Re: Ecuador diet - 11 lb of sugar a week, no meat and nice teeth

[Guest guest]

I think there is still so much we don't know. For example, maybe genes play a

huge role and

those with the genes to handle this diet survive? Is this a traditional diet?

What kind of sugar?

Do they use some plant regularly to clean their teeth that may be more effective

than modern

dentistry? I wouldn't assume I could live a healthy life on an Eskimo diet

because my genes

would be so different. We all know some people live long healthy lives with some

" bad

habits, " and some have all the " right " habits and get sick or die anyway. The

more I think I

know the more I need confounding data to keep me in perspective.

>

> I'm looking through the " Hungry Planet " book I finally got and am

> stumped at the role of diet in Ecuador. These people have very nice

> teeth, well-developed heads/faces etc. and eat 11 lb of sugar a week

> (in a family of 9, some of them very small). They eat no meat or eggs

> and only 1.8 gallons of milk a week for all of them. Their diet is

> mostly starches with some fresh fruit/vegetables. They do eat mostly

> whole grains tho and get A LOT of exercise. Hmmm. It seems there are

> no simple rules for what works and what doesn't.

>

[Guest guest]

It was brown sugar they bought in an 11 lb cake so I'd guess it was

pretty close to " raw " sugar. They did have some herbal teas like

corn silk and using some seeds. One thing that struck me that I

didn't mention is they had the least amount of processed foods of

just about anyone - no oils, noodles, etc. at all. It said they'd

break off chunks of the sugar to eat and also use it in hot water to

make a drink. Maybe with all that mountain climbing they just wore

it off.

--- In , " mhbowes11 " <mhbowes@...>

wrote:

>

> I think there is still so much we don't know. For example, maybe

genes play a huge role and

> those with the genes to handle this diet survive? Is this a

traditional diet? What kind of sugar?

> Do they use some plant regularly to clean their teeth that may be

more effective than modern

> dentistry? I wouldn't assume I could live a healthy life on an

Eskimo diet because my genes

> would be so different. We all know some people live long healthy

lives with some " bad

> habits, " and some have all the " right " habits and get sick or die

anyway. The more I think I

> know the more I need confounding data to keep me in perspective.

>

> --- In , " haecklers " <haecklers@>

wrote:

> >

> > I'm looking through the " Hungry Planet " book I finally got and am

> > stumped at the role of diet in Ecuador. These people have very

nice

> > teeth, well-developed heads/faces etc. and eat 11 lb of sugar a

week

> > (in a family of 9, some of them very small). They eat no meat or

eggs

> > and only 1.8 gallons of milk a week for all of them. Their diet

is

> > mostly starches with some fresh fruit/vegetables. They do eat

mostly

> > whole grains tho and get A LOT of exercise. Hmmm. It seems

there are

> > no simple rules for what works and what doesn't.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Maybe their soil and water is rich in minerals.