Think pink, drink and eat pink

I love pink. Pink stationery with matching pink envelopes, pink ball pens, pink music boxes were just a few of the pink things I used to hoard. I love wearing pink, it’s very feminine, although they say it takes a real man to wear pink. When I’m feeling blue, I just put on something pink. And now, especially for October, as we celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, people are thinking pink, wearing pink — even drinking and eating pink!

Those who attended the launch of Rustan’s Supermarket and Dove’s partnership campaign “In the Pink of Health” to raise breast cancer awareness and support couldn’t wait to sink their teeth into the deliciously pink-inspired menu cooked up just for the occasion by innovative chef/author/teacher Beth Romualdez and her Rustan’s Supercenters, Inc. team. The mere sight of the pretty and pink dishes was enough to banish the day’s blues and blahs. There were the delicately rolled pink chicken lily sandwiches, the fragrantly pink and succulent salmon gravlax, the pink fettuccine with primavera sauce, laden with cherry tomatoes as well as a lot of pink sweet treats like pink and green macaroons and strawberry-filled cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Truly berry good! And to wash down all this deliciously pink food were the fresh pink juices (think raspberry iced tea, pink lemonade, pink grapefruit, pink guava juice) and rose wines from Club Des Sommeliers. These are offered for a limited period only at Gourmet-to-Go at Rustan’s Fresh Rockwell, Makati, and Shangri-La Plaza.

Surely, a lot of pink ingredients went into this pink menu.  “The pink in the pasta comes from sugar beets,” says Beth Romualdez, Rustan’s Supercenters, Inc. (RSCI) vice president for the food service division and herself a breast cancer survivor for 13 years now.

She adds, “I just thought of pink food like salmon (rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A and B12, and high-quality protein) gravlax that we do ourselves, pink fruit juices, basically healthy foods except the pink macaroons. We have to ‘sin’ a little, right?”

In the pink of health, RSCI’s indefatigable president Donnie Tantoco shares, “Tonight’s event is a celebration of life, beauty, and health. Rustan’s has been looking after the needs of women for over 40 years already, and we continue to provide them with quality products to help them care for themselves.”

While the pink menu takes care of the body, here’s how you can share and nourish your soul. Roving ICanServe booths can now be seen at select Rustan’s Supermarket and Shopwise branches on weekends to promote breast cancer awareness, disseminate materials on breast cancer, and give shoppers a chance to support the group through the purchase of featured ICanServe items.

Needless to say, everyone who attended the affair was tickled pink!

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Super curious about superfoods?

A reader asked where superfoods (which Dr. Elizabeth Micaller tackled in a previous issue) are available. To those who may be super curious about superfoods, which are on a lot of people’s lips these days, below is a mouthful of info.

Superfoods are really abundant in our markets now, but they are not tagged as such. Here are some sources for these needed superfoods:

• Sea algae. These come in the name of spirulina and chlorella. You can get these from any health food store and there are also networking companies who sell these.  In fact, we have a manufacturer of spirulina in Subic and it is a sight to  see how these algae grow so quickly.  For top-of-the-line sea algae, Klamanth blue algae, there is a local distributor — you can call Sunil (he is one of my students) at 09175207988.

• Green food concentrates. For these, we have a product called ABW (meaning alfalfa, barley, wheatgrass) from Whealth Corporation and it’s sold at Mercury Drug.  Or you can call the company’s product manager Beth at 09175060868 or 09223058373.  There you can also find alfalfa tablets, barley tablets or drinks while wheatgrass is sold in some supermarket stalls now.  I use liquid chlorophyll from alfalfa and I source it from a company called Synergy (call Au Cruz at 09174235242). 

• Aloe vera. The local brand I use is from Organic Basket and you can have some delivered to you by calling 998-5979.

• Whey.  The only source I know locally for whey from cows that are grass- and not hormone-fed is the clinic of Dr. Robin Navarro at Cityland, Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.  I am sorry I do not have his number, but if you visit this condominium, you can simply ask the guards for his clinic.

I hope the above helps.

Many thanks and stay well and happy.

— Ma. Elizabeth Micaller, PhD, ND, CCII, NMD, Organix Nutraceuticals International, Inc., www.organix-ph.com