I don’t generally think of myself as a vain person, but then again, there’s this incident I remember from high school: some friends and I were assembled at my house so that we could all ride together to a party. As we were getting dressed in our Spandau Ballet-inspired finery (then the height of fashion), one of the barkada produced, from out of the depths of his bag, a can of mousse, which none of us hapless males had ever seen or even heard of before. Naturally, we all had to squirt some into our hands and smear it on our hair. Not knowing that we were then supposed to blow-dry or otherwise style it, we left the house feeling snazzy, while looking pretty much the same as we had prior to applying the mousse—at most, our hair was a little damper, vaguely crispy in texture, and certainly stickier than before. But we felt utterly transformed. We felt gwapo.

These days (long past high school, thanks), I don’t exactly wander around feeling gwapo, but according to a survey by global research firm Synovate last year, a good many Filipino males do—48% of us, in fact. This is just a slightly lower percentage than males in the U.S. at 53%, and considerably higher than our Asian neighbors: 25% of Singaporean men think they’re sexy, and only 12% of guys from Hong Kong.

Moreover, while less than half of us (which is already a significant figure) think that we’re God’s gift to Pinays, a whopping 84% of Filipinos rate their looks as “quite” or “very” important to them. Assuming that the survey is accurate, this means, statistically speaking, that there is no male racial group on earth vainer than Filipino men. And, to my shock, I am one of them.

I have the uncomfortable feeling that female readers will not be surprised to learn that Pinoys are full of themselves. I myself was astounded by these figures, and I don’t think my wife has stopped laughing yet.

Which is why my male friends and I were delighted when our favourite hangout announced the availability of whole wheat bread and pasta as options, instead of the regular offerings. Pasta and bread made from whole wheat flour and enriched provide healthy stuff: vitamin B1, B2, B3, E, folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, iron, and fiber. And a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that a healthy body weight is linked to choosing food made from wheat.

So we all made the shift. Wheat works, and it’s delicious to boot (must try: Salmon and Asparagus Whole Wheat Fusilli).