2020 Update- created SouperBowl 2.0, details below:
Began with data gatheringI figured I could optimize the bowl in a more scientifically rigorous way. So I went back to the drawing board and decided to de-construct the healthiest diet. I followed FDA's daily recommended values to determine the variables I would optimize. First thing I did was to scrape all the nutritional values for as many vegetables I could find on the internet and consolidate the findings in a consistent framework.
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Started Weighing and Optimizing Next I took a look at all the vegetables that were available to me. At the time I had become a resident assistant so was still able to live and eat at the UCLA dining halls. I weighed each vegetable and began experimenting by scaling them as appropriate. I had a few priorities. First constraint was that I wanted to minimize the caloric value so as to allow space for meals other than the SouperBowl to enjoy in a day. Second constraint was that I wanted to use as few number of ingredients as possible so as to make this entire operation as easy and feasible as possible.
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ResultsA bowl that:
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The Discovery- SouperBowl 1.0
As 2016 was coming to an end, I wanted to change my food routine and began doing rigorous research to optimize my diet for nutrition and energy. After reading article after article, book after book, I felt overwhelmed. You should eat “carrots as they're great for your vision”, “tomatoes as they are packed with antioxidants”, beans, pepers, onions, garlic...
How could I, or any human, eat 150 portions of different vegetables in a day?! |
As I went to BPlate (the best dining hall at UCLA, the US and the world!) with this frustration, the salad bar really spoke to me like it had never before. All the vegetable options conveniently chopped up next to each other.
So I decided to get a bowl and put all the vegetable options in it and eat it. BRILLIANT. |
Except it tasted like a cardboard box chopped up into a bowl. There was no way I could eat that everyday. So I looked for ways to spice things up (pun intended). I wasn't going to put on any dressing, obviously. So, I decided to get the cooked protein plate and eat my salad bowl side by side. Great my bowl now had gained some flavor and packed the full variation of the 21 amino acids! As I kept trying to make eating this a routine, I began mixing up the cooked protein options with my veggie bowl instead of trying to eat it side by side. This at least added some variety to my meal. I could eat something more fatty and tasty mixed with the bowl of veggies. Good but not good enough.
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Some time later, I began to notice the soup bar. I am mediterranean and we love a good bowl of soup, so, I decided to give it a shot. This was a revolutionary pivot in the progression of the Souperbowl. Whilst the veggies were dry and the cooked protein option had added some flavor, now I also had better texture. As I began having the soup, I soon discovered how much better the salad bowl tasted when supplemented with the soup. WOAH! Shortly after I began coordinating my food so that I would first take a sip of the soup and then have a spoon from the salad. I was actually really enjoying the food and looked forward to eating it everyday: Huge Progress!
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The meal was finally tasty. It was healthy incorporating the perfect ratio of veggies, protein as well as healthy fats. But it wasn't convenient. Getting 3 plates of food and carrying them all around and mixing things up. FINALLY, after weeks of testing and iterating, I got the bright idea of just mashing everything into one bowl. Looks, sounds and IS very unconventional. Wouldn't that be disgusting?
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I didn't really care, I was loving it and here was the birth of the SouperBowl. A super meal that I eat twice a day that has enough fiber to make your digestion system thrive, enough nutrients to make you sharp as ever, enough protein to help you with what some may call, GAINZ, and the variety that scientifically speaking you can only have the same Souperbowl once in every 89729112602 times a day.
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Introducing SouperBowl
Not only does it optimize your health, but it also checks every pillar of an optimal meal:
Healthy: an all natural meal that can be tweaked and optimized whether you eat right for your blood type, follow the bulletproof diet or have specific dietary requirements.
Cheap: How much does one kilo of carrots cost, seriously.
Convenient: In a dining hall it takes me 3.5 minutes to prepare. Else, I prepare all veg’s on Sunday for the week ahead and can mix and match accordingly in the coming weeks. Compartmentalize the vegetables and the proteins to save you time on mixing process.
Tasty: I love it. It never gets boring as it never tastes the same, packs so many flavors, and is full of all the veggies I love. Many disagree but I say don’t judge before you try it.
Healthy: an all natural meal that can be tweaked and optimized whether you eat right for your blood type, follow the bulletproof diet or have specific dietary requirements.
Cheap: How much does one kilo of carrots cost, seriously.
Convenient: In a dining hall it takes me 3.5 minutes to prepare. Else, I prepare all veg’s on Sunday for the week ahead and can mix and match accordingly in the coming weeks. Compartmentalize the vegetables and the proteins to save you time on mixing process.
Tasty: I love it. It never gets boring as it never tastes the same, packs so many flavors, and is full of all the veggies I love. Many disagree but I say don’t judge before you try it.
Step By Step:
Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover - Some wise man who liked lots of books that would've loved the SouperBowl