THERE ARE EGGS AND EGGS…we find local eggs are increasingly losing their colour and flavour, egg yolks are increasingly pale anaemic looking and omlets turn out milky white! Prices have upped to Rs80 dozen eggs but the nutritional quality of eggs leave a lot to be desired, the shells thinner than ever before and what’s inside watery and colorless. There are the pasture-raised country eggs (gauti) too but these are Rs200 dozen…these are a treat but even here you may get mixed quality at the Panjim morning pavement market.

By Tara Narayan

BELIEVE it or not, egg price went up to Rs7 last week (Rs80 dozen) at local grocery shops down Caranzalem Street around where I’ve been living for the last three to four years. Suddenly two weeks ago I noticed my omelets were ivory white every morning when I served them up and the eggs…the eggs whites milky and the yolks also pale and sickly looking, flavorless eggs. Rs80 a dozen with another festive season here and a woman standing beside me agreed, “I too have been finding the egg yolks not yellow enough as in the old days!” So what are these common man’s eggs from battery reared chicken farms from out of Goa…the gauti or local country eggs at the Panaji market are Rs200 dozen and even here the vendors do a mix of eggs, some pink to dark pink and others ivory white shells. When I do an occasional poached egg breakfast on my own somewhere, usually a Rs150 breakfast of two poached eggs, two slices of maybe multigrain or sourdough toast, pats of butter and at one place I also get a little bowl of mixed beans, a great idea. The eggs are free-range eggs and therefore the two poached eggs ooze liquid golden yellow when I bite into my toast…
But at home, I’m getting these local grocery eggs and they’re terribly “fika” these days. Why? Omelets are not flavorful anymore although I make my omelettes in butter or olive oil and beat the eggs with chopped spring onion, grated ginger, some greens like leafy green coriander, mint or arugula or parsley and za’taar herbal mix sometimes…nice omlets! Alas, the eggs are not flavorful anymore, Does anyone have any clues? The search for nutrition is an uphill task and over Shravan fasting I realized that if I ate a full vegetarian meal by lunchtime or brunch earlier at brunch time I didn‘t feel hungry at all till the next day same time…it was so easy to live on one meal a day and as a result I dropped off five kgs too to make walking easier for me, I was so happy with small mercies!
But Shravan over with it became an unsustainable lifestyle a new and I’m back to eating whatever is left in the fridge from the last three days of made-at-home or bought food not up to the mark. What I’m trying to say here is that the more junk food or processed industrialized food we eat the more hungry we get and faster – as insulin resistance sets in. It’s like one is being told over and over again in not so many ways that body beautiful is pining for real food to be happy, but here we are happily diving into all kinds of fryums, spiced up, oodles of food we consider tasty but which is really cooked to death…no enzymes, some vitamin values lost, salty, sugary, the body hunts for life in these foods in vain.

Well, think about all this and don’t just think. Can you make one meal of the day nothing but an enriching salad with fresh greens? Go try. This reminds me of recently I was quite charmed when browsing through Facebook a post came up with one Abeer Yafa asking charmingly, “Hello family, I need help please: my doctor told me that I have high cholesterol and high glucose, I stopped all kinds of sugars and sweets, I do gym every day, can you tell me a good diet for my situation, what I can eat and drink and what I should skip?”
Pat came the encouraging reams of insightful advice and some of them intriguing repeats so it must add up to something! Here listen in:
“Have plain oatmeal, it’s a good source of food to lower your cholesterol. Drink lots of water to flush out your system of lipids, that worked for me.”
“Tri cholesteric sold on Amazon.”
“Make sure you get half of your body weight in ounces of water every day. This simple thing will hydrate you and will lower your blood sugar. Eat more veggies. Skip rice and white potatoes and wheat pastas; bread and cookies and sweets. Walk 15 to 30 mins at least 5 days a week.”
“Look at YouTube for Keto.”
“Low complex carbs, higher healthy fats, proteins and fibre.”
“The DASH diet.”
“Stay away from anything white…rice, bread, sugar, flour, potatoes, etc.”
“Bergamot, nutrim and garlic got my husband’s cholesterol down, good luck.”
“My suggestion: I drink warm lemon water first thing in the am. Do number 2. Really sit on the toilet and do number 1. Breathe in through your nose, and exhale through your mouth while on the toilet. Flush toilet. Wash your hands. Eat breakfast. Walk after breakfast and walk after dinner even if it is around or in your house. Shower and brush your teeth. Get dressed. Have an awesome life. You got this, we are rooting for you all the way from Africa.”
“Mediterranean way of eating, look up the Mediterranean dishes site for great food and good for you.”
“Count your carbs.”
“There are a few apps that help you read the ingredients. Know that carbs like white bread and pasta can be more damaging than actual sugar. Look at the carbohydrate content and added sugars. Try to do some exercise to get muscle mass. Also, try celery juice in the morning as your first drink. It works wonders. Good luck. Just know you are on the right path.”
“I know I sound like a broken record but Metamucil helps lower cholesterol.”
“No or few carbs if you are insulin resistant.”
“Don’t eat anything processed. If it has an ingredient that isn’t in your kitchen, don’t eat it. Stick with fresh fruits, veggies fish and meats. Check out Bobby Parrish. He has an app where you can scan food labels and it will tell you if it’s good or not and if not, why it’s not. You can then decide if you want to buy it or not. He recommends pastured meat, which I can’t afford, but it’s a great guide to get you started.”
“Best approach is to eat clean. No processed junk food.”
“Citrus bergamot.”
“Go low on carbs.”
“What would be hormone checks?”
“To lower your bad cholesterol (LDL) avoid deep-fried battered food. Food that is high in saturated fats and trans fats (always check the food label for nutritional information. Any foods that are cooked in oil at high temperature even if it is vegetables (sautéed food). Avoid dairy products.”
“Eat whole foods; avoid eating out, no packaged or processed foods, no added sugars.”
“Mediterranean diet.”
“Skip processed foods and carbs.”

“Read this book, The Great Cholesterol Myth.” “Check out Mastering Diabetes and drink Amla Green.” “Google anti-inflammatory diet. Cures just about everything! (This one by Cindy Elam is best I feel.) “Take citrus bergamot supplement. I didn’t exercise, didn’t change diet that much and it lowered mine a lot!” “Drink 8 glasses of water a day. Exercise every day. Two fruits a day. Five vegetables. Include some dairy and carbs (bread, cereal) and you’re good.” “Check out the MIND diet that is a combination of the DASH diet and Mediterranean diet. Good that you are giving up sweets, now learn all the names for sugar to avoid, cut back on simple carbs because it is metabolized like sugars and excess leads to high A1c labs and diabetes. Follow “The Plate Plan” to learn portion control and a formula for planning a balanced menu for every meal. Limit fruits and veggies that are high on the glycemic index. Grocery shop to avoid buying foods to avoid. Not rocket science but requires planning. (Edie M Goodsell) “I ate oatmeal three or four times a week and my cholesterol went way down. My doctor told me to cut way back on white flour products, pasta, etc, and sugar.” All this and much more, and this final one for me to share here: “Look up podcasts by Dr Casey Means. She got me on track big time. Her new book isGood Energy.’ Once I read it, I had the motivation to give up food that I never thought I could. Good luck.”
My take: Note how many times the Mediterranean diet is recommended and no processed foods…if only the processed food industry closes down sooner than later, or make big changes to catch up with all the new demand for organic, eco-friendly foods, so that we enjoy better health parameters as a civilization and may be think better, better…no wars please to f—k up Mother Earth, the only divine according to me. Better less and less hospitals and more and more cheerful sanitariums for the sick and ailing and depressed …say ashram-styled sanitariums, anyone wants to bankroll them for seniors who are desperately in need of them in India, and I’m sure around the world. If Cuba can make health first I don’t see why India can’t with all the oodles of crores it spends on AYUSH shenanigans.
This one I liked the most: “Hibiscus water will help.” (Kramos Ramos)
An that’s all for this week. All of last week I was looking for a decent vegetarian thali meal deal in town Panaji but found none – either they were overpriced or not good enough to evaluated or healthy goodness!