The Wonders of Nutrition and Roadmaps to Recovery

[Book Recommendation]

Meet Dr. Ang Poon Liat – an unconventional doctor, despite 45 years in practice.  By unconventional, I mean that his views and recommendations are not what you will usually expect of a medical doctor. Most medical doctors do not follow or do nutritional research and will adhere to what they had been taught in medical schools decades ago. Dr. Ang, on the other hand, knows that true well-being cannot be achieved by medicine alone. He takes interest in nutrition and is a strong believer that one of the foundations for good health is good nutrition.

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There is very strong evidence that many of our modern diseases are directly caused by poor nutritional practices.  Our children today are already the 8^th generation fed on processed modern foods since the Industrial Revolution began in the 1760's. Their bodies have reached zero tolerance for any more processed foods. Because of this, we are seeing many of these chronic degenerative diseases, including obesity, diabetics, heart disease, chronic inflammatory diseases, cancer as well as mental and behavioural disorders like autism, Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder, Alzheimer, schizophrenia, etc. Scientists are concerned that that the children today may die from these chronic diseases before their parents. The good news is: these acquired diseases can largely be reversed with a change of diet. A nutrient-rich diet of natural, unprocessed foods is the way to go.

I am thankful for an opportunity to attend Dr. Ang’s talk (organised by Rise and Shine) on 7^th Nov and a face-to-face interview with him together with 2 other moms after the talk. Together, we asked him some burning questions that we, as moms, have.

With Cindy, Charlene and Dr. Ang

Dr Ang believes that while this generation is living with the fear of being diagnosed with cancer, the future generation is likely to be plagued with behavioural and mental disorder, like those disorder mentioned above. He boldly made that statement based on his 40 over years of practice as a pediatrician. So he encourages us, mothers, to start feeding our children with brain food, particularly chicken and eggs. And no, not any chicken any eggs, only free range/kampong chicken and free range/kampong eggs. The kampong chicken get to exercise (roam about) and enjoy sun bath/fresh air unlike caged chicken which have none of these. Kampong chicken feed on worms while caged chicken feed on corn/grains. Kampong chicken are also not given antibiotics or hormones injection. Kampong chicken give kampong chicken eggs. One distinct difference of a kampong chicken egg as opposed to a ‘normal’ egg is in the yolk. A kampong chicken egg yolk is orange in colour while the other type is yellow.

Dr. Ang went on to share that how food is prepared affects the nutrient level too! He advocates stewed, boil or steam as high temperature cooking destroys the nutrients. So what is Dr. Ang’s typical breakfast? A glass of vegetable juice, two soft-boiled eggs and a pack of natto (fermented soybeans). And he exercises everyday. Truly, a doctor who walks the talk!

Dr. Ang also strongly encourages us to eat wild caught fish and grass-fed meat, besides kampong chicken and eggs. But it wouldn’t come cheap eating wild caught fish and grass-fed meat, so I asked him how could we go about doing that so that it is easier on our pockets. His solution? Eat smaller fish. When one goes to the market, try asking the fishmongers for wild caught fishes that are smaller, they are much cheaper. Eat grass-fed meat only once in a while, and try to cook your meals at home as often as possible.

I also asked him how do we manage a more balance diet if we have to eat out. He said, if we can’t afford restaurant food, hawker food is a lot better than fast food restaurant. As a general guide, choose soup-based, non-fried, rice instead of noodles, more vegetables, no gravy/sauce, etc. 

I’m very thankful to be able to attend this talk arranged by Rise and Shine, and to be able to have a closed session with Dr. Ang. There is so much more to learn from him and I am glad that he has penned them all down in his books.

If you are keen to buy a copy of the set (which I would strongly encourage you to), you may get them from Thomson Medical Centre or www.thomsonbaby.com  

The books are retailed at S$80. All profits will be channelled to charity.