How to make flapjacks!
My older boy has passed a milestone, making his own meals. We don't do gender roles in this house. Of course the meal involves some sugar, because what kid would learn to cook roast vegetables as their first meal?
He's learned how to make flapjacks. Flour, eggs, milk as the base. And then a little sugar, vanilla essence and baking powder. 10 minutes of slaving over a hot stove, and breakfast is done.
Then I introduced him to roll up pancakes. Which is kind of a South African thing by the way. French crepes are way thinner, and American pancakes are way thicker. 😉
To make those, he uses flour, eggs, milk as a base. And then water, butter and cinnamon. Same base, different outcome.
To make a cake? Flour, eggs, milk. And then sugar, cocoa, icing sugar, and sugar.. and whatever else you are making.
Kind of like how our body does things. It takes basic raw materials and makes it into what it needs. For instance, to feel happy, it takes tryptophan, converts it to 5-htp, converts that to serotonin. And we feel happy.
But to sleep, it converts serotonin to melatonin. And we feel sleepy.
Science figured all this out, which is great. But now people say "I need melatonin!" and take melatonin. But what happens then is the body sees all the melatonin floating around, and doesn't make its own anymore. And now, you've messed with the body's balance, fighting to find what's making you feel ill. Same with estrogen, testosterone, dopamine, etc. If you jump to the end product, you can start confusing the body's intricate messaging system.
Just because you want cake as the outcome, doesn't mean you should go straight to cake. What if you need flapjacks instead? Or bread? Or pizza base?
So my philosophy is give the body the ingredients, or precursors if you will, and let it make what it needs. Don't take the shortcut to the end and you'll keep your body in balance.
For instance, the amino acids in The Daily Shake are precursors to Human Growth Hormone. And insulin. And nitric oxide. And neuro-transmitters. And dopamine. And norepinephrine. And epinephrine. And thyroid hormones. The body will make what it needs.
Much simpler, right?
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