The sweets thing is one that gets to me here.
Main meal dishes can be sickly sweet then you can be served a desert that is about as sweet as mashed potato.
This is done in the cultural belief that sugar makes you fat. Never mind the great lump of fat that just got carved up and dumped on everybodies plate.
What about:
I think it’s a damn fine tradition that one - but only if you can pick and choose which of the associated traditions you follow. As you say, some of the food you’re supposed to eat seem pretty dodgy (and not washing your hair for a month? :loco: )
Actually, it increases metabolism because the body expends energy heating it up.
[quote=“rantheman”]
but on the Chinese medical side, you body reacts by over heating (ruh chi).so it’s bad.[/quote]
You mean “re qi”?
Cold drinks will trigger a sneezing attack when you have an alergy. It’s a shock to the system. I also try to avoid walking barefoot on a cold floor. The bathroom is the worst place for sinus and allergy sufferers. Walking on cold tile makes it worse. In general, we should never shock our body.
However I do have a contradictory remedy for too much heat. I had something growing in my throat, a lump under my jaw. I ate ai yu and shien chao 3 days in a row (yes with ice on top- call me hypocrite) and it was gone! It was a painful lump and it disappeared. So sometimes it’s good to drink cold. But I think hot drink should be the norm and women shouldn’t drink cold during MC time.
Depends on the allergy. But I still call bullshit.
Rubbish. The front balcony and gardens are, at least for my allergy. Not all allergies are the same. Oh, and mattresses, if not properly cared for, are far worse for those with sinus problems and sinus-related allergies than a glass of cold water or a walk in the bathroom.
Well, you’re entitled to think what you want. Doesn’t make it right though.
MC time? Is that a new expression for “period”?
This must be one of the biggest myths about Asian culture, that their diet is healthier. Consumption of red meat is alive, well and typically sub standard in Taiwan. Why is Chinese food usually accompanied by chilli, spices etc? To mask its criminally poor quality.
yeah. a lot of this stuff is taught to me by my nagging wife (new one)!
by the way, i think the mediterranian diet should be pretty good. olive oil, garlic,red wine, fresh fish, GOOD meat like yeti mentioned earlier. you’re right about the meat quality here- sucks big time. i’m not italian, but when it comes to food, they do it better by far. they are totally into the details of meats, spices, etc. you could do no wrong eating just italian stuff!
Where I come from the most popular drinks are tea and beer that some people describe as ‘warm’ - because it’s not ice cold. When we visit the USA we usually bitch about the obsession with putting massive amounts of ice in cold drinks.
Airconditioning is regarded as an unnecessary luxury, and when it’s hot we open the window.
Since I come from a western country, I think ran needs to re-examine his choice of words. US culture may be a western culture, but western civilisation is not defined by US standards.
Cheers to you, Stragbasher. The West is made up of far more countries than this landmass that everyone mistakenly refers to as ‘America’ (forgetting that it is not America, but the Americas- two of them, one of which the U.S. is only part of).
In fact, the whole ‘Western’ thing is a bit misleading. South America is as West as the northern continent is, yet I doubt few would consider the cultures of Mexico and South American countries as Western, as it is so regularly referring to those in Europe and the States.
Then again, we have names mixed up across the boards, calling indigenous people Indians, whereas they’re not from India, and calling people from India East Indians, but then what if they’re really from another part of India? Did we forget that Columbus was an idiot who got lost and mistook this continent for another? Yet somehow the white supremists succeeded in calling the natives Indians. Now everything is confused… African Americans are black, yet Egyptians are equally African but not called so. The Middle East is technically part of Asia, yet we have to call them Arabs. Gosh, I could go on, but I think going to bed sounds better.
rantheman, it’s amusing how you state ludicrous claims as if they are established facts. So walking on cold tiles causes an allergic reaction? It’s certainly possible that walking on tiles could give you an allergic reaction, assuming there were some kind of allergen on the floor to begin with. Do your feet become red and itchy when you walk across your tile? That might mean your body is sending antibodies to the region. Allergies are caused by proteins your body’s immune system mistakes as foreign invaders, which cause the overproduction of antibodies. I’m not going to explain the steps from there that produce symptons, but suffice to say it has nothing to do with the tile being cold or hot 
If you are worried about it, clean your floor. I promise you that unless you are a one in a zillion case, your body doesn’t consider your tile floor as an antigen. If you want to give someone besides us Forumosans a good laugh, call an English-speaking allergist and tell them you’re going into anaphylactic shock because of your cold tiles and you desperately need an injection of epinephrine =)
Oh and about the complete rubbish concerning cold fluids…here’s a little experiment you can propose to your concerned Taiwanese wife. Go on a strict diet, where you eat only steamed white rice, vegetables, and tofu. Exercise regularly and drink MASSIVE amounts of ice water. Never consume water if it isn’t ice cold…and let’s see if you don’t lose that weight anyways, hmm?
look at it this way: why do people get sick after being in a chilled area for too long? their immunity goes down fighting the cold environment so they get sick. don’t go into eskimos. it’s a different situation. i’m talking drafts, not the freaking north pole!
Surely you’re not comparing being in areas colder than you’re acclimitized to for prolonged periods to drinking a cup of cold water.
no there’s no comparison. that’s what i just said you fucking moron.
Uh-oh, looks like someone’s been drinking too much hot water!
[quote=“rantheman”]In general, we should never shock our body.
[/quote]
Does that mean that we should avoid as much as possible orgasms?
I read somewhere once that when we orgasm, an enormous amount of tension is released from our muscles. Building up that tension and the sudden release of the same must be quite a shock to our bodies.
BTW, its a neat trick, using “in general” and “never” in the same sentence.
guys try it! warm drinks are definitley better for you. i was sneezing pretty bad the past few days, but warm oo long tea stopped it. i even know an MD who said if you drink warm drinks you’ll pretty much avoid getting colds and flu. but like i said, try it for yourself.
No, you don’t. If you do, please give me his or her contact info as I’d like to speak with this “MD”. You should spread the word across the world rantheman: you have discovered a near sure-fire prevention treatment for cold and flu: drinking warm drinks!
I think your credibility is suffering here, rantheman. Say something intelligent and redeem yourself.
Tetsuo, there’s really not much point being reasonable with the unreasonable. Maybe we should just give it up?
Well, derr-DUH, it’s freakin’ WINTER if you haven’t noticed, of course hot drinks are better for your system this time of year. The other 9 months of Taiwanese weather when it’s unbearably hot, I’ll continue to douse myself in ice cold tea and water, thank you. :loco:
I’d like to step up in defense of randanman. My wife drinks mostly warm drinks and I prefer cold ones. She’s thinner than me. Need I say more?
But I really think you need to contact the government, randan – they’re spending millions of dollars on flu vaccines as we speak, when all they need to do is instruct the populace to drink warm drinks.