Applebee's: Don't Get Stung
You are literally taking
your life into your own hands when you eat out in most chain
restaurants across America. But that statement has little meaning
since too many of us out of convenience eat out. If you must, then go with caution. Honor your good health. You cannot afford repeated overdrafts on your account of good health.
Last night I met up with some friends, and they wanted to grab some dinner at Applebee's.
Not my favorite place, because the food and the atmosphere are so commercial,
but not the worst either . . . or so I thought. I ordered a sirloin steak
with shrimp. And a Newcastle beer. I took only a few sips of the
beer and left it. I knew, too, that the shrimp would be farm raised; all
of the shrimp in restaurants is farm raised. One of the friends ordered
a spinach cheese dip with tortillas. All of the corn in the US is
genetically modified, so I do not even touch the chips. I looked at them.
But my guest, friend wanted me to try the spinach cheese dip. I thought
cheese and spinach, what could go wrong? But God knows what else is in that
dish or what was used in its preparation. I tasted one, and it tasted like
a lab . . . not a Labrador, but a laboratory. It was empty of flavor and spice. No pungent bite back from sharply aged cheese or
anti-oxidant, invigorating kickback from the spinach the way that you might detect the
smell and the tastes of the earth in a bottle of wine. None of
that. The food was dead. So in addition to sabotaging my gastro-intestinal health, I derived no
enjoyment from the taste of the food. But my guests went after it, mixed it, sampled
it, and ate it.
Then the dinners arrived. My steak was plated with a few sliced rose
potatoes and a frozen broccoli and carrot mix that was microwaved. It was prepackaged food.
Again, dead food. No flavor. Flavor is an
indication of nutrient dense, anti-oxidant rich foods. No taste means no
nutrition. Will you get full? Oh, sure. Quicker than you might expect because it is Frankenfood. I finished my steak
and the tiny shrimp that surrounded it. Even before I got home I was
beginning to feel the neurotoxic effects of the food. I became
a little light-headed. My patience short-circuited. By the
time I got home I went for the fish oils that I have in my freezer, ate an
apple alternating it with peanut butter then cream cheese and drank some
instant coffee. These revived me somewhat. I went to work on a small
project. Then called a friend. It wasn't until 12am that I finally
got to bed. My dreams were harried. Running
from people shooting after me. I woke at 4am, grabbed some coffee,
an apple, and some coconut oil and tried going back to sleep at
5:30am. A guy was ferreting through the trash bin in the Shakey's parking lot. He found a few and began
flattening them with a pop! at 5:30. The popping shattered the quiet and the
promise of more sleep. I got up, got dressed, and went out
for a walk.
Here are a few pics of that morning.
