PHILIPPINE EATING LIFESTYLE

Food is a basic need for survival. For some, it is simply to meet their needs, but for others, it is a pleasure rather than a necessity. As a Filipino, do you ever wonder how your eating habits are influenced by your culture? Does the culture and people around you influence how and what you eat? And do you ever consider how this affects your health?

For a long time, the phrase “you are what you eat” has been used to help people comprehend that we are what we consume. It goes far beyond simply portraying who you are. It represents your culture and where you are from. What you consume, like culture, is unique to your own location. There are normally four meals every day for Filipinos: breakfast, lunch, merienda, and dinner. Aside from snacks, all three of the basic meals contain white rice.

BREAKFAST

Fried rice, also known as “sinangag,” has long been a favorite and the foundation of Filipino breakfast. This meal is made by combining leftover rice and toasted garlic. Sinangag goes well with a variety of dishes, whether fried or stewed. It can be Tapsilog, Longsilog, Hotsilog, or Tocilog. In which, sinangag is paired with fried egg or beef tapa, longgganisa, hotdog, or tocino. However, for Filipinos who cannot afford to cook these breakfasts, the leftovers from the night before suffice! Or, most times, Filipinos prefer processed foods. Pandesal and coffee are another option.

FILL IT STILL: Students from Cauayan City National High School-Main buys budget meals as their recess at Science, Technology, and Engineering canteen. According to the canteen managers, students often order foods that are cheap but heavy so that they can continue their day with a full stomach.

LUNCH

Normally, between noon and 1 p.m., Filipinos set aside their busybodies and leave their workplaces to eat. Filipinos who cannot afford or are too busy to cook at home usually eat lunch at carinderias or restaurants due to their accessibility and cheap cost.

A typical Filipino lunch contains a food variant and rice. It can be fried, stewed, or grilled; all paired with rice.

Sinigang, a traditional Filipino soup with a sour and savory flavor, is a popular lunch option for many Filipinos. With its vegetables, pork, and tamarind flavor broth, it is said to master the art of balanced flavors.

SNACKS

And, because Filipinos have an insatiable appetite for food, they eat snacks, or, in native tongue, merienda, in between meals. Typical Filipino merienda includes turon (deep fried banana rolls), banana cue (fried bananas cooked with brown sugar), chichirya (chips), and, of course, street foods, also known as turo-turo; it is popular among people from all walks of life, but especially those on a tight budget. Though there have been concerns about food hygiene and safety in the concept of turo-turo, it has been found that excessive consumption of street foods has been linked to food-borne illnesses such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid fever, and food poisoning. Filipinos can’t be bothered.

Dinner

Dinner is usually served between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the Philippines. This, like the other meals mentioned previously, includes rice. It follows the same set-up with lunch: rice and a dish of any variety, though some prefer smaller portions. A typical Filipino dinner could be tinola and sauteed vegetables.

Unveiling The Curtains Of Filipino Eating Lifestyle

With this, we can conclude that white rice is served with almost every meal. White rice has been regarded as a poor choice in the health industry because it has already been stripped of its nutritious contents. Brown rice is proven to be healthier than white rice, but it is less popular among Filipinos, most likely because it is more expensive. Thus, it is advised that an adult should consume no more than two servings of white rice per week. Children should eat no more than one and a quarter servings per week. But Filipinos eat more than that considering the times they eat their basic meals. Besides that, a recent study found that eating too many refined grains may increase your risk of developing heart disease sooner.

Moreover, Filipino foods are predominantly pork-based; with a high content of saturated fats and cholesterol, they pose the greatest health risk.

Furthermore, many Filipino dishes, including banana cue, spaghetti, and even tocino, are high in sugar. According to research, too much sugar is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular disease.

To summarize, the Filipino eating lifestyle is not generally healthy. Mostly because healthier food is more expensive; rice makes food bulkier; preserved foods are less expensive than raw foods; and fresh fruits are costly; and the Philippines isn’t exactly a high-income economy. As a result, we eat more rice, less expensive cuts of meat, fewer fresh vegetables and fruits, and a lot of processed food.