Friday, November 6, 2009

A matter of taste

It is Friday night and I am having a quiet moment.
I am listening to soft piano music and eating a pomegranate.
I am thinking:
This must be world’s most aerobic fruit.
I am burning more calories eating it, then the calories I am getting eating it.
(If you don’t know what I am talking about, you should try eating one :)

I am also noticing the really subtle flavor of the fruit and I am thinking:
Funny how lately everything I eat seems more flavorful than usual.
And I don’t think that they are selling better produce at the market.
I think it is because I have changed my diet recently.

You see, I thought I was eating pretty healthy.
I knew I had a sweet tooth but other than that I thought I was doing great.
That was until I got my physical exam and discovered I had my triglyceride levels way above normal.
In other and simpler terms I had way too many calories in my blood stream than I need it.

I found out that my love for sweets, nuts and avocados – which I thought were the healthiest things on earth – were part to blame for this problem.
Of course the other part of the blame was my lack of physical exercise.
Living the modern life means that we are burning far less calories than our ancestors while our calorie intake has risen dramatically.

So I took a quite drastic decision: No more sugar in my life.
At least not the refined or the fructose syrup kind.
I stopped adding sugar to my coffee, tea and anything else.
I also stopped drinking soda or anything artificially sweetened.

At first it was dreadful – well that is a bit dramatically – but you get the point.
Nothing tasted right and I thought that I would forever miss the sweet life.
But then something strange happened: My taste buds grew so much more sensitive.
Simple things like bananas suddenly were so much sweeter, so much tastier than usual.
I discovered that my coffee and tea - which I thought were quite bitter and unpleasant in the beginning, had more flavor than I ever experienced.

Taking sugar out of my diet didn’t mean not enjoying sweetness anymore but contrary it meant enjoying it more and deeper than before.
So I started thinking: What about the other senses?
We are being bombarded, over stimulated with everything from louder music and ever increasing complex and faster video effects to over exposure to sex and violence.

There is a continuous assault on our senses and emotions.
But are we getting more out of this “over exposure” or are we getting less?
Is more, more or is more, less?
And then, if that is so – Does it mean that less is more?

9 comments:

Quantum_Flux said...

BOH, math quiz here....if each 12 ounce can of soda contains 42 grams of sugar, and each packet of sugar contains 4 grams, then how many packets of sugar are in a 12 ounce can? (It's about 10 packets of sugar per can of soda)

Anyhow, I like telling people that whenever they challenge me on putting my 1 packet of sugar and lemon into my iced tea.

Unknown said...

@ Quantum - I am a green tea drinker and also I like chamomile and mint tea for latter at night.
I like a little lemon also in my tea and I used 3 packets of brown sugar per cup - but now I am down to zero.
If my triglyceride levels goes down I will consider adding some honey to my tea, but I will no go back to sugar.
I have this feeling that sugar is worse for me than I thought :)

Argent said...

I banished sugar from my life for a good long time ages ogo and it was like you said, things taste better without. Sadly, I allowed it back in. Don't make that mistake! I do love pomegranates though, even though they are a faff to eat.

Lydia said...

I love pomegranates! I mix the little fruits into non-fat plain yogurt and it's great.

Glad to hear you changed to a healthier diet. I had to do that the last six weeks because my blood test showed a too high bad cholesterol (although the good cholesterol was amazingly high and the doctor said it's what has been protecting me). So I have exercised a bit more and have watched everything I eat for cholesterol percentages. Just had the re-check at the lab today and will have results next week. I'm hoping it's not genetic (runs in my father's side) and that I won't have to go on meds.

I wish I'd read your post before having six Dreyer's Creamy Coconut All-Fruit Bars tonight (I'm not usually a sugar junkie). It was a stress reaction to shaky news about my husband's job (keeping fingers crossed as cutbacks are happening again......)

Quantum_Flux said...

Triglicerides = cholesterol from grease and fat

Although, sugar can increase your blood pressure.

Chris Stonecipher said...

I was drinking one of those vitamin waters and decided to check the label and found that it had 100 calories for the bottle. I have spent more time reading labels and making healthier choices and now I am having success losing weight and keeping it off.

Ted Bagley said...

Ah, pomegranate martini..Mmmmm.

Quantum_Flux said...

Don't eat placebos, BOH.

Anonymous said...

BOH, these tastes originate not in the fruit or in more or less ("artificial")sugar, but in our own soul´s power. We taste more or less our own soul´s taste, not really the matter of outside things!