So I was looking forward to Dr F's personalised suggestions.. which are:
- pineapple - apparently it contains bromelain which helps the endometrium and implantation. As it happens, I've been chaining pineapple smoothies since an online Fertility friend recommended it so I'm up to speed on this one :)
- asparagus, black beans, adzuki beans, red beans, mung beans, eggplant, beets, bean sprouts - Ok, the asparagus and bean sprouts I can do although I don't eat them very often, but the rest?... My bloke hates eggplant (aubergine to my UK friends) so this might involve me eating large quantities of Baba Ganoush at lunch times... And the beans?!... I come from a home where I only ate pasta for the first time (not including spaghetti) in my late-teens. I thought my best friend's family were incredibly sophisticated because they regularly ate pasta shells! The only beans that I know how to cook are baked beans. In chili con carne dishes, I pick out the kidney beans because I don't like that mushy texture. I have no idea what to do with these beans and even my frantic Google recipe searching hasn't turned up much for the mung and adzuki varieties). Of course, this hasn't stopped me raiding my imported food supermarkets for all bean varieties I could find (black, red and mung beans so far). And are beets the same as beetroot?
- seaweed - Haven't admitted this one to my bloke yet.. he's from an Irish family and my mother-in-law actually posts him packages of Irish seaweed every year after they've been back home to the Emerald Isle for their summer holiday. I, of course, refuse to eat it... I will never hear the end of this once I tell him...
- shellfish--clams, oysters, mussels - No. Just can't do it.
- yams, pumpkins, pumpkin seeds - What exactly is a yam? Is it the same as a sweet potato? At least the pumpkin seeds are easy to get here in China.. now I just need to perfect the 'shove into the mouth, chew, then spit out the shells' maneuver that the locals have down to a tee.
- cherries, coconut, dates, figs, molasses, berries (as opposed to 'energetically cold' fruits: mango, watermelon, pear, cucumbers) - Berries & cherries, OK, though I'm not sure I've ever eaten an actual fresh cherry - btw, does summer fruit crumble count? I have a fab gluten-free recipe which is delicious :). Dates and figs... will I be able to buy these here in China? And what do I do with them once I have them? Need to look into this further... Molasses - ok now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that just sugar? What's the difference between that and black treacle? I ask, because I have a jar full of that in the cupboard after a disastrous ginger cookie experiment.
- turnips, watercress, dark leafy greens, potatoes, mushrooms - These seem more doable, once I get round the fact that bloke doesn't like mushrooms. Hopefully I can sneak them in without too much trouble. I don't think I've ever eaten turnip, but I know I can find it here. Not sure about the watercress, but I've already expand my dark, leafy green intake with my first purchase of Chinese kale and baby Swiss Chard yesterday (added to a chicken stir fry and used as salad leaves on a sandwich respectively... very nice).
I think it's worth remembering here that I'm already under diet restriction due to my Coeliac disease .. apparently my new TCM diet also needs me to cut out refined sugars and carbs, but at least that's easier because I can't eat most of them anyway. Though I am mourning the loss of my gluten-free baking/desserts which seem to use huge quantities of sugar and butter to compensate for the gluten-free flours :(
So how am I feeling about these suggestions? I guess if I can add any of these things into my current diet, whilst cutting down on white rice and sugars then I'll be moving in the right direction. Will I be able to incorporate all of these things into my diet on a regular basis? It seems unlikely, but I think I can live with that...
*is this coming across as an advert for Amazon? Other online book sellers and e-book readers are available..
PS - all recipe suggestions welcome!
