The old Honto-no-Hawaii website is now closed, so I have moved favorite posts and articles from it to here. This is one:
Some people know I recently had surgery on my foot, and that I will go back for surgery on the other one. This was to treat arthritis in my feet which had gotten so bad as to prevent me from dancing hula. With frozen toes and severe pain, I could not keep my balance while dancing any more.
Aue!!!! One of the causes of the bad arthritis is my great enjoyment of tasty Hawaiian food! This also caused another problem. . .DIABETES!!!!
So, now I must pay the price and lose some 50 pounds and become a vegetarian (mostly).
But you know me! Always up for the adventure! An opportunity to learn and study!
REAL traditional Hawaiian food is based on complex carbohydrates and vegetables with a little bit of fruit and meat/fish/fowl: Sweet potato greens, taro leaf, seaweed, sweet potatoes, taro, yams, fern shoots, and small portions of fish were the mainstays. At major feasts, dog, wild birds, and pork – lean, not feedlot raised – were shared.
All those high-fat-high-sugar tasty things we are used to are FEAST foods – to eat at celebration times, like the birth of a new chief, Makahiki, etc. The only problem I had with Hawaiian food is that I ate like it was a FEAST day EVERY day!!!
Did you know that statistics say 2/3 of deaths in Hawai`i are caused by nutrition related disease? Iʻm interpreting that as 2/3 of the time we could be healing ourselves through healthy eating, instead of taking lots of medicines which create their own side effects and other problems!
As a kumu, it is important for me to set an example for my students to follow. If I want my students to be healthy, then I must get healthy as an example for them!
So, on to healthy eating! Maika`i no!
Dr. Terry Shintani, a classmate of my dear friend Dr. Sneha Sood, is the creator of “The Waianae Diet,” also known as the “Shintani Diet” and the “Hawaiian Diet.” In this diet, he helped a group of people from Waianae to return to traditional eating practices. After using this diet, they were able to reduce or stop their use of many medications such as insulin.
Here is an interesting video in which he is speaking. He discusses the difference between a real health care system and the current “disease care system.”
My lunch the other day was SOOOO ono, I wanted to share it with you:
Sweet peppers stuffed with quinoa, celery sticks and peanut butter, with two slices of tofu. He piha au! Iʻm stuffed!
Aloha `oe three-choice with half-noodle-and-half-fried-rice plate lunch!
Aloha mai nā veggies!
Maybe not traditional Hawaiian, but cool, crisp, refreshing, and satisfying on a hot day.
A hui hou!