My Analytical View on FLIPFAGs, Sugar Addiction And A Culture of Dysfunction


Somehow I noticed how sugar addiction is a huge problem among Pinoys, especially among the FLIPFAG population. Whenever I go to a milk tea store like Chatime and the like, I noticed how more often or not I am in the minority who don't want sugar into his order. On the other hand, I have noticed that most people in general, whether they are FLIPFAGs or not, usually prefer to have sugar into their milk tea. Back as a child, I noticed how there are more children who end up drinking their milk with sugar while I had grown up drinking milk without sugar, and I usually enjoy a glass of warm milk without sugar.

Don't get me wrong... sugar itself is not an inherently evil substance or harmful as our body needs it to function properly like it needs salts and fat in moderation. If you think of it, sugar is found in a lot of stuff like fruits contain fructose, milk contains lactoce and glucose is found in honey and grapes. Sugar gives calories, carbohydrates, energy and skin health benefits (which is, the less processed the sugar, the more you get of these benefits). However one has to realize that not all sugars are beneficial as for one, white sugar is already refined removing the nutritional value of sugar at the same time, it has undergone some chemical change. In chemistry, a chemical change is when there is more than just a change of appearance, there is also a change of composition. When you cook a banana, notice that the taste of banana changes after it's cooked. The same goes for sugar when it's being processed. When sugar is being processed, you should expect there is a change of composition. Sugar cane water will have the full benefits of sugar, muscuvado or raw sugar will have less benefits, brown sugar will even have lesser benefits than raw sugar and white sugar will have the least benefits of sugar.

What I have noticed is how more often than not that Pinoy diet can have too much sugar than the body needs. While there's nothing wrong with eating turon (banana wrapped in lumpia wrapper and fried with brown sugar), camote fries, banana q or any sweet treats but too much of it can be very dangerous. I have observed how more often than not is that, soft drinks had ended up becoming a substitute for water hence raising the risks of diabetes. I remembered how a Pinoy instructor of mine once said, "It's a problem that majority of Filipinos are heavy softdrinks drinkers!" At the same time, you might see a lot of people in the Philippines have a snack meal that's too sugar packed- turon, soft drinks and ice cream. That is, instead of drinking it down with water to help regulate the sugar, soft drinks had become more commonly drank than water. You may also find commercials in the Philippines like Tang's commercial where children found regular water to be boring until it was mixed with Tang. While I do drink Tang drinks, but come on, we all need more fresh clean water than Tang! Tang for one contains LOTS of sugar so that's why I personally avoid drinking it too much especially I have a history of diabetes.

While a healthy amount of sugar can boost the brain's ability to think but what I have noticed is how excess sugar is the enemy of your brain. I would admit that I would eat a dark chocolate bar before I'm studying for a major lecture, it helps me cope up with my ADHD/Asperger's. Why is added sugar an enemy? Just think, salt is needed to give your kidney a proper function but too much salt overrides the kidney. Likewise, too much sugar is making the brain absorb more than it can handle like overloading your car with more gasoline than it can carry. Excess sugar can be converted as excess body fat. While the brain does need fat to function, too much fat will clog up the arteries and overwork the heart which makes blood flow really slow or really fast. If the brain cannot get the right amount of blood pumped into it or if the brain is overworked, you might consider that the brain gets itself fried up from overwork. Worse, a lack of exercise may contribute to that factor since the body does need to burn calories to regulate fats and sugar at the proper level. We all need to exercise to burn away EXCESS calories and fats to maintain the body's level of a healthy amount of sugar and fat in order to function properly.

What is probably noteworthy is when I observe how more often than not, many Filipinos choose white sugar (which is super refined) over brown sugar or how they complain something is "not sweet enough". Brown sugar (which I currently use for almost anything that I need sugar to like making buttered toast or pastries) has more nutrients especially if you use the muscuvado variety which is the least refined sugar. Again, I do still use white sugar at times but brown sugar is better but it is less sweet compared to white sugar. Considering how Failipinos/FLIPFAGs want to be in an eternal state of bliss, they may want to choose anything that tastes sweeter. I will admit, that brown sugar doesn't really taste as good as white sugar even if it's supposedly healthier. However for the FLIPFAG diet, apparently they want more sugar in their sweets. For example, if turon would only require a scoop or two of brown sugar, they may want an entire pack of white sugar used in the production of any sweets involved. It was just like my experience when I was eating Gelatisimo (I better try to cut it down considering it's pricey), they said that I was paying more or less sugar or that in another instance, they complain how a certain Filipino dessert lacks the sugar punch they want. Worse, it can be observed how more often than not, you see them excessively use latik (caramelized sugar mixed with coconut oil) on almost any Filipino sweet treats even if the delicacy had the right amoutn of sweetness.

Filipino-style spaghetti is definitely another that may show a sugar addiction more often times than not. Did you know that the Italian way of preparing spaghetti (which has less sugar) is healthier? When I think about adding sugar into the tomato sauce, it does diminish the nutritional value of the sauce. Again, sometimes I do add sugar if the tomatoes I am using happen to be too sour but as much as possible, I prefer not to add white sugar into the mix so I can maximize the nutritional value. However, it seems to be already an act of "nationalism" for some FLIPFAGs to never eat spaghetti unless it's Pinoy style, never mind that the influence comes from Italy and was brought to us by the Americans and it was modified for our taste. What is worse is that, more often than not is, they add more sugar than usual which in turn, kills the nutritional value of the tomato sauce, perhaps in the name of nationalism. Tomato sauce is rich in lycopene which helps fight cancer, unfortunately when it becomes too sweet, the nutritional value is diminished, perhaps even to point zero.

At the same time when I think of the fact they want things sweeter, isn't it also what is going on with the culture of dysfunction no thanks to David Guerrero and his stupid slogan "It's More Fun in the Philippines"? I remembered all the sweets like polvoron which some of their boxes wrote, "Sweets: More Fun in the Philippines" as if there aren't other better sweets around the world or at least, there aren't any more fun sweets. I am thinking why in the world did David Guerrero even copy the slogan from Switzerland? As of recent, Switzerland ranks no. 1 in the world happiness rank and that country is very, very disciplined compared to the Philippines. One of the biggest commercials of fun in the Philippines is the advertising of barrio fiestas, I do not deny foreigners do find it a tourist attraction. The whole idea of sweets might be conveyed on how occasions in the Philippines aren't complete without a whole array of desserts. Now I do like dessert, I admit I do like sweets but sometimes, a barrio fiesta can be very bad for the health that aside from too many oily or fatty dishes, the sweets may end up becoming sweeter than usual.

The news media would always try to sugar coat everything like how ABiaS-CBN and its associate networks like ANC (ABiaS-CBN News Channel) always try to sugar coat the truth. Like it or not, ABiaS-CBN is a network that just loves to keep telling only half of the truth and mingle it with a lie with all sorts of sensationalist practices in journalism. For example, they tell you that the stock market is at a high peak but they do not tell you that the Philippines may soon suffer from an economic crash. They tell you that the economy is doing good never mind that as long as protectionism prevails, the need for OFWs will just keep increasing and that too much reliance on labor export is NOT a good thing. If the economy is really doing good, then why is there still too much need to send Filipinos to work abroad right? Wow, spare me the stupidity of FLIPFAG economicsbecause it's obvious, if you are an OFW, you are a WORKER and you must submit yourself to the rules of the foreign country, not you are invading your country for the Philippines.

More often than not, entertainment is treated as want rather than a need, that is dessert is given more priority than a healthy meal. There is nothing wrong with desserts, just make sure you've eaten a proper meal and you don't eat too much of it. As a fan of Rurouni Kenshin, I still felt disappointed to hear how the whole event ended up getting too much focus rather than the issues that was going on in the country. I mean, I was even afraid that the cast might end up complaining about the NAIA (hence resulting to persona non grata) or end up in an MRT accident, problems that are more important than their arrival. During the One Direction concert, it's upsetting to see how unlike other One Direction fans, the One Direction FLIPFAG fantards treat it too much a big issue that Zayn Malik left the group (come on, if they are really fans, please respect his decision of leaving the group) while ignoring the reality that President Nobita's administration is really one of No Directionor the Mamasapano Encounter is a real issue to deal with, not One Direction's concert.

As I mentioned, there is usually the desire to be always in an eternal state of bliss. Somehow, I view that there is a possible connection between the happy go lucky culture of the Philippines with its sugar addiction. After all, whenever I say, "Ang pait naman." or "How bitter." there is always the joke or insult that says, "Eh lagyan mo ng asukal." or "Why don't you add sugar?" instead of helping out the person from their problems. In fact, as the old Mary Poppins' song from Disney goes, "Just a spoonful of sugar, most people just can't discern fact from fiction. No matter how much you try to sugar coat a situation, you cannot get rid of the truth. For one, David Guerrero really needs to address why if "It's More Fun in the Philippines" why is it 89 places BELOW Switzerland where he got his inspiration for his ghastly slogan on the first place!

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