Sea kittens.

Nuggets. Doesn't matter so much what it's made of, so long as it's in nugget form.

heh. I think they need to reword their opening sentence:

The health benefits of figs or anjeer include weight gain, sexual weakness, constipation, indigestion, piles, diabetes, cough, bronchitis, and asthma.

^^

I do love figs, though - especially when you can eat them straight off the tree in the deepest part of summer. Heaven!

Important for health is to eat a lot of different foods. Everything contributes different values of vitamins and minerals, protein, carbohydrates, blah, blah - so if you eat mostly the same food, or the same kind of food, every day, you're most likely missing out.

Where you live informs your ideas of what is healthy, of course... I live in Greece now, where good olive oil and yogurt are among the things valued highly for health (as well as all vegetables), and I agree with that. I was raised by parents who grew almost all their own vegetables in their own garden (as did my husband's parents), so we were born and bred on fresh veg and have been lucky enough to have farmers' markets in the places we've lived, and therefore pretty much follow the seasons, eating whatever is is current. Plus meat, fish and dairy, as we're not vegetarian or vegan.

But now we're old and getting fat, so there's that. Fat, but pretty damn healthy.

The American corrolary to figs is probably prunes. I used to scoff at them but they really do help with general digestive function (prune consumption is also a sign that one is getting older/less "cool").

Yogurt is becoming more popular as a "healthy" food in the US, especially marketed to women on a diet.

Prunes are on my "to avoid" list, after my recent prune overdose. I've been eating dried apricots instead. Not for medical purposes, just because I like 'em.

Hadji, are you eating the figs dried or fresh? I'm a huge fan of fresh figs. In fact, I have a fig tree that's waiting to be planted when I buy a house.

Typical food considered healthy here includes:
Greens of all sorts, especially spinach. (Popeye the Sailor Man)
Fish (brain food!)
Apples (an apple a day keeps the doctor away)

I try to eat some raw food every day. On the days when I'm in the office, I'll have porridge for breakfast, and then throughout the day munch on a big bag of celery, carrots, peppers and sugar snap peas. In the evening, I'll have a home-cooked meal of meat, chicken or fish, with more vegetables - cooked or salad - sometimes home-made soup to start the meal, and fruit and yoghurt for dessert.

I try to avoid processed food. I buy plain yoghurt, Greek usually, and add my own fruit to it. I dislike the taste of aspartame in food or drinks, it leaves a horrible aftertaste. My drink of choice is sparkling water.

My biggest vice is coffee. I grind my own beans and make a brew as strong as creosote, which I drink black and sugarless.

I'm a big believer in actual cooking from whole foods. It always surprises me how radical this seems, but whenever I'm in the market it amazes me how much eating goes on from shiny plastic freezer boxes - people have carts full. I try to start the menu planning with fresh fruits and veggies, cuts of meat, minimally processed grains (rice, cornmeal, pasta, etc), nuts, eggs, oils.

Things I try to eat specifically because I know they're really healthy: salmon at least once a week. Dark leafy greens. Whole grains and whole-grain breads and pastas. Dairy products - yogurt and skim milk.

I use the 'eat a variety of foods' goal too - especially thinking about color when produce shopping. I feel good if I have chosen green stuff, red stuff, yellow/orange stuff, white stuff, and dark/purply stuff. Sounds goofy but in fact it's a good way to know that you're covering the phytonutrient bases.

As far as added fats, sweets, and other indulgences, I think we're way better off with a little normal sugar and real butter and regular cheese than with their chemical substitutes. Giving the human body compounds it knows how to deal with from the experience of milennia makes sense to me. Butter has a little bit of calcium and some vitamin D to reward you with, too.

As far as vices - though my diet is very healthy and home-cooked, I have a sweet tooth and tend to eat too much if I'm not taking care to limit portion sizes. It's a hazard of liking food a lot. I drink coffee, too, but I don't think of it as a vice - there has been some study recently that caffeine does good things for the system, and coffee has antioxidants. Plus I use a couple tablespoons of skim milk in it. So my vices are probably alcohol - one glass of wine a day is OK for health (even beneficial) but I often have two and sometimes more, and that's too many calories - and chocolate. I know chocolate has benefits too but only if you stop at one serving.

ps I also have a belief, not rationally supported, that you should eat spicy things when you have a cold - thus my chicken soup for a cold is always curried chicken. Ginger and cayenne seem to help, too. It makes sense to me - those things give an endorphin rush which seems to open up the sinuses a bit.

sea kittens aside, I pretty much approach my diet the same way Miko does, down to the colorful meals. We cook from scratch every night, pretty much, although my upbringing was such that I had not even heard the term "cook from scratch" until I moved to the USA. It's just... cooking.

Miko and I aim for exactly the same things.

Miko - my favorite cold remedy is a dash of wasabi at the end of a chopstick :)

I eat pretty healthy at lunch and dinner, but for breakfast MuddDude and I have fallen into the habit of eating packaged energy bars like Clif bars. I really should eat oatmeal instead.

I enjoy figs in Newton form.

Salmon, kale, lentils, avocados, EVOO, broccoli, flax seeds, french fries.

a dash of wasabi at the end of a chopstick :)

Added to the list!

cooies, chips, cupcakes, ice cream...

(well, for mental health, anyway :)

Yes! Mental health eating! For me, that's juice, cheese, and Doritos.

Lexapro.

Also, the lemon drink I mentioned before, for bloating and cramps.

Sorry Stew, it's dried Fig, for me, I'm afraid, but just the fact that I'm getting it into my body (not many Indians are lucky to have it) is a big deal.

It's usually Fig's, with a side of Dates, Pistachios, Almonds and a Brownie for desert (added with a mouth of Sprite too; I drink a bottle of 500 ml with my mom and sis, so I hope that doesn't hurt me).

ThePinkSuperhero, try having that Cheese in the middle of a cooked Roti/Bread--talk about yummy!

Pips--no wonder John is such a happy guy:)

After reading all of your posts, I now feel like going and eating--but healthy though--so thanks a bunch!

sea kittens