Sunday, February 17, 2008

Instant Noodles and Diabetes

I should, at some point, let you know about instant noodles. I feel that the time is appropriate now. These noodles, the kind that Top Ramen tries their hardest to recreate, are a way of life over here. The beauty of it is that there are about 100 different flavors, so they never get old. They are a bit more expensive here but well worth the price. Having been in the position of a pauper after moving out on my own a couple of years ago, I learned the value of a certain level of frugality when it comes to buying groceries. The instant noodle isle usually was the first visit I made followed by the condiment isle so i could disguise the "chicken" or "beef" taste. But here, there is no need to disguise the taste of these noodles. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the Asian culture's recognition of the need for a vast amount of flavors when it comes to instant food. They have done well in this arena of society and I wanted to devote half a post to applauding their efforts.

You may have noticed also that the latter half of the title was named after a disease that millions of people have world wide. A few days ago, we were sitting around at the house and Jared came out of the bathroom and said, "I'm so sorry guys, someone here has diabetes." We were a bit confused as to how a visit to the bathroom allowed Dr. Ang to diagnose "someone." Come to find out, it is common knowledge in Asia that if you go to the bathroom and ants swarm the toilet there is a unusually high level of sugar in your body's wastes, telling you that most likely you have diabetes. I, of course, looked like an idiot when the Asians said, "You didn't know that? That is common knowledge." After my brain went through the different cycles of worrying about whether or not the ant swarmed urine was mine or not. I concluded that it wasn't. Though I still worry about it a little because the disease runs in my family, so the possibility is there that I still will go get checked at the clinic. I even called my mom on her cell so she could get in on the worrying. Healthcare is as cheap as eye care. One thing after another makes me love it here even more!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seth: I hope your blood sugar is okay, i was told 4 months ago that I am a diabetic, it is managable, you just have to watch every bite that you eat, on the plus side I have lost 30+lbs., I am on insulin shots, they are not nearly as bad as I thought, I had watched Granddaddy & Vern take shots, & thought I could never do that, but I can.....I hope that you are not the one....Love ya, Annie

Chi said...

Diabetes is a disease caused by a damaged pancreas. Many people still do not know that the substance that's called "Alloxan", which is a by-product of bleaching. Most people do not know that white refined sugar, salt, and for sure "enriched" flour of any sort will produce the by-product alloxan. Most noodles, pasta and bread contains alloxan. Since alloxan is only a by-product, the manufacturers do not have to include that into their ingredients. Alloxan is the same chemical used to induce diabetes on lab rats. I thought diabetes was hereditary until I did more research and found out it's caused by eating the same food your parents have fed you. In this world today, relying on your own research is much more reliable than waiting for doctors or the media to tell you because this world is currently run by profit first, not human health.