I think what is more scary is the fact that nothing much has change. Guess I'm all grown up, boring and stuff.
Anyway, onto the good stuff at least!
It hasn't always been what I anticipated but it has been a fun challenge. Two years ago I began studying a degree part-time which I believed combined my love for food and science with a touch of marketing and business science. I have learnt some very cool science'y things (like I want to stand in front of a giant white board and draw chemical equations) yet I've found it really interesting that the most common questions I get asked are "what is the best diet to be on?" and "what do you think about Banting?". Like everything in life, there is always so much more than the latest craze or what someone's best friend tried. So to answer those two questions, my answers would be "well it depends".
I first encountered the idea of the "Banting Diet" when reading a fat wedge of a book titled 'Diet Delusion' by Gary Taubes (check out the link for his website, definitely worth a look). It has taken me about two years to (ashamedly) read the entire thing, but I like to think that Nutrition textbooks and blogs have kept me busy... Taubes is effectively a science writer and in his book he expertly explains the theses, studies, claims and laws that we have come to know that have shaped the nutritional world and knowledge as we know today. Everything from FDA regulations, things like 'MyPlate' and simple eating guidelines are theoretically based upon reams of studies which either were funded by pharmaceutical companies (such as a study's conclusion "confirming" the use of statins for low cholesterol food products); or were funded with a specific hypothesis in mind yet the results were contradictory to the study's goal and thus the study and its findings simply disappeared - most notably of these are those which prove that the use of a higher fat diet (rich in PUFAs and MUFAs) actually combat against heart disease, in an age where the law and food companies were pro low fat.
Fast forward to restaurants offering Banting and Paleo friendly meals with cauliflower mash (spare me), Banting or Paleo diets have done wonders to get people to eat more vegetables and I'm delighted that these diets have encouraged people to want to know more about where their food comes from and eat with intention.
I think there's an entirely new post on the topic of knowing where your food comes from, disregarding the dogmatic approach of being neurotically fascinated with eating only organic.
Speaking of great, awesome, whole foods, I definitely need to update my restaurant reviews! The above picture was taken of a dish from one of my favourite artisanal restaurants, Parc Cafe, based in Glenwood. A monumentally massive 100m walk from where I work an about 500m from where I live. I count myself incredibly lucky!
Please check out Parc's Instagram page and website! I'll be sure to write up a review soon and have LOADS of delicious pictures on Instagram for you to peruse too.