Loathesomeness of Food

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

What happened to the Buddha's "divine eye" that could supposedly see a perfect stranger's former and future lives? Why didn't he know what happened, and why didn't he foresee this mass suicide inspired by his teachings?

The Buddha's divine-eye and knowledge of others' spiritual potential was working fine. He foresaw that due to their previous unwholesome kamma they were destined to die in this way. That is why he left strict instructions with Ānanda that he should not be disturbed for a fortnight. It is also why he gave them a meditation object that would develop disgust and loathing for the physical body.

In the case of Mahā-Moggallāna's murder too, the Buddha could not intervene to prevent it. That does not mean that he did not know it was going to happen.

Some kammas are like a ball shot along a billiard table — it's course can be altered by hitting it with another one.

Some kammas are like a bullet shot from a rifle — it's trajectory can be deflected by strong armour, but one cannot dodge it or see it coming.

Other kammas are like a large meteor. Not even a nuclear bomb can deflect it from its course.

[Spiny Norman]

I don't think I will ever find ice-cream loathsome.

[Cormac Brown]

I don't think I will ever find ice-cream loathsome.

What if someone threw some at the back of your head? Or if you pulled back your duvet to find your bed soaked in ice cream?

Eating it, it's unpleasantly cold, full of sugar which is practically poison for the human body, and fat which causes all sorts of complications, too. The actual pleasure is pretty pathetic compared to the drawbacks. It also takes work to obtain, and to make, none of which is pleasant. Also, likely, if you saw the process of how it's actually made, from cow's udder to tub, it wouldn't be too pretty. It requires the suffering of cows and people alike to maintain it, and all for a brief hit of pleasure. And, like all food, it turns into something pretty revolting in not too long a time.

[samseva]

I don't think I will ever find ice-cream loathsome.

Depending on which brand you buy, you could be eating large quantities of whipped pork fat. If the brand you buy is from Unilever (Breyers, Magnum, Ben & Jerry's, Klondike), you could be eating a GM protein from the blood of an eel-like animal called an ocean pout.

This week, it was revealed that Unilever, who own Wall’s, Magnum, Carte d’Or and Ben & Jerry’s, have applied to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for permission to add to a diet range of frozen fruit ices a protein created using GM technology from the blood of an ocean pout, an eel-like creature that lives in the North Atlantic.

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... cream.html

[SarathW]

How do I know whether ice cream got animal fat?

[samseva]

How do I know whether ice cream got animal fat?

Read the ingredients.

[Cormac Brown]

I don't think I will ever find ice-cream loathsome.

Depending on which brand you buy, you could be eating large quantities of whipped pork fat. If the brand you buy is from Unilever (Breyers, Magnum, Ben & Jerry's, Klondike), you could be eating a GM protein from the blood of an eel-like animal called an ocean pout.

This week, it was revealed that Unilever, who own Wall’s, Magnum, Carte d’Or and Ben & Jerry’s, have applied to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for permission to add to a diet range of frozen fruit ices a protein created using GM technology from the blood of an ocean pout, an eel-like creature that lives in the North Atlantic.

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... cream.html

How revolting. It's really bizarre how there's still a stubborn and stupid part of the mind that seems to say, "I'm not going to let that put me off." I mean, really. Maybe it's one's duty to let that put one off.

As a side note, excellent headline. Rare but mad props to the Daily Mail.

[Cormac Brown]

I mean, why on earth would you need to add that. To ice cream.

Well, at least they're "diet" ice creams.

Lordy.

[Cormac Brown]

How do I know whether ice cream got animal fat?

Well, it's supposed to be mainly cream anyway, which is largely animal fat. However, if you mean fat taken from under the flesh, it's us Brits that have to worry about that more - our childhood-favourite ice-cream van "whippies" apparently used to contain considerable quantities of lard. It's more likely that your ice-cream consists mostly of vegetable oil, with a drop of reconstituted milk, and a load of sugar and E-numbers. Unless you go for the high-end brands, in which case you're mainly shoveling in cream (animal fat and protein), eggs (chicken-periods) and sugar (practically a poison).

[Cormac Brown]

A good article on the food industry, focusing on a fair highlighting the latest trends in food engineering:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle ... -your-food

A pastry chef in gleaming whites rounded off his live demonstration by offering sample petits fours to the buyers who had gathered. His dainty heart- and diamond-shaped cakes were dead ringers for those neat layers of sponge, glossy fruit jelly, cream and chocolate you see in the windows of upmarket patisseries, but were made entirely without eggs, butter or cream, thanks to the substitution of potato protein isolate. This revolutionary ingredient provides the “volume, texture, stability and mouthfeel” we look for in cakes baked with traditional ingredients – and it just happens to be cheaper.

"Mouthfeel..."

Even our fruit and veg aren't safe:

Tired after hours of walking round the fair, and, uncharacteristically, not feeling hungry, I sought refuge at a stand displaying cut-up fruits and vegetables; it felt good to see something natural, something instantly recognisable as food. But why did the fruit have dates, several weeks past, beside them? A salesman for Agricoat told me that they had been dipped in one of its solutions, NatureSeal, which, because it contains citric acid along with other unnamed ingredients, adds 21 days to their shelf life. Treated in this way, carrots don’t develop that telltale white that makes them look old, cut apples don’t turn brown, pears don’t become translucent, melons don’t ooze and kiwis don’t collapse into a jellied mush; a dip in NatureSeal leaves salads “appearing fresh and natural”.

[samseva]

[...] sugar (practically a poison).

Sugar gets a bad rap, but it's just pure glucose and fructose (it is fine in small quantities). The reason why it might be unhealthy is that is is a pure and concentrated form of carbohydrates. Eating large amounts of it is a bit like putting jet fuel in a car.

[Cormac Brown]

http://naturalon.com/10-of-the-most-can ... g-foods/3/

Foods that give you cancer. Number three: farmed salmon. Here's a fact-filled paragraph:

These fish are fed unnatural diets and are contaminated with chemicals, antibiotics, pesticides, and other known carcinogens. They live in very crowded conditions which results in these fish having 30 times the number of sea lice than wild salmon. Farmed salmon are fed chemicals to make their meat that reddish pink color that should occur naturally but doesn’t because of the diet of chicken litter that they are fed.

Sea lice and chicken shit. And cancer. More for your money.

[Cormac Brown]

[...] sugar (practically a poison).

Sugar gets a bad rap, but it's just pure glucose and fructose (it is fine in small quantities). The reason why it might be unhealthy is that is is a pure and concentrated form of carbohydrates. Eating large amounts of it is a bit like putting jet fuel in a car.

I've heard it does your liver no good.

[Cormac Brown]

I never thought I'd say this, but...More from the Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... -diet.html

[samseva]

I never thought I'd say this, but...More from the Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... -diet.html

My post regarding the GM protein from Atlantic pout blood wasn't serious (pout blood shouldn't be a problem if you eat meat). Although many things mentioned in the article you mentioned (although regulating sugar like alcohol is ridiculous) is true or somewhat true, it is highly sensationalized (or blown out of proportion), like most of what the Daily Mail publishes.

http://ridiculousdmheadlines.tumblr.com
http://shouldireadthedailymail.com