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5 Vietnamese Health Tips from Quy Nhon-nomnom

My husband and I celebrated our one-year anniversary in Quy Nhon, which quickly proved itself to be Quy Nhon-nomnom, thanks to its delectable seaside geography. Vietnamese flavors plus the freshest of seafood, I was in heaven.

Even though we were on vacation in a small beach town for only a few days, my education on Vietnamese healthy living did not go on hiatus. In short, what did the people of Quy Nhon teach me?

1. Seafood - Quy Nhon-ers and its visitors eat a lot of seafood, due to the close proximity of the sea of course. There are two lessons surrounding seafood - a) Eat local and fresh - that is, eat the food that is naturally available to you - and b) Cherish seafood as an excellent source of lean protein. When you have such quality seafood at your finger tips, no need to negate its health benefits with heavy sauces and oils. Almost all of the seafood we had in Quy Nhon was simply prepared, either grilled or steamed with Vietnamese herbs.

2. Walking, dynamic stretching, and football on the beach - The soft sand feels comforting in-between your toes, and it's also a pretty great venue for activity and exercise. In fact, very few Quy-Nhon-ers were just "lounging" on the beach. Walking, running, playing football and other sports. Stating the obvious perhaps, but the sand provides more resistance on the legs - thus productive for muscles and heart rate. And even those more stationary folks on the beach were doing dynamic stretches (that is, active stretching or propelled stretching).

3. Fresh ocean air and sounds of the waves - An ideal ambiance for meditation, stillness, and disconnection from the outside world. Sure, you can get this at any beach, but I felt especially at peace in Quy Nhon - very few tourists and people around, and no typical "beachtown" distractions.

4. Kayaking, biking, yoga, and swimming - Not sure if this was unique to our accommodation, but our hotel staff kept pushing these activities on us. "Did you go to the yoga class this morning, Mrs. Danau?" And the next morning, "Good morning, Mrs Danau. Did you go to the yoga class this morning?" Another instance - my husband and I attempted to relax on the beach for a moment. We ordered some beers, and bam, there's the staff again - "Mr. and Mrs. Danau, would you like to go kayaking? I can bring the kayaks for you." And when we wanted to take a taxi to the nearby fishing village - "Are you sure you do not want to take a bicycle? It's a very nice 17km ride." Perhaps our American bodies simply screamed, "Help us! Need! Exercise!" but in any case, the staff was very proud of the activity offerings :) And it worked, my husband and I did quite a bit of kayaking and swimming and felt better for it (especially after all of that bia a.k.a. beer).

5. Sand sauna - Recently I've read a lot about the health benefits of saunas - sweating out the toxins, etc. (More on this in a future post, as I've learned a great deal about sweating from the Vietnamese). But a sand sauna, this was a first for me. Turns out, when you're covered in hot sand in a hot room, sweat proliferates. And the session ended with a sand exfoliation of the entire body. Quite energizing, I have to admit.

And there you go. Vietnam did it again. We ate our way through Quy Nhon, AND returned home feeling rejuvenated, energetic, and, as we say in good ole Tennessee, fit-as-a-fiddle.

And there you go. Vietnam did it again. We ate our way through Quy Nhon, AND returned home feeling rejuvenated, energetic, and, as we say in good ole Tennessee, fit-as-a-fiddle.

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