Anaheim. We're often confused about "Mediterranean" foods. I thought of hummus, gyros, kabob, pita etc. as "Mediterranean" foods. It's sort of true, but not totally right. So let me clarify about it. 


The Mediterranean can be divided into 3 culinary regions: 
1. North African (especially Morocco)
2. Eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Sylya, and Turky) 
3. South Mediterranean (Italy, France, and Spain)


FYI to clarify The Middle East: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyra, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. 


See... "Mediterranean" cuisine is pretty wide range. We just don't think of French or Italian cuisine as "Mediterranean" cuisine. Majority of people, included me, mostlikely think of "middle eastern" foods as "Mediterranean" foods. In the Eastern Mediterranean regions, they share similar cultures, cooking techniques, ingredients and spices etc... But each country has its own identity and foods as well. No cuisine is stand-alone. All the cuisines were influenced by the traders, settlers, rulers etc. That's what I want to emphasize with this blog - its own identity.... 

"Mediterranean" foods are getting popular here. It's light and healthy. We'll see gyros, kabobs, hummus everywhere - Greek, Persian, Moroccon restaurants etc.... I'm a big fan of "Mediterranean" cuisine. But even I, who is a hardcore foodie and eat all kinds of foods all over the world, misunderstood it until I came here, "doner G". The owner told me about the magic word - "Mediterranean" food - for a marketing purpose. We feel a bit more familiar or safe if we see the word "Mediterranean". Because we haven't understood the "Mediterranean" cuisine well yet. Even I misunderstood it - so don't worry. 


From restaurant business standpoint, they are forced to use the word so that they can attract more customers instead of selling their own identity like "Turkish" or "Iranian" foods. It's not just a gyro nor kabob. It's more than that - but people know them pretty well. No wonder they sell more of those than other unfamiliar but unique foods. It's very unfortunate thing, but they have to do those things until they capture the customers.... It just takes time. That's why I'm here for. I do enjoy and respect the authentic foods and their uniqueness. I want to introduce you unfamiliar but good foods. 


I wrote a bunch of reviews about this restaurant on Yelp with tons of pictures. So please check it out!! I don't want to make this blog too long for the food critique because I ate tons of items there ;) I just want to tell you about what I felt and learned at the establishment here.

Turkish cuisine consists of 3 key elements: 
1) Nurturing environment. Turkey is known for an abundance and diversity of foodstuff due to its rich flora, fauna and regional differentiation. 2) Imperial Kitchen. Hundreds of cooks specializing in different types of dishes, all eager to please the royal palate. The Palace Kitchen, supported by a complex social organization, a vibrant urban life, specialization of labor, trade, and total control of the spice road, reflected the culmination of wealth and the flourishing of culture in the capital of a mighty Empire. 3) the influence of the longevity of social organization. The Turkish State of Anatolia is a millennium old and so, naturally, is the Cuisine. The reign of the Ottoman Dynasty during 600 years, and a seamless cultural transition into the present day of modern Turkey, led to the evolution of a grand Cuisine through differentiation, refinement and perfection of dishes, as well as their sequence and combination of the meals.

It is quite rare that all the three conditions above are met, as they are in the French, the Chinese and the Turkish Cuisine. The Turkish Cuisine has the extra privilege of being at the cross-roads of the Far-East and the Mediterranean, which mirrors a long and complex history of Turkish migration from the steppes of Central Asia (where they mingled with the Chinese) to Europe (where they exerted influence all the way to Vienna).

All these unique characteristics and history have bestowed on the cuisine - a rich and varied number of dishes, which can be prepared and combined with other dishes in meals of almost infinite variety, but always in a non-arbitrary way. This led to a cuisine that is open to improvisation through development of regional styles, while retaining its deep structure, as all great works of art do. 

The foundation of the cuisine is based on grains (rice and wheat) and vegetables. Each category of dishes contains only one or two types of main ingredients. They are purists in their culinary taste; the dishes are supposed to bring out the flavour of the main ingredient rather than hiding it behind sauces or spices. It's like a Japanese cuisine ;) Most desserts and fruit dishes do not call for any spices. So their flavours are refined and subtle.

There are major classes of meatless dishes. When meat is used, it is used sparingly. Even with the meat kebabs, the "pita" or the flat bread occupies the largest part of the portion along with vegetables or yogurt. Oh, don't forget the religious influences. Muslims don't eat pork. That's why you see many lamb and chicken dishes. Turkish cuisine also boasts a variety of authentic contributions in the desserts and beverage categories. 


I really enjoyed the straightforward tastes of the ingredients and bold seasonings of some kabobs and gyros. It's not just gyro and kabob - Turkish foods are deep... Please check out Yelp for the restaurant review and go there to try good "Turkish" food at "doner G"!! It's a wonderful discovery of Turkish cuisine ;) 

How To Eat Sushi Properly

How many of you know how to eat sushi properly??? Many people still don't know much about sushi, though sushi is becoming very popular here in US. Once you read this, you can go to the sushi bar with confidence. It doesn't matter whether if you were Japanese or not. The sushi chef will treat you a lot better, if you show them your knowledge and respect (subtly - that's the key). You must know about sushi and its etiquettes. 

Well, sushi isn't just sliced fish and rice. How to eat a sushi properly isn't difficult. Before teaching it, let me tell you about myths by NON Japanese people. 

I researched how people (in US) think what's the proper way to eat sushi. Geez, many of them don't even know about sushi and teach it to others.... sigh ;( Some of them are not totally correct. Look at those :

Myth No.1: 

Some people mix a little wasabi into the soy sauce; however, even though the wasabi is there on your plate, it's really considered bad manners to do this, because the sushi chef has already placed some wasabi on the rice roll. If you add more wasabi, you are essentially telling the chef that he or she did not do a good job.

(Me) - I'm not a sushi chef. I'm just a Japanese foodie born in Tokyo. Mixing wasabi into the soy sauce just shows how ignorant you are as a "SUSHI EATER" as I'll explain it to you later. It's not an insult for chef's work, though I'm sure sushi chefs won't like it to deal with an ignorant customer like you ;p

Myth No.2:
Another way to eat nigiri sushi is to lift the slice of fish from the rice ball, dip the fish into the sauce, replace it back on top of the rice ball and pop the whole thing into your mouth.

(Me) - Dude, don't embarrass yourself by doing it. It's NOT OK. It's hilarious. lol. If you wanna get laughed at sushi chefs, go ahead and do it!! It's NO-NO.

Myth No.3:
Cut rolls are considered as sushi (like NIGIRI sushi). It's OK to order those at a sushi bar.

(Me) - Cut rolls are not so popular in Japan. I didn't know what the California roll was until I came here (CA). lol. Only cut rolls you see in Japan : tuna (tekka), cucumber(kappa), vegetable, natto (fermented soy beans). Those are the major and only rolls I can think of. Sushi chefs want you to enjoy whole sushi experience - especially at a sushi bar. Don't expect to have a cut roll at good sushi places. Most traditional sushi bars DON'T even offer cut rolls at all. Don't embarrass yourself by ordering cut rolls at sushi bar. They'll laugh at you ;p I'm not saying cut rolls are bad. They taste good. It's a fun part of going to a sushi bar to interact with sushi chefs and to enjoy what they can do for your taste bud with sushi and sashimi ;)

How To Eat Sushi Properly 
I'll explain it to you and the reasons behind them. If you can master these, your sushi chef would consider you as "TSU" (Gourmet eater who knows about food and its manners in Japanese) and treat you a lot better ;)

1. NEVER mix soy sauce sauce with wasabi.
You're supposed to enjoy every layer - fish, rice, wasabi, and soy sauce - when you eat sushi. Soy sauce is one of the important elements. If you mix wasabi with soy sauce, you ruin both ingredients' flavors.

If you really go to the good sushi places in Japan, they do use a great quality soy sauce that tastes great by itself. Soy sauce to Japanese is like an olive oil to the Italian. You don't see good quality soy sauce here unless you go to Japanese supermarket. Even the market doesn't have the high grade soy sauce I'm talking about. If you really tried those good quality one, you can taste soy with mild and smooth flavors. And it can be very expensive like the quality olive oil - those are matured for years, and made by hands for only limited amount using only the best soys. Using "low-sodium" soy sauce?! GIVE ME A BREAK!! Stop embarrassing yourself...sigh...You don't use a pool of soy sauce. Soy sauce is very important part of sushi.
How can the tasteless soy sauce be complemented the sweetness of fish????? NEVER. Stop being so healthy!! It's a moderation.... Especially at sushi bar, forget that damn idea!! You can't enjoy "real" sushi with the crappy low-sodium soy sauce..... Please, stop embarrassing yourself by using it.... ;(

For some sushi, sushi chef might tell you "don't use soy sauce". Don't be upset. They must have seasoned them with salt, lemon juice, ponzu (Citrus - Japanese "lime" - sauce), eel sauce or some sort of special
sauce. Just follow what sushi chef tells you. They did so to bring out the ingredients' best flavor ;)

So as wasabi. Good wasabi grows only where there's a good quality water. Good quality wasabi takes 5~7 years to grow. It gets very expensive. When you grind it, good sushi chefs use the grinder with a Shark skin. Shark skin is very smooth not to break the cells of wasabi - it brings out the real goodness of wasabi. By using the grinder, wasabi will be very smooth and fluffy. You can taste the sweetness of wasabi first and get a kick right after that. Those grinder isn't cheap, either. FYI: Wasabi's spicyness lasts only once unlike chili. Chili's spiciness last long but never wasabi unless you used tons or cheap artificial stuff ;p

If you did it, sushi chefs would laugh at you (perhaps in their mind) and won't treat you any better. If you didn't do it, chefs instantly knew that you knew about sushi and give you better sushi (out of menu) and service for sure. Good sushi chefs try to offer the best they can do for you. They put their souls into your sushi (in good way ;p) If you show them your respect for their professionalism, they'll treat you really well ;)

2. DIP it fish side (not rice side) first, don’t drown sushi in soy sauce.
This will avoid the rice to separate and get mixed with the sauce. This is the way you enjoy sushi properly.  First, you taste the sweetness of the fish with soy sauce. (If you put too much soy sauce, you can't taste the sweetness of fish. We Japanese love to enjoy and appreciate the taste of the ingredient.) Second, the kick of the wasabi follows. Third, you enjoy the sweetness of rice. The good sushi rice (called "shari" in JPN) will crumble in your mouth, not in the soy sauce. It requires a great skill for sushi chef to make the right hardness - to make the perfect "shari". It can't be too soft nor too hard. The size of rice is also important. It can't be too big nor too small. There's a perfect balance between the size of fish and "Shari". "Shari" isn't just a sushi ball. It does show the skills of the chefs. If it's done right, it really shows by look and taste. That's why I do admire and show respect good sushi chefs. Sushi is pretty deep.... ;)

3. It's totally OK to use your hand - it's SUSHI!! 
Sure, you need chopsticks for sashimi - it’s a sliced fish. Otherwise, use your hands. That's why they give you a hot/cold wet towel ("Oshibori") When pinched, the roll can easily come undone.

4. Big isn't always good thing.
Most Japanese in Japan eat sushi for just one bite. But my mouth is a bit small. That's why I prefer "Sashimi" to Sushi. I don't need to open up my mouth widely in front of my man ;p Two bites should do traditional sushi. Sushi is a one-bite food. If the sliced fish on the rice is too big, you can't enjoy the taste of "Shari" and vice versa. If the size of sushi is too big, you can't put it into your mouth without struggling. There's a perfect balance between the size of sliced fish and "Shari" - to make a great sushi!! But here in the land of supersized everything - "Big is Great". Some of cut rolls are so gigantic and I have to have a "sushi operation" so that I can eat without making a mess.. Forget that! This is SUSHI !!!

5. There're unwritten rules - which sushi you should order first. 
Follow the natural order of things - starting with raw, light-tasting dishes (such as white fish) and moving to cooked dishes with stronger flavors (such as mackerel). If you eat "Toro" (fatty tuna, which has more fat than regular red tuna.) first before a regular red tuna, the sweetness of Toro (the more fat the tuna gets, the sweeter and more expensive it will get) would totally kill the flavor of the regular red tuna. It can be complicated to figure out the order - that's why "OMAKASE" (Chef's choice) exists. Sushi chefs know the best order. They would ask you what you like or what you don't like so that they can figure out the best orders FOR YOU. You don't need to know all that. Let your sushi chef work for you ;) Yeah, you can eat whatever you like but why not to try it if there's a better order to enhance your sushi dining experience?!?! Soup is traditionally held to the end, though most Americans do just the opposite.

6. How much WASABI do you need?
A small amount of wasabi should always be part of sushi. Unless you tell your sushi chef, he/she will put a wasabi in your sushi. Therefore, you don't need to put an extra wasabi. As I explained it to you at the beginning, the balance of ingredients are very important when it comes to sushi. If you put too much wasabi, you can't enjoy the sweetness of fish. Sushi is delicate. Wasabi gives you a kick enhancing the flavor of sushi. For sashimi, put only a small amount of wasabi IN THE MIDDLE of sashimi, and dip the side that wasabi isn't on. Don't mix it with soy sauce. Dip only the fish in the soy sauce - once you can do it, you'll impress your sushi chefs.

Do you still like tons of spiciness?! Sigh... ;( Then try a small amount first so you can assess the amount you
want to put on your sushi. But be really careful, too much of wasabi (especially cheap artificial powder one) will give a real serious kick on your nasal cavities. Good wasabi actually gives you the sweetness first and a kick of spiciness. 

7. Slices of gingers are NOT a side dish - it cleans your palette. You'll eat all kind of sushi. We Japanese wanna enjoy EVERY one of them. You eat gingers ("Gari") AFTER eating a sushi so that you can clean your palette. Hot tea ("Agari") also has the same function as wasabi. Oh, Japanese don't put a sugar for this kind of green tea. I was a bit surprised when somebody did it at sushi bar... It was a bit weird to me. Don't dip your ginger into a soy sauce. Stop embarrassing yourself ;p It's OK to ask more gingers.

FYI: Pink gingers are the cheap one. Good ginger is yellowish and tastes a lot better than pink ones.

8. Eat at a sushi bar - if you really want a good stuff. Sushi chefs will ALWAYS take care of the customers at sushi bar better than the ones at tables. I'm sorry that I'm brutally honest but that's the FACT. Sushi chefs can offer you not-on-the-menu items and better parts of fish. If you encounter the good sushi chefs, they can make you all kinds of special appetizers and sushi for you. Buy the sushi chefs a drink - that's another trick to get you better stuff ;)

Another advantage of sitting at sushi bar: You can ask what the sushi chefs recommend. Also, don't be afraid to ask for an item not on the menu. They might get something special or seasonal for the day. Never ask "how fresh it is". It is just an insult to imply that something may not be. If you think it may not be fresh, you shouldn’t be eating there, however a good sushi chef ("Itamae") will steer a diner towards the food he/she feels will be most satisfying and highlight his/her skills.

If you sit at the bar, tip the chef for the food (in western countries there is often a tip jar as the itamae will never touch money since he touches food) and the wait staff for the drinks etc. Otherwise, tip as you normally would.

9. I can't use chopsticks!! - Is it OK to ask utensils?????
It's totally understandable and OK to ask utensils. You got to practice a lot to master how to use chopsticks correctly. Even some Japanese can't hold them correctly (lol). It's a part of manners for Japanese. My parents were very annoying about it until I could master it, when I was a kid. If I couldn't hold it right, it would show my parents didn't teach me a proper manner. So I got to practice a lot and do appreciate my parents ;) Japanese use chopsticks for everything (lol), though they do use folks and knives. Just ask, instead of being uncomfortable. Sushi chefs won't bite you :p

Well, well, well... I hope I cover the most of the important stuff for you to be able to be considered as "TSU".
For Japanese, foods are art and an important part of their cultures. I do think Japanese are one of the pickiest foodies in the world. They love to eat the tasty foods with the highest quality. They don't mind spend more money for better stuff. They even use particular ingredients for certain foods - sugar isn't just a sugar. It has to come from certain region etc. They pursue its perfection - by look and taste. As I explained to you, sushi isn't just a fish and rice. I'm glad you master how to eat sushi properly ;)

Is healthy eating good for you?

Is healthy eating good for you? Eating junk foods - full of toxic food additives, sugar, salt and fat - bring you all kinds of diseases: obesity, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, sleep apnea etc. You name it! That's the fact. I've talked about how common our foods contain toxic food additives and how to make better choices about foods for your healthy lifestyle. Who doesn't wanna be healthy??

Now if you're aware of and focus on eating healthy, you'll be considered as "mentally disordered", which is called "Orthorexia nervosa" (It is Latin for "nervous about correct eating). Wait a minute, is healthy eating good for you? OF COURSE, it's great for you but not according to some experts. I'll explain about "Orthorexia nervosa".

"Orthorexia nervosa" refers to a pathological fixation on eating proper food. This term coined by Steven Bratman (Colorado MD) to denote an EATING DISORDER characterized by a focus on eating "pure" or "correct" foods. Bratman describes orthorexia as an unhealthy obsession, and claims that if the sufferer does not eat appropriately, malnutrition can ensue.

"Patients" with "Orthorexia nervosa" spend large amounts of time thinking about healthy food, frequently planning menus a day in advance. As the disorder progresses, the list of foods an individual is allowed to eat may become increasingly restrictive. "Patients" may avoid certain unhealthy foods - those containing fats, preservatives,artificial food additives, animal products, or other ingredients considered by the subject to be unhealthy. Because of this, "Orthorexia nervosa" can make it difficult for the sufferers to eat outside the home. "Patients" may begin to feel isolated from others, as their restrictive diet prevents them from participating in many social activities. So, it has many similarities to the two well-known eating disorders "anorexia" and "bulimia". Where the bulimic and anorexic focus on the quantity of food, the "Orthorexic nervosa" fixates on its quality. All three give food an excessive place in the scheme of life.

The Bratman Test for Orthorexia
-- Do you spend more than 3 hours a day thinking about your diet?
-- Do you plan your meals several days ahead?
-- Is the nutritional value of your meal more important than the pleasure of eating it?
-- Has the quality of your life decreased as the quality of your diet has increased?
-- Have you become stricter with yourself lately?
-- Does your self-esteem get a boost from eating healthily?
-- Have you given up foods you used to enjoy in order to eat the 'right' foods
-- Does your diet make it difficult for you to eat out, distancing you from family and friends?
-- Do you feel guilty when you stray from your diet?
-- Do you feel at peace with yourself and in total control when you eat healthily?

Yes to 4 or 5 of the above questions means it is time to relax more about food. Yes to all of them means a full-blown obsession with eating healthy food.

Let me translate what he claims.
If you focus on eating healthy, you are mentally disordered. So, eating UNHEALTHY foods is the way to go..... What the hell?????? Ok, I kinda understand the part of being "TOO OBSESSIVE" - makes it a disorder. But eating crap is the answer for healthy lifestyle?! What a joke...

What's wrong with being control of your own life - being aware, focusing on health, and eating healthy foods??? Oh, it's a serious danger for people who live on the ignorant consumers. Food manufactures love to use those toxic food additives because they can save $$$ and give incredible amount of profits despite the fact that those are very unhealthy for you. They don't want you to be aware of their usage of the toxic food additives. They want you to buy their stuff more blindly. Eating those make you sick. Pharmaceutical companies can sell you their drugs (chemicals) if you're unhealthy. They want you to consume synthetic chemicals and to be unhealthy so that they can make more $$$$$. Not to mention, they pay taxes to government....

Wake up!! You're the only one who can be in charge of your life!!!! You don't need to follow "popular" - junk foods - stream nor health "experts" who don't know what they are talking about. As I mentioned before on my blog, it's great and NORMAL to eat healthy foods and pay attention to your intake for your health :)
Avoid those bad chemicals in the foods. Stay aware and make better choices for your health. You don't need to even question "is healthy eating good for you?" The junk food eaters are the real mental patients, not you.

Bad Chemicals In Foods - Toxic Food Additives (No.6)

No. 1)  Major toxic food additives
No. 2)  What "catches" on food labels to watch out for

No. 3)  What food labels says - (1) Nutrition Facts   (2) Ingredients

No. 4)  Cancer Testing
No. 5)  How to avoid toxic food additives


This time, i'll focus on "how we can get rid of bad chemicals in food - toxic food additives - out of your body system". As our body generates new cells to keep itself in good health, it also has a natural detox system. This system comprises of various organs as well as supporting systems to facilitate our body to purge out toxins through the skin, lungs, kidneys, liver, and colon. The processes of expulsion of these toxins are either through urination, fecal excretion, breath, or these toxins can also be neutralized by your organ.

However, these organs and supporting systems are like rivers flowing toward the ocean. It can be smooth in its travel so long as there are no accumulation of riverbank debris and narrowing of the riverbank. How do we accumulate riverbank debris? More often than not, it is the human intervention into the natural habitat that resulted in this.

If one organ becomes congested, the others must work harder to keep the system balanced. What junks do choke up and narrows our elimination system and slows down its detox function? The body doesn't just have to deal with the toxins we consume (drug residues, chemicals, food additives, saturated fat, high sugar), but those from external sources, such as include environmental pollutants (fungi, pesticides, heavy metals), polluted air (excessive carbon monoxide) and water etc. Those junks were never available in old days. For recent decades, we are exposed to them significantly.

By adding to the "toxic overload" we are taking away resources needed to maintain our body in good condition, generating / repairing cells, maintaining vital bodily functions,  breaking down fats, etc. etc.
If the body has to constantly deal with the onslaught of chemicals we ingest, there will be times when the body can no longer fulfill all its other major functions. Our increasing exposure to them has led us to see more cancer cases, chronic diseases like cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, as well as inflammatory diseases like arthritis.

Isn't it too late you seriously start considering about those toxins till you finally get into direct contact with cancer in your life??  Recognizing and avoiding these harmful chemicals will definitely help you to keep your body in good condition. We must recognize not to abuse our natural detox system but allow them to function at their optimum. If they have been choked up for some time, it would require patience for your body to clear the debris accumulated over time and allow our detoxification organs to work their best again. This is the reason that we suffer from an initial stage of healing crisis (clearing up the debris) and then a strong feeling of rejuvenation and alertness (proper functioning of our natural detox function). It is through proper care of all these organs that they can expel toxins and neutralize them easily.

Solutions:

- Educate yourself and make wise and healthy choice for your food intake.
You are the one who make choices of what you consume. I've helped you to learn what you should look for and the reason why those are important for YOU. Read the food labels and avoid the foods that contain toxic food additives. Get fresh vegetables and fruits and cook at home. If you didn't demand the foods with toxic, the food manufactures have to supply something WE WANT TO BUY. Be smart. Take in charge of your health. You are the one who can make it happen!!

- Make more severe laws to ban using toxic food additives.
If we knew that those bad chemicals in foods make us sick, why don't we stop taking them? Although most governments ban the use of harmful chemicals in food, unfortunately all manufacturers don't oblige. Make the laws to enforce the food manufactures to ban the toxic food additives. Unless you take a initiative about your food intake, who does? Voicot the foods that contain those toxic food additives and give the food manufactures pressure. Without their economical damage, the food manufactures wouldn't do anything about it. We, the consumers, have to take charge of OUR healthy well being. You're the one who can make it happen!!

- Make laws requiring food labels to be EASY for anyone to read.
Do we need to have a chemical degree to read the labels?! How can we read such a tiny print? The label should state possible dangers in any of the ingredients, and/or make the names of ingredients easier to read.

- Use natural food preservatives.
Natural food preservatives include substances such as salt, sugar, rosemary extract and vinegar. Among these, salt, sugar and vinegar are used as an ingredient rather than additives or preservatives. They are preservatives that have been used in the recipe itself, hence they are also called as traditional preservatives.

- Pass laws the require fast food restaurants to use more natural ingredients
A great deal of the support for chemical laden, toxic food is the fast food industry. The fast food industry is thriving right now because of people looking for inexpensive and convenient food. Do you know how expensive your medical bill will cost you?  Do you really want to exchange your health over the convenience???? Wake up!

Useful websites for investigating food additives:
Food Additives – http://www.foodadditivesworld.com/
National Institute of Health – http://www.nih.gov/
FDA Consumer – http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/default.htm

We've learned so much about bad chemicals in foods. You got to eat everyday. You have a full control of what you consume. Avoid those toxic food additives that would make you sick. Take charge of your healthy life. It's too late to realize how great your life can be with great health when you get sick. YOU make choices. You have the power. Be wise for yourself and loved ones.

Bad Chemicals In Foods - Toxic Food Additives (No.5)

No. 1)  Major toxic food additives
No. 2)  What "catches" on food labels to watch out for
No. 3)  What food labels says - (1) Nutrition Facts   (2) Ingredients
No. 4)  Cancer Testing

Now we know many of these toxic food additives make us sick, so I'll focus on how to avoid the bad chemicals in foods this time. You'll check back blog No. 1 and No. 3 for which food additives to avoid.
The best bet is "get fresh wholesome foods and cook at home". You can skip reading the label part :) 
Not only you can have delicious and healthier foods, but also you can save your $.


Tip 1 Read labels.

You heard me so many times by now (lol), but it's really important!! Don't be fooled by catchy advertisement and complicated names. If you can’t say it or spell it, don’t eat it!! This is a sure way to avoid the toxins :) Check No. 2 and No. 3 for what to look for and how to read them. You need to read your food labels carefully and check them against the lists I provided for you. 

The worst offenders: Aspartame, Blue No.1 Dye, BHA, Olestra, Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, sodium nitrate, and propyl gallate. 

Tip 2 Go farmer's market. 

Most of the food in your grocery store comes from far places. Because of that, preservatives are added to last longer. Many processed meats, such as hot dogs and polish sausages, have a preservative called nitrate. This helps with the meat’s red color and preserves its flavor. But studies have linked nitrates to cancer. To avoid preservatives, buy food that isn’t meant to be stored. That means you’ll only have a few days or so to consume them. You can do this by shopping at a butcher’s who gets his meat from inside your state. Or go to a farmer’s market to buy fresh vegetables and fruits grown locally. If you want them for later you can pickle them yourself at home. We lived for centuries without preservatives - we can do without them now.

Tip 3       Stay in the grocery suburbs.
When you shop at the supermarket, stay in the grocery suburbs – the outskirts of the center of the store. You’ll find fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products. These foods will be less likely to contain toxic food additives.


Tip 4       Eat home cooked meals.
Most of us enjoy fast foods or ready-to-eat packaged foods. It is the easiest and convenient way to prepare a meal. But eating out leads to more processed foods and more processed foods leads to more toxic food additives. But if you just follow tips like cutting up veggies in advance, using slow cookers to cook while you’re gone and buying meat and putting it into daily use bags and sticking it in the freezer, you can save time on meal preparation and eat real food without added toxins. Start slow for you busy bodies. Home cooking recipes usually contain real food. Try one day a week with nothing but real food. If it gets easy then jump to two. Pretty soon you’ll eat home cooked meals every day.

Tip 5     Don’t Swallow Your Nutrients. 

Vitamins became the rage in the 1970s and many people still swallow their nutrients. But vitamins can also contain unnatural substances such as Aristolochic acid, which the FDA issued a warning about. It has been associated with permanent kidney damage. Get your nutrients through real food. Experts say there is no research to prove that vitamins are helpful to your health.

Tip 6    Wash Your Produce. 
Many fresh vegetables and fruits, no matter how fresh and natural they look, often have residues of pesticides on them. Foods to be watch out for include grapes, celery, lettuce, cucumber, cabbage and green beans. Fruits like apples and pears are coated with paraffin wax to make them look shiny and delicious. Not to mention the fact that the food you are about to eat has been handled by produce clerks, shippers, pickers and other shoppers. E. Coli, Listeria, and Salmonella can live on fruits and vegetables whether they are organic or not. So wash them by gently rubbing them under cold running water without soap.

You don't need to study chemicals to avoid bad chemicals in foods. Just pay a little more attention to what you eat. If you follow these tips, you will avoid some of the toxic food additives. But you’ve already taken the first step - you’ve gotten educated. Now the rest is up to you :)

Calbee Potato Chips Usushio flavor - My Favorite Japanese Foods (No.6)

Yes, this is very standard potato chips for the Japanese in Japan - Calbee potato chips usushio flavor. This is my favorite Japanese foods :) As you know, I'm not so fond of junk foods. But I can't just ignore this very typical Japanese snack...

By the way, "Usushio" means "Lightly salted" in Japanese. This Calbee potato chips "Usushio" flavor is VERY lightly or LITTLE salted for you -even for me now, though I'm 100 % Japanese born in Japan. People who used to eat "Lay's" will be surprised how little they use salt for it... When I had it in Japan, I thought this was a bit salty. I've lived in US for a long while and am so used to eat VERY salty potato chips and foods here. ( I mean everything here is too salty or too sweet....) When I had this in US, I was so surprised how little salt I could taste and how much my taste bud can change by living here and changing diets... My taste palette used to be much more sensitive or delicate.... :(

This "Usushio" is the standard flavor among their potato chip lines. There are many other flavors: Consommé punch, Nori Shio, Shoyu & Mayo, pepper etc. They are all good. As other typical hit food products in Japan, there are many "area limited" flavors: Shoyu & Butter, Konbu (Kelp) & Shoyu, Kyushu (Southern part of Japan) Shoyu etc. Typical, typical, typical.... The Japanese love that "limited" stuff. They can't help trying new and different stuff... Those words tickle our curiosities... I don't know why... We just love something "SPECIAL" and "LIMITED"... lol

My friend's father (Osamu Harada), who is very famous illustrator in Japan,  designed this famous potato character. My friend told me about it one day and I remembered I thought WOW.... Because I believe ALL THE JAPANESE know this character and the chips.

Most of the Japanese care about dieting but do eat a junk food like this. They know it's all about moderation. Their foods are used obviously less salt than ones in US. This Calbee potato chips Usushio flavor always reminds me of it. The Japanese love to enjoy the tastes of the ingredients themselves. Subtle seasoning is almost always good for them. I thought "Usushio" is so "JAPANESE" stuff.... lol. My favorite Japanese foods will continue....

Bad Chemicals In Foods - Toxic Food Additives (No.4)

This time, I'll focus on "cancer testing" - how FDA or the researchers figure out which chemicals in foods  can be toxic food additives....

Scientists and researchers are looking for the answer. They look at the causes of the deteriorating health of the population and figure out some of the important triggers - the type of food we eat and bad chemicals in foods added by the food manufactures. With non-smoking related cancers representing 80 % of new cancer cases, many people are blaming on the toxic food additives for their health deterioration. Unfortunately or fortunately, there are evidences to suggest that food additives are making us sick...

FDA has a database listing over 3,000 substances which are added to our foods. Food additives have the purpose of adding taste and color to over processed food that has little (natural) flavor and color left. FDA claims they are all safe - including even "MSG" and "Aspartame". As I mentioned on my past posts, many of them are no better than poison. Even if all of the food additives were safe individually, rarely does any food have only one additive in it. Testing for additive safety has been done for individual additives, not for combinations of the additives. They could be harmful in certain combinations. No one knows the effects of the many different additives used in the hundreds of various combinations...

In general, food additives are tested - whether if it causes a cancer or not - by feeding large dosages to small numbers of rats and mice. Large dosages are used to compensate for the small number of animals that can be used (a few hundred is considered a big study... I'm not kidding...). Also, the large dosages can compensate for the possibility that rodents may be less sensitive than people to a particular chemical (as happened with thalidomide). Note: Humans are 5 times more sensitive to the toxic effects of certain food additives than rats and 20 times more sensitive than monkeys.

Some of you might claim that such tests are improper and that large amounts of any chemical would cause cancer. That is not true. Large amounts of most chemicals don't cause cancer. When a large dosage causes cancer, most scientists believe that a smaller amount would also cause cancer, but less frequently. But some toxins might be reasonably safe at tested levels. However, unsafe levels can also be reached if toxins accumulate in human bodies (toxic over-load, some chemicals bioaccumulate - which means that they increase in concentration over time, potentially to generally accepted toxic levels.

It would be nice if lower, more realistic dosages could be used, but a test using low dosages and a small number of animals would be extraordinarily insensitive. It would also be nice if test-tube tests not using any animals were developed that could cheaply and accurately identify cancer-causing chemicals. While some progress has been made in that direction, those tests have not proven reliable. Thus, the standard high-dosage cancer test on small numbers of animals is currently the only practical, reasonably reliable way to identify food additives (and other chemicals) that might cause cancer. Remember, food manufacturers are presenting one-sided and questionable research results to support their use of chemicals without telling us the whole truth. 

Another problem at cancer testing is that poorly calibrated production equipment may mix in more of those chemicals than even the FDA would consider safe.... Bad news keep coming up, huh... :(

The Pesticide Action Network North America and Commonweal  reported that Americans can experience up to 70 daily exposures to residues of a class of toxic chemicals known as "persistent organic pollutants" (POPs), including such chemicals as DDT and dioxin, through their diets. The report, "Nowhere to Hide: Persistent Toxic Chemicals in the U.S. Food Supply," analyzes chemical residue data collected by the FDA and finds persistent chemical contaminants in ALL food groups. 

The Delaney Clause is an important part of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. That important consumer-protection clause specifically bans any additive that "is found to induce cancer when ingested by man or animal." The food and chemical industries are seeking to weaken or repeal that law. I do want to talk about "Codex alimentarius" soon... Stand up for your own safety. Make a healthy choice. Read the food labels carefully. You already know there are tons of bad chemicals in foods - toxic food additives. 

Bad Chemicals In Foods - Toxic Food Additives (No.3)

I'm feeding you tons of information about bad chemicals in foods. Are you full with the information of toxic food additive???? This time, I'll show you how to read food labels and how to use the information.

No. 1)  Major toxic food additives
No. 2)  What "catches" on food labels to watch out for

No. 3)  What food labels says - (1) Nutrition Facts   (2) Ingredients

1) Nutrition Facts 
This is good and useful, but not the most important information you need to get from food labels about the item. It gives you information on calories, grams of fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugars, and protein in each serving plus some percentages of a few nutrients. What they don't tell you is that:

 1 gram of fat = approximately 9 calories.
 1 gram of protein = approximately 4 calories.            
 1 gram of carbohydrate = approximately 4 calories.
 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon of sugar

Ex: a 123 calorie snack with 7 g of fat, 2 g of protein and 13 g of carbohydrate of which 12 g of the carbohydrate is sugar.

- To get fat calories, multiply calories from fat.(9x7=63). To get % of fat, divide 63 fat calories by 123 snack calories to get 51% fat.
- To get protein calories, multiply calories from protein.(4x2=8) To get % of protein, divide 8 protein calories by 123 snack calories to get 7% protein.
- To get carbohydrate calories, multiply 4x13=52 calories from carbohydrate. To get % of carbohydrate, divide 52 carbohydrate calories by 123 snack calories to get 42% carbohydrate.
- To get the number of teaspoons of sugar in the snack, divide 12g of sugar in the snack by 4, to get 3 teaspoons of sugar.

• Start here:  Note the size of a single serving and how many servings are in the package.

• Check total calories per serving:  Look at the serving size and how many servings you’re really consuming.  If you double the servings you eat, you double the calories and nutrients, including the Percent Daily Value (% DV).
  
  
• Limit these nutrients :  Limit your total fat to no more than 56~78g per day — including no more than 16g of saturated fat, less than 2g of trans fat, and less than 300 mg cholesterol (for a 2,000 calorie diet).

• Get enough of these nutrients :  Make sure you get 100 % of the fiber, vitamins and other nutrients you need everyday.

• Quick guide to % DV :  The % DV section tells you the percent of each nutrient in a single serving, in terms of the daily recommended amount.  As a guide, if you want to consume less of a nutrient (such as saturated fat, cholesterol or sodium), choose foods with a lower % DV — 5 % or less is low.  If you want to consume more of a nutrient (such as fiber), seek foods with a higher % DV — 20 % or more is high.

Tip 1:  Remember that the information shown in these panels is based on 2,000 calories per day.  You may need to consume less or more than 2,000 calories depending upon your age, gender, activity level, and whether you’re trying to lose, gain or maintain your weight.  Find out your personal daily limits.

     - Low            40 calories per serving
     - Moderate   100 calories per serving
     - High           400 calories or more per serving

Tip 2:  When the Nutrition Facts panel says the food contains “0 g” of trans fat, it means the food contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. When the Nutrition Facts label says a food contains “0 g” of trans  fat, but includes “partially hydrogenated oil” in the ingredient list, it means the food contains trans fat, but less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. So, if you eat more than one serving, you could quickly reach your daily limit of trans fat.

Tip 3:  There is no % DV shown for trans fat on the panel because FDA doesn't have enough scientific information to set this value. I recommend eating less than 20 calories or (less than 2g of trans fat) a day – that’s less than 1 % of your total daily calories (for a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet).


  2) Ingredients

These bad chemicals in foods are widely used in the more industrialized countries. These toxic food additives are normally defined as non nutritive substances (intentionally added to food), generally in small quantities, to improve its appearance destroyed by processing, flavor, texture or preservation. Even though it were only tiny amount, they might rise to harm your health and we should avoid.

Food scientist, toxicologists and control officials mention food problems in the following decreasing order: microbial contamination of food, natural toxic in food, environmental contamination of food and food additives. Food additives serve the interests of both the consumer and the producer of foodstuffs since they inhibit the spoilage of food, thus reducing the losses and enabling greater production at a lower cost. They increase the viability of the diet, make preparation of food more convenient and help stabilize the quality of food. Many countries require a toxicological analysis of any food additive which determines, in most cases, the average amount of a substance expressed in mg/kg of body weight which can be taken daily in the diet over a lifetime without risk considering all known factors.

Note: food flavouring substances are different from food additives as there are several thousand flavoring substances which occur naturally. Most flavouring substances are identical substances to the tens of thousands which have been detected in the flavouring component of natural foods such as fruits, spices, vegetables, milk and meat products. The natural flavouring component of foods is invariably an extremely complicated mixture comprising a few dozen to several thousand different chemicals of natural origin.

A Good Rule of Thumb
- If the list of ingredients is long, there's probably a lot of chemical additives in the product. It’s best to avoid these foods because of the unknown health effects of combinations of food additives.

- If the list of ingredients is short, it may or may not have harmful additives in it.

- Ingredients are listed on the label in order of predominance by weight...the ingredient that weighs the most is listed first, the ingredient that weighs the least is listed last. If there’s a questionable additive on the list, the closer it is to the front of the list, the more you put yourself at risk.

- Generally only those ingredients that are required by law to be listed on the label are listed. So, you never really know if there are any other ingredients in the product that are not listed on the label.

- Cut Back : Not toxic, but large amounts may be unsafe or promote bad nutrition -
Caffeine, corn syrup, dextrose (Corn Sugar, Glucose), fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenatated starch hydrolysate, invert sugar, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, polydextrose, salatrim, salt, sorbitol, sugar, tagatose, xylitol

- Caution : May pose a risk and needs to be better tested. Try to avoid -
Artificial colorings (Citrus red 2, Red 40), brominated vegetable oil (BVO), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), diacetyl, heptyl paraben, quinine, stevia/rebiana

- Avoid : Unsafe in amounts consumed or is very poorly tested and not worth any risk -
Acesulfame potassium, artificial colorings (blue 2, green 3, orange B, red 3, yellow 5, yellow 6), aspartame (Nutrasweet), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), cyclamate (Not legal in US), hydrogenated vegetable oil, olestra (olean) , partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propyl gallate, saccharin, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite.

Now you know what the food label says about bad chemicals in foods and how to read the information about the toxic food additives. Read the label carefully before you buy it.