Episode 0361

Hello everyone and welcome to EnglishPod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we're talking a little bit about food and about your health.

That's right, today we're gonna take a look at our favorite, maybe, a kind of food. We're taking a look at the fast food, all these yummy, but not very healthy types of food.

Yeah, we are. So let's listen to our dialogue and when we come back, we'll be talking about what some of these foods are and what some of the phrases you've heard mean.

I'm hungry. Let's order up something to eat.

Okay, maybe we can order a soup and a salad from the restaurant down the street.

Well, I never seem to gain weight, so I don't mind.

Alright, we're back. So now let's take a look at language takeaway.

Language Takeaway

So first up on language takeaway is a very unhealthy food. It's called a chocolate sundae.

That's right. We wanted to order hamburger, French fries and a chocolate sundae. So, uh, chocolate we know what this is, the flavor that comes from cocoa. But what, what, what is a sundae?

Well, basically, a sundae is a kind of ice cream dessert. It comes in a cup or a bowl and it's usually vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and then oftentimes a cherry on top.

Okay. So, as you can see, the word is pronounced exactly like the day Sunday, but it has a different spelling in the end.

S U N D A E. Sundae.

Right. So this is a chocolate sundae. So when you see this spelling, a sundae with an E, that's the dessert. If you see it with a Y, that's the day.

Exactly. So chocolate sundae, actually a very delicious dessert, but remember, it's ice cream.

That's right. Now, all of these uh types of food, hamburger, a chocolate sundae, it's called junk food.

Junk food. Well, food you know. Junk, what is an example of junk, Marco?

Well, something that's not good or useful anymore. So maybe you have uh trash that you need to get rid of, like an old TV, that's junk.

So my mom would always say, throw away this junk. It's stuff that you don't need, so junk is things that you would throw away.

Yeah, junk food is the kind of food that's not healthy for you, it's the food that you shouldn't eat, but it tends to be really delicious.

That's right. So, for example, the hamburger, French fries, a chocolate sundae, all this would fall under this category of junk food.

That's right. And one of the things about junk food is that it's high in cholesterol. Now, what is cholesterol, Marco?

That's right. So you always have to be careful, your doctor says that you shouldn't have or you have to be careful about having high cholesterol. And that's just basically uh, it's a type of fat that is found in animal products, so for example, beef has cholesterol and it's dangerous because it could maybe uh cause health problems.

That's right. So my friend needed to lower his cholesterol and his doctor told him he should eat less red meat, eat more vegetables and fruits instead.

That's right. So cholesterol is a, you'll see it all the time when you're shopping, you'll see that it's low in cholesterol or no sugar or no calories, stuff like that.

Exactly. Now, a food that is very, very high in cholesterol is fried chicken, but it's also very delicious.

That's right. Fried chicken. Now, as uh as you see the first word there is fried, um and that means that it was cooked in, in hot oil.

That's right. And what's important to remember about most American fried chicken is that the chicken is usually put in a batter, so like a um milk, egg, flour sauce and then it's fried. So on the outside it's very, very crispy and uh and salty.

That's right. So it's covered in like uh in like a type of bread, like a crispy bread.

Yeah, that's right. It's uh it's usually very greasy, so when you eat it, you have lots of grease on your fingers, but one of the reasons it tastes so good is because as you say, Marco, it's fried in oil.

Mhm, that's right.

Very good. So, uh this is all the vocab that we have for language takeaway. Let's listen to the dialogue again.

I'm hungry. Let's order up something to eat.

Okay, maybe we can order a soup and a salad from the restaurant down the street.

Well, I never seem to gain weight, so I don't mind.

Alright, now it's time for some phrases on fluency builder.

Fluency builder.

So one of the first phrases is actually something that I'm excited to talk about because it comes up a lot in directions when we're giving people directions somewhere. So, uh, one of the people in the dialogue said, um, we can order a soup and salad from the restaurant down the street.

Right. So this is uh, you're basically telling the person where the restaurant is. And when you say something is down the street, it means that it's, it's nearby.

It is. It's nearby. It's on the same street or it's um just, you know, it's just a few minutes walk from where you are now.

Right, right. So you can say, uh, my apartment is just down the street from this park.

So it's very close. Or you could say, I know him, he lived down the street from me when we were children.

Uh-huh, okay. So he lived really, really close to you. Mhm.

Very good. Now, uh when we were talking about junk food and we were talking about how it's not healthy, we said that uh junk food clogs up your arteries.

All right. A couple important words here to clog up arteries. The verb to clog. What does that mean? Clog with a G.

It means it uh gets in the way or obstructs it.

All right. So, for example, if a drain, if in my sink, if a drain is clogged, the water does not go down. So the water starts to build and build and build and actually it's very dangerous because if it comes up too much, the water will go on the floor.

Um but that's a drain, that's a sink. If you're talking about the heart, you would say that cholesterol clogs up your arteries.

Right. So your arteries are like these tubes where blood passes. And of course, if they're clogged up, then blood can't pass.

That's right. And if it's very serious, people sometimes have to have heart surgery to to clear those arteries, to take the the blockage, the clogging away from the arteries.

That's right. That's right. Okay. So that is to clog something up or something is clogged up.

Now, uh moving on when we were giving suggestions, we said, all right, well, how about pizza or maybe some fried chicken. Better yet, let's order some hot dogs.

All right. Now, this is a great phrase, as you say, Marco, for offering a suggestion. You could say, I think we should eat hamburgers. Better yet. Okay. So what does this mean? This means I actually had a better idea while I was telling you my other idea.

Mhm, mhm. So it can be used in the middle of a sentence like here, right? It's kind of like an interjection. Better yet, you know what? Let's, let's get some pizza.

So it's better than the idea you just had.

Right, exactly.

Now, um towards the end, our friend said, you know what? You're a lost cause. What is that mean? What is this phrase mean? You're a lost cause.

You're a lost cause. Uh it's an interesting phrase. This is basically a way of saying, um I can do nothing to change you. You have a bad habit or you have this bad quality and anything I do, it's not going to help.

Right. So something that is a lost cause, it means it's hopeless, helpless.

That's right. I cannot do anything to change it.

Okay. All right, a lot of great vocab here. Let's listen to the dialogue one last time.

I'm hungry. Let's order up something to eat.

Okay, maybe we can order a soup and a salad from the restaurant down the street.

Well, I never seem to gain weight, so I don't mind.

Alright, so talking about junk food, we took a look at cholesterol. Now, uh apparently not all cholesterol is bad.

That's right. There are two kinds of cholesterol, HDLs and LDLs, and one kind is good for you and the other kind is bad for you. And so it's important when you talk to your doctor, you ask your doctor, um if the bad cholesterol is high for you. Because if it's the good cholesterol that's high, you're probably not going to experience health problems.

But if you have really high bad cholesterol, then that's something that you should think about when you eat and when you choose the kinds of foods that you eat.

Right. So usually, uh, you know, my, my doctor always used to tell me to not eat so many eggs because eggs are high in cholesterol.

That's right. Red meat and eggs, um and salty foods, I think. Mhm. But uh generally speaking, I think it's good just to to eat a lot of vegetables and to balance out your, your diet.

So vegetables don't really even have cholesterol.

No, they're low in cholesterol and I think um they also have a lot of vitamins and minerals that your body needs.

It's, it's very, very interesting because actually all food that is usually very, very delicious is high in cholesterol or high in calories. It's bad for you.

It's basically junk food. Yeah. So potato chips, hot dogs, um pizza, fried chicken, all of these delicious foods, they're all considered junk food and they're all really bad for you.

That's right. All right, a very interesting topic now. There are certain local types of junk food that uh people consider to be junk food. Like for example, if you go maybe to the Middle East, you'll have uh the wraps, right? That could be considered a type of junk food.

I guess, yeah, I think. Because it's fast, it's greasy. It is pretty greasy. All this delicious, like a shawarma wrap.

Exactly. So maybe you can let us know what local type of junk food you have. This is mostly American burgers, fries, hot dogs. What is it in your country?

Let us know our website is englishpod.com.

We'll see you guys there. Bye. Bye.

The English part audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Mixed vegetables served cold.

Salad.

Deep-fried strips of potato.

French fries.

A type of sandwich with a beef patty.

Hamburger.

Food that is not healthy.

Junk food.

To block or get in the way of something.

Clog.

A fatty substance found in animal tissue.

Cholesterol.

What do you think?

How about.

Bread with tomato sauce and cheese on top.

Pizza.

Chicken pieces cooked in hot oil.

Fried chicken.

A food with bread and sausage in the middle.

Hot dog.

A useless or hopeless situation.

Lost cause.

Bread with tomato sauce and cheese on top.

Pizza.

Chicken pieces cooked in hot oil.

Fried chicken.

A useless or hopeless situation.

Lost cause.

What do you think?

How about.

A food with bread and sausage in the middle.

Hot dog.

Mixed vegetables served cold.

Salad.

Deep-fried strips of potato.

French fries.

A type of sandwich with a beef patty.

Hamburger.

Food that is not healthy.

Junk food.

A fatty substance found in animal tissue.

Cholesterol.

To block or get in the way of something.

Clog.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Junk food.

I have junk food one or twice a week.

Junk food.

If you want to lose weight, you should try having less junk food.

Junk food.

The good thing about junk food is that it's fast and cheap.

Clog.

The water pipes in my house are clogged.

Clog.

Your toilet is clogged, you should call a plumber.

Clog.

Cholesterol.

Eggs are high in cholesterol.

Cholesterol.

Cholesterol.

It is dangerous to have high cholesterol levels because it can lead to health complications.

How about.

How about we go to the movies instead?

How about.

How about I cook and you clean the house?

How about.

How about we go on vacation this year?

Lost cause.

This company is a lost cause.

Lost cause.

He doesn't want to be helped, he is a lost cause.

Lost cause.