Vietnamese Health Tip #2: Buy and eat VARIETY

Tip #2, buy and eat VARIETY goes hand-in-hand with Tip #1 (eat FRESH), but it deserves its own number without a doubt. Thanks to the warm and wet climate in Vietnam, an extremely wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs grow abundantly here. Western culture teaches us to focus on certain "super" or "power" fruits and vegetables for the "best health." Grapefruit, apples, bananas, berries, kale, and spinach, the superfoods! Well folks, you might as well call Vietnam the Superman of Superfoods. While you may not be able to find your precious, pleathery kale, the endless other options will keep you busy for eternity My first time to the market, I just stood there in awe/disappointment - all of these vegetables, and no kale?! No baby leaf spinach, pre-washed in a bag?? How will I find my superfoods??! How will I stay healthy here?!

My feelings were silly and complete nonsense, of course. I have more produce at my fingertips now than ever before. And I've learned that the Vietnamese do not weigh one vegetable or fruit as "super" or "more nutritionally valuable" than another. Basil, sprouts, and lime are served with most Vietnamese meals, but generally, the people here eat ALL fruits and vegetables available to them. And not just produce - every type of fruit, vegetable, herb, meat, meat part, seafood, grain, all of them are popular in the market (assuming an affordable price). Eating this wide variety provides a whole package of protein, fiber, minerals, nutrients, and vitamins. Moreover, the variety keeps your body guessing - it challenges the digestive system on some days, and gives it a rest on others. For example, on a day where you eat a little less dark, leafy greens, and a little more cruciferous vegetables, you're giving your body a break, but still feeding it with other vital nutrients.

Sidenote: My urologist is ecstatic about my new, what I call, varietal vegetable diet. I had kidney stones a few years back, and the doctor has been begging me to cut back on kale and dark leafy greens (high in minerals that form kidney stones). So there you go, too much of a "superfood" can be a bad thing.

Included in this fruit and vegetable variety is the extensive use of fresh herbs. No need to mortar 'n' pestle or finely chop 'n' saute these bad boys. Just throw 'em into your soup or your salad or your sandwich (see photo at right - five types of herbs just for a small bowl of soup). Talk about heightened flavor. And even better, those herbs pack in a whole new set of nutrients: vitamins A/B/C, potassium, fiber, iron, phosphorus, and zinc, to name a few. These herbs also contain medicinal properties. For example, some (like sawtooth coriander, perilla, spearmint, Vietnamese mint, fish herb, garlic chives, and bitter melon) treat stomach pain and improve digestion. Others (Vietnamese lemon mint and perilla) strengthen hair and skin. Bitter herb, spearmint, and others can alleviate colds and the flu. And some have antibacterial/antiseptic properties (rice paddy herb, Vietnamese basil, fish herb, garlic chives, betel leaves, morning glory, among others).

The eating-in-variety pattern continues with meats, seafood, and grains. At almost any local Vietnamese market, the consumer can buy any part of an animal (from the head down to the hooves), and the wide array of seafood from fish to shellfish to squid is almost overwhelming. And what blows me away, every time I go to the market, buyers do not discriminate; they are buying everything. Incredible. (Hold that thought. More on Vietnamese lessons of "no waste," coming soon...)

Here are some examples of the produce variety that Vietnam offers in addition to the usual suspects in the Western world (***not an exhaustive list, of course***)...

Fruits

-Pomelo -Custard apple -Jackfruit -Durian -Rambutan -Longan -Dragonfruit -Soursop -Mangosteen -Star apple -Sapodilla -Gac Fruit -Grapes - includes a "black" varietal here

-Bananas - at least 3 or 4 types here -Melons - extensive variety here -In addition to coconut, pineapple, cherries, mango, papaya, passion fruit, and other more commonly known fruits

Many fruits have their own variety: here (from left to right) you see three types of banana, three types of rambutan, and lemons galore.

Vegetables -Tarot root

-Banana leaves -Pumpkin flower -Morning glory -Sprouts -Chayote -Bitter melon -In addition to the more commonly known: greens/ cabbage, cucumber, carrot, potato, tomato, pumpkin, onion, okra, mushroom, broccoli, squash, etc.

Herbs

-Fish mint (diếp cá) -Endive (rau đắng) -Cardamom (bạch đậu khấu) -Dill (thì là) -Vietnamese mint (kinh giới) -Betel leaf (lá lốt) -Lemongrass (xả) -Sawtooth Herb (ngò gai) -Peppermint (rau bạc hà) -Perilla (tía tô) -Rice paddy herb (ngò ôm) -Spearmint (húng lủi) -Vietnamese basil (rau quế) -Turmeric (nghệ) -Vietnamese coriander (rau răm) -And other more common herbs

Eggs

Duck, quail, goose, and chicken eggs, just to name a few.

Grains

As for grains, rice is certainly the most common staple. But even rice in Vietnam has an endless number of varieties. Each type has a specific use, whether for general steamed rice, rice flour, glutenous rice, rice paper, rice paper pancakes, noodles, etc. An array of legumes are also popular in Vietnamese cuisine, including mung beans, soy beans, among many others.

#EatVariety #HealthTip