Cod forsaken

Natural Health, April, 2005 by Hillari Dowdle

HEALTH FOOD often gets a bad rep--usually unfairly, but sometimes not. This occurred to me recently when I was exposed to one of the most delicious flavors I've ever encountered--and one of the most revolting.

To start on a high note, the Chai Peach Crisp featured in this issue (recipe on page 107) is fantastic--so good that after the taste testing, our staff fought over the leftovers. It's fruity, flavorful, complex, rich, and, above all, packed with good nutrition: a heaping helping of vitamin A and potassium from the (surprise!) canned peaches it contains, as well as the vitamin E and heart-healthy monounsaturated fats in its hazelnut-buckwheat topping. As a bonus, the spices--nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and a pleasing punch of star anise--stimulate the digestion, ensuring the dish not only goes down easy, but gets right on the job of healing and nurturing your body.

But that experience only made the ensuing assault on my taste buds more traumatic. Inspired by our cover story, "Detox" (page 56), Managing Editor Elizabeth Turner and I vowed to healthy up our diets, starting with a dose of cod liver oil. This old-school remedy is perhaps the best available source of omega-3 fatty acids, and a wellspring of the vitamin D that's so crucial to office-bound girls like us. It revs energy, boosts memory, alleviates PMS, and nourishes the hair and skin. I'd never been forced to take the stuff as a child (bless you, Morn), and so I had no prior experience. Sure, it sounded a little, uh, fishy, but with all those health benefits, how bad could it be?

Well, just one teaspoon left us sputtering, and running for the water cooler. Then I realized: This is the kind of thing that sends good-nutrition newbies scurrying back to IHOP. It plays into everyone's dread of what healthy food is, right along with dry-as-dirt bran muffins and gloppingly thick seaweed shakes.

Yet there's no reason why a beneficial diet can't be enjoyable. Having ventured the terrible along with the terrific, I appreciate even more finding sustenance in a package that's so pleasing to the palate. In fact, I'm all the more determined not to sacrifice such sensible sensory pleasures in the future. That's why I'm baking the Chai Peach Crisp this weekend--and why I've ordered my next bottle of cod liver oil in capsule form.