Know thy food and keep the doctor away

 

Universal Foods 

Cabbage and Carrots, Wheat and Potatoes, Eggs and Milk 

by Professor Ashok Malhotra 

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INTRODUCTION 

As a scientist and professor, i travelled across the world. 

Due to a queasy stomach that did not tolerate most foods available in restaurants and hotels, i had to depend on my own cooking. Sadly  this when the food was paid for too. 

Perhaps one of these moments, was in the summer of 1976, I was then a doctoral student at UBC in Vancouver. Some of the research work that was already conplete was sent for publication to the International Center for Heat and Mass Transfer centered arounf Imperial College London and Chaired by Professor D. B. Spalding. He liked my work and accepted the paper for presentation at Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. Entire expenses of the trip were paid for by the University. Now yogislavis being twonthirds of the way from India, my professor suggested, 

‘Ashok, you been missing home. Here us an opportunity. Two thirds of the flight is being paid for by UBC, put in the third, easily affordable by youbas a university fellow and spend vacations at home. Well, I did that  but rushing around meeting friends and relatives, inhad to eat in a lot of different places. Mybstomach was in a mess. I was running toilet several times a day. The mist worrisome part was flight back from Delhi to Dubrovnik, via rome. But my understanding mom fixed it. Gave me a tablet of medicine called dependol, a pacjet of buiscuits, and said to have nothing en route for food. Aftercreaching the hotel, there were strict instructions on what i could eat at hotels, boiled eggs, bouled potatoes, etc until i reached my own kitchen in Vancouver. 

As luck would have it, the Air India flight to Rome was overbooked and some if the passengers were sent to first class which usually  went vacant. Inwas sent there. Vow whee like a real Maharaja i felt and there was one more  real one in there from his fancy attire. Then rolled out the kebabs abd stuff  delicacies from four corners of India. My mouth watered. The hostess could see it, but i had to refuse it all. told her, I have a Delhi Belly. just took a biscuit theyvserve with tea. 

‘Oh, poor you, hope you get O K soon, she whispered, as she switched off the lights and tucked me in my blankets. 

Well I did survive, and found great food, just right in Dubrovnik. Scientists from all over were impressed and ingot invitations to join their teams soon as i complete doctoral work, including from Professor  Spalding. That was fine, but not some ofvthe invitations to visit the beaches of this beautiful dalmatian coast. I did but ran back soon finding they were nude beaches! loL 

Why Such a stomach, when in suitable food, I am known to be highly energetic, much more than mist any other professional colleague I have come across in life?

As per my highly educated parents I Ended  up with a queasy stomach because of being born a triplet.

 When we three came out of mama’s tummy, around 3 pounds each we were starving. I remained with my mother, whereas the other two were given away in adpoption to homes in Nainital,  for reasons discussed elsewhere. 

I used to cry for milk, all the time soon after birth, and little baby bottles did not satisfy me. 

My father, who at that time was studying at  the College of Military Engineering got infuriated. An innovative mind found a solution. He put the baby feeder nipples on long beer bottles that they have in India and hung the milk over my cot. That did it it, and I had  the bottle in my mouth all the time, until after some time I became allergic to milk. 

Mother was desperate. , Then she learned from a south Indian friend that poor women in the south who cannot afford milk for kids make milk out of a food grain called ragi. It is red millets. Therecarecrecipes now on youtube. So this author put on ragi milk. However, its not quite the same thing. Tried it recently. Tastes awful. Even my dogs and cats refuse it. 

Doctors at that time said, if it is balanced with fruit juices it would be ok. Them my dad started shuffling fruit juices down my throat and I became allergic to fruits as well. 

Well that is what my parents concluded then regarding my fastidiousness about most all what others eat. However since then as a professor i have discovered that there might be something  genetic  about my food choices as well. We are all made by nature, our genes and nurture. Both play a roll  in developing our own unique body chemistries. What is manna for one human may be poison for another  

To cut a long story short, I have to make do with food I cook myself most times. But there are foods, in the market, certain brands that agree with me abd that's what I depend on as a frequent traveler through life  

 Being a scientist, I analyzed why people around the world were eating what they were eating and learned various recipes from many in International universities i have lived and worked in. A lot of my knowledge on foods is in this  blog on life and spirituality. It that has been read widely around the world. I was not able to pist much on it for last five years due to severe medical issues. 

the medical.issues were caused by poisoning mist likely from the  modi government that fid likewise with many who dared to reveal unpleasant truths about them. But, i shall continue to for any leader or human if it us in interest of humanity.  As a mystic now, my treasures are not on Earth but in heaven and my motto, 

what shall one gain by winning the entire world and losing one’s soul 

Best wishes all, know thyself and no thy food for while good thoughts make a healthy soul, good food makes a healthy body. It shall help to keep docs and hospitals far away from you, so that when thectime comes for you to go , you shall put your head down on your pillow and merrily merrily sing your way to the next station for your soul. 

Nutrition and Storage

For nutrition humans require Carbohydrates. One Of the easiest, plentiful and chrapest dource if carbohydrates at the presentbtime globally, as well as through a lot if human history has been Wheat and potatoes. These are easy to grow and therefore cheap. Another nice thing is that theyvstore well also in most places. If The humidity is not too high one can keep them in an airy place for weeks. Hence, 

Wheat and Potatoes have become a universal source if carbohydrates around the world. However  thecrecipes of hiw they are prepared differ from country to country. We shall make a mention if that presently. 

The second thing humans need is a lot if vitamins, minerals and micronutrients to remain healthy. These come from the vegetable kingdom. Again here the variety of vegetables that grow in different parts of the world are different. But many a vegetable spoils quickly after purchase. There are two however,, that keep well fairly long. These are Cabbages and Carrots. Therefore, these may be selected as universal.foods used now globally in different ways, from Cole Slaw of America, Sauerkraut of Germany, Alu bhaji of India, and fried rice of Chinese.

PROTEINS AND CONCLUSIONS

Protein rich food such as meat or milk is perhaps the most expensive part of a food budget.  A replacement for meat is lentil beans. There was a time when these were low cost. However, with new medical knowledge, many are turning to vegetarian or vegan food. Therefore the cost of beans have gone up too. 

Milk and eggs remain the most reasonable and healthiest of all. Milk also yields, butter and provides a healthy fat source also an essential part of food. 

Thus concluding this brief note, there  are these six universal foods, wheat and potatoes, cabbage and carrots, milk and eggs. 

Dear reader, do not forget to add some or all these items to your kitchen, learn as many recipes as you can along with much else that is available in your area  and you believe to be good for health.

 

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