Inconsistent data on soy milk.

[ravenreed]

I thought beans and rice were cheap EVERYWHERE! Now I know.

I am sorry things are hard there. I have an in-law who is a Filopina, but she grew up in the states. I am trying to remember the foods she used to cook for me, but they were pretty heavily meat based. How expensive are pasta type things where you are? I am thinking of Pancit... (is that how you spell it?)

Edamame are the actual soybean pods that you boil and pop out the little beans to eat. They are like peas, but a little firmer in consistency.

As for corn, it is okay. I consider it a starch. It doesn't have huge amounts of protein. I would rely on peanuts for protein, not corn...

Originally Posted by Lia_Vaumont

Isn't rice also a food that's highly laden with starch? In regards to corn, (just like everything else) shouldn't it too contain some significant amount of protein? And according to one online article, corn contains lutien, quite a number of macro (or was it micro?) nutrients and a fair amount of vitamins. Also, it's the cheapest I can afford at the moment (being 20 pesos per kilo, unlike rice which would be 45 to 50 pesos depending upon the grade/quality/breed). Are there any greens which contain significant amounts of protein? Beans and their ilk are somewhat hard to come by here, and when you do manage to purchase them, they're canned and not the fresh ones. Peanuts are affordable though, and I snack on them whenever I can get my hands on a pack (they happen to be my favourite snack ^_^ ). The closest thing to tofu in the Philippines (my country) I'm afraid is taho (since Japanese tofu can only be bought in restaurants specializing in Japanese cuisine, and they price it highly) ; a type of snack similar in consistency to tofu, and it's made with the same ingredients, however it is only processed via boiling the soy beans and adding some sort of coagulant (or so I am informed). Perhaps that's what the Japanese call edamame? I happen to love beans, but I just can't get my hands on cheap ones. Alas, for an orphaned kid with no next of kin, life can be harsh here...

[Lia_Vaumont]

Originally Posted by ravenreed

I thought beans and rice were cheap EVERYWHERE! Now I know.

I am sorry things are hard there. I have an in-law who is a Filopina, but she grew up in the states. I am trying to remember the foods she used to cook for me, but they were pretty heavily meat based. How expensive are pasta type things where you are? I am thinking of Pancit... (is that how you spell it?)

Edamame are the actual soybean pods that you boil and pop out the little beans to eat. They are like peas, but a little firmer in consistency.

As for corn, it is okay. I consider it a starch. It doesn't have huge amounts of protein. I would rely on peanuts for protein, not corn...

So you have an in-law who is Filipina? That's wonderful to know! Yes, it is indeed spelled pancit, and it is a type of noodle dish derived from the Chinese method of stir-frying noodles and adding chunks of meat (usually pork), and vegetables. It comes in two forms here: the dry noodle type which can be bought at convenience stores for some 20 or so pesos; however that kind is laden with monosodium glutamate (MSG) and sodium, so, even if it's cheap I try to steer clear of that whenever I can. There's also the fresh noodle kind, called miki, which can be purchased at market-places, but they cost more since they're whole wheat. A half-kilo of fresh miki would cost some 30 or so pesos, (equal to a kilo of rice) due to the fact that they're made from (according to the producers) whole wheat. As for pasta, well... we only have the dried pasta-thingies that come in plastic packs which you soften in boiling water. Some old eateries here (two, I know of) still make fresh pasta noodles, and I eat some occasionally (when the budget allows). I'm afraid that I can't consume as much pizza products or pasta products as I'd want due to budget restrictions, and also for the fact that I have psoriasis/eczema on my scalp (just a mild one), and I've read from a medical book that one is supposed to lessen the consumption of tomato-based products to lessen the symptoms.

I also consume green tea (around three to four cups or so a day). It has antioxidant properties, and I've read that it helped blocked DHT to a certain degree. Besides which, I like the taste of green tea. ^_^

I've looked up edamame on google. That's what we call 'balatong' here. Silly me, I thought it was some kind of tofu dish. Lol. ^_^ Well, it's cheap in the fresh-market! 15 pesos per kilo. I guess I'll incorporate that to my cooking now! Thank you so much for informing me of that! ^_^

Originally Posted by Fractalsofhair

Soy milk isn't horrid for you. At the very least, it will add some calories and fat to your diet.

Corn would have some protein in it. Fish has a lot of protein in it as well. (Nuts of anysort generally have a decent amount of protein and fat.) I would suggest avoiding a soy supplement though. Beans are wonderful, as are lentils.(If you can, get seeds and grow your own! It's easy!) Whole grains do have protein in them as well, and a decent amount. Processed grains have very little.

The soy drink that I have is the powdered type, and the ingredients list whole hulled roasted ground soy beans as the main (and only) ingredient. Is that in any way the same as soy-supplements, or are those supposed to be in some sort of tablet/capsule form?

Originally Posted by Anje

Combining beans/lentils with corn should give you "complete proteins." Specifically, what you want is a combination of foods that will give you all the amino acids that your body is unable to synthesize. Are you able to find dry beans? They take a while to cook, but are less expensive than canned. Also look at some of the traditional local food combinations (beans and rice or corn are a common one, which is why I brought it up), because the combination is usually in place for nutritional reasons.

Keep munching the peanuts. They're great for you, and they're a good source of the B vitamin niacin. There have been some ugly episodes of niacin deficiency in US history when people have eaten corn bread as a primary source of calories.

Don't be too worried about rice (or corn or anything else) being laden with starch at this point. You need to eat as nutritious a diet as possible, and that should include calories from carbohydrates including starch, protein, and fat. The hype you see online about starch, fat, etc. is being targeted at people who are trying to keep weight off because they have too much to eat; don't let it concern you too much.

I'm afraid I haven't found market-places here which sell dry beans. There are the supermarkets, but their prices are more often than not beyond my capacity. They sell them in so little an amount for an unreasonably high price. As it is, I've only a pension to sustain me at the moment (of a thousand pesos per month, which would roughly be some twenty or so dollars when converted to your currency), with the rest of my earnings being gotten from tutorials and various odd jobs such as encoding, article and thesis writing, and literary editing/proofreading, which don't pay much at all. It does however help, and I'm glad for that. ^_^

I also have a vitamin supplement to back me up on my lack of nutrients.

Thank you for the advise! I will keep looking for beans and lentils to integrate to my diet. ^_^

[ravenreed]

Yep, she married my favorite cousin and I adored her as I was growing up. She was the first truly long haired person I ever knew as her hair was past classic. I have not seen her in quite a few years though.

Originally Posted by Lia_Vaumont

So you have an in-law who is Filipina? That's wonderful to know!

[Lia_Vaumont]

Originally Posted by ravenreed

Yep, she married my favorite cousin and I adored her as I was growing up. She was the first truly long haired person I ever knew as her hair was past classic. I have not seen her in quite a few years though.

During the colonial periods, it was common for all the women in our culture to grow their hair very long. ^_^ I hope you get to see her soon.

I say, perhaps the cause for my hair loss/shedding is due to a condition called telogen effluvium? Still, I'm afraid it might be genetic, since my father, my grandfather, my grandmother, and my aunt all experienced some degree of hair loss (my granddad, in the old pictures, was totally bald). That's really what I'm afraid of. In addition, another person (username: Emichii) stated that

'Soy Milk is not recommended for people with thyroid problems or androgenetic hair loss though as it can contribute to the hair loss.'

I've also noticed that since drinking the soy milk formula, I've experienced more shedding. However that could also be the cause of my lack of sleep (since I have bouts of insomnia occasionally) and lack of protein in my diet. I'm thinking about stopping on the soy for a while...

[Fractalsofhair]

Soy supplements probably aren't the same as the dried soymilk. Generally, soymilk in the states is just ground up cooked soybeans with some vitamins added and maybe some flavor.(So, you're fine!) The supplements are generally tablets, and advertised as such. They cost wayyy more than regular soymilk. They can be found in a powdered form, but they would probably be advertised as such. They're soy beans that have been processed a lot.

Can you afford eggs? They're normally very cheap in US markets(Like $1 for a dozen, which is about the cost of Ramen noodles, which are dirt cheap.), and a wonderful source of protein and fat if you're on a limited diet.(They are not the most healthy thing if you have options such as beans and vegetarian options, IMO, but opinions may differ.). If hunting is legal where you are, since you do eat meat, many people on limited budgets who don't like beans/pasta eat meat they've hunted themselves, or sell it very cheaply. (Perhaps local fishermen would give you a discount if they know your situation? Local farmers always give me discounts when I need food for a charity I work for.) Are there any charities where you live that function as a food bank? Welfare from your government? Dried pasta isn't the worst carb for you either, if it costs less than cornmeal and leaves you with money for other carbs.

Also, I'm more likely to think your hair loss is due to poor diet than anything else. Men do often end up totally bald, compared to women.(One of my uncles has thinning hair.)

[Lia_Vaumont]

Originally Posted by Fractalsofhair

Soy supplements probably aren't the same as the dried soymilk. Generally, soymilk in the states is just ground up cooked soybeans with some vitamins added and maybe some flavor.(So, you're fine!) The supplements are generally tablets, and advertised as such. They cost wayyy more than regular soymilk. They can be found in a powdered form, but they would probably be advertised as such. They're soy beans that have been processed a lot.

Can you afford eggs? They're normally very cheap in US markets(Like $1 for a dozen, which is about the cost of Ramen noodles, which are dirt cheap.), and a wonderful source of protein and fat if you're on a limited diet.(They are not the most healthy thing if you have options such as beans and vegetarian options, IMO, but opinions may differ.). If hunting is legal where you are, since you do eat meat, many people on limited budgets who don't like beans/pasta eat meat they've hunted themselves, or sell it very cheaply. (Perhaps local fishermen would give you a discount if they know your situation? Local farmers always give me discounts when I need food for a charity I work for.) Are there any charities where you live that function as a food bank? Welfare from your government? Dried pasta isn't the worst carb for you either, if it costs less than cornmeal and leaves you with money for other carbs.

Also, I'm more likely to think your hair loss is due to poor diet than anything else. Men do often end up totally bald, compared to women.(One of my uncles has thinning hair.)

I see. Thank you so much for the clarification! ^_^

Wow, eggs sure are cheap there... Then again, the dollar to peso rate at the moment is some 43 pesos to one dollar. Eggs by the dozen here would typically cost some 100 or so pesos depending on the quality and size of the egg, so I just buy them everyday (at one per day), which costs me 5 pesos at the local market. Also, if they have those brown shelled chicken eggs (what the locals here call native eggs), those cost cheaper since they're made from breeding chickens and not feeding them layer formulas unlike the store bought ones. I also eat them oh... twice or thrice a week with the corn. I've rediscovered the mung bean! Lol. If the mung is a type of bean then mixing it with a grain (such as corn) will make it into a complete protein yes?

There's nothing to hunt here, and although there are tiny birds, they don't have much meat in them. The nearest farm is too far away, and so are the wharfs where the fishermen and the fish-trade flourish. I'm still looking into government welfare, but our government, although modeled after your own, sucks. If there were charities that function as food banks here, vagabonds would be happier, but no, they don't. Not everyday. They only have that on holidays like Christmas, national holidays like Independence day, and of course election day. Dried pasta costs more than cornmeal. By mid-month I'm gonna buy 5 kilos of so of brown rice (cheaper than white rice, since people here believe brown rice is food for only the poorest of the poor). My stock of cornmeal will be depleted by then anyway...

The last one makes me cringe... cause... here's the thing... I'm transsexual. Y'know... M to F... not on anything yet, but I've identified with the F gender since childhood... just don't have the resources to correct/change this shell y'know? Hair's like the vestige of my femininity, that's why I'm very troubled in regards to losing it. I... I was sort of reluctant in posting that fact here since I was afraid of adverse reactions... I might've triggered one now in my saying it. I do hope I didn't though...

[nowxisxforever]

Originally Posted by Lia_Vaumont

The last one makes me cringe... cause... here's the thing... I'm transsexual. Y'know... M to F... not on anything yet, but I've identified with the F gender since childhood... just don't have the resources to correct/change this shell y'know? Hair's like the vestige of my femininity, that's why I'm very troubled in regards to losing it. I... I was sort of reluctant in posting that fact here since I was afraid of adverse reactions... I might've triggered one now in my saying it. I do hope I didn't though...

I think you'll be fine here. LHC is pretty open-minded and welcoming in general. We all come from different walks of life and that's recognized.

I don't really have any input on the proteins and everything, unfortunately, but I do wish you luck!

[Lia_Vaumont]

Originally Posted by nowxisxforever

I think you'll be fine here. LHC is pretty open-minded and welcoming in general. We all come from different walks of life and that's recognized.

I don't really have any input on the proteins and everything, unfortunately, but I do wish you luck!

Thank you very much! ^_^