Let's talk about take out.
I have to admit that sometimes after a long week of prep I have 0 energy to cook for myself. I recently got stuck in a bit of a rut where I was eating out more often than not.
Then one night I ate at a nearby Indian restaurant and I woke up the next day with an extremely swollen eye lid. I was in full on panic mode, but started fasting, and lowering the inflammation and within a few days the swelling had subsided. At this point I didn't know what was causing the swelling, I wasn't able to pinpoint anything specific ( I had eaten at this Indian spot before)
Then a few weeks later, my mom and I ordered take out from that restaurant. 10 minutes after I finished my dinner I felt the hives forming.
It was undeniable that whatever was being used in this food was not agreeing with my body.
I called the restaurant a few days later to do a bit of detective work and found that they use canola and soybean oil (both inflammatory, deodorized with hexane, and oils that easily go rancid). I started calling a few nearby restaurants to get an idea of what they are cooking with - and every one of them said canola or soybean.
These oils are CHEAP!
When I am shopping for my oils they are often 3x cheaper than the option I am selecting. When you order takeout you have very little control over the ingredients that are being used.
Here's what is very common among restaurants:
Oil
Most restaurants are using cheap oils, the kind that go rancid and create inflammation in the body, These vegetable oils are highly processed with chemicals.
At Hungry Hippie we use clean and healthy oils, and we use them properly. We understand smoke points, and do not use low heat oils (olive oil) above their smoke point.
Produce
Most restaurants are choosing conventional grown produce and not even paying attention to the clean 15/dirty dozen list. This leads to exposure to herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and genetically modified ingredients.
At Hungry Hippie we choose organic and local whenever possible, almost 95% of the meal plan is organic! If we are not using organic produce we are making sure we reference the Dirty Dozen/Clean 15
Added Sugar
In restaurants most salad dressings, soups, and batters contain sugar, and large amounts of it! This is due to our increasing desire for sweet and less of a palette for bitter foods.
At Hungry Hippie we don’t use any refined sugar, and the natural sugars we use are used sparingly. The benefits of natural sugars is that they are not chemically processed ( table sugar is bleached!)!
Cross Contamination
Working in the city I would pop into a deli for breakfast - one morning I noticed that they were cooking the meat and the vegetables on the same pan without washing. This is true about gluten, nuts, and other common allergies.
At Hungry Hippie if we have a client with a special diet or food allergy we make sure to clean and disinfect all tools before proceeding. We take cross contamination very seriously
HFCS/Corn Syrup
Most restaurants are not making sauces, condiments, and dressings from scratch. These products notoriously contain HFCS and/or Corn Syrup. HFCS is a processed ingredient made that hits the blood stream and the liver ( may be the cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease).
At Hungry Hippie we NEVER include HFCS or Corn Syrup in any of our meals or products. We spend our time to make sauces and condiments from scratch!
Another point with Take out is that it can be really expensive, even though they are not using high quality ingredients. At The Hungry Hippie we have been able to take organic produce, high quality oils, and make delicious and affordable meals.
If you have so much on your plate that you are finding it hard to cook for yourself, or if you never have time to pack lunches or make breakfast, than I want to help.
As we are inundated with FLU, COVID scares, and global issues like diabetes and obesity it is more important than ever to put our nutrition first.
Reducing inflammation, and supporting our immune system with food is one of our first lines of defense!