Re: Good Calories, Bad Calories article

[Guest guest]

We just got back from our trip from Italy where everyone eats huge loads of

pasta and

pizza on a regular basis. Most of Italians are pretty slim and I didn't notice

any obese

people (except for a few American tourists). I'm wondering why that is. I don't

know the

statistics on diabetes etc in Italy, but I would be interested what you all

think about it.

Also, India has pretty low rate of diabetes, cancer, obesity etc and most

Indians (at least

before India became part of our globalization plan) are vegetarians.

Just curious...

Thanks,

Elena

>

> http://tinyurl.com/5opdml

>

> As an investigative journalist working in science and health, I've

> spent the last decade assessing the conventional wisdom on diet,

> weight control and disease. My conclusion is that much of what we've

> been taught since the early 1970s — most of which we've all come to

> accept — is simply wrong. This might explain why those same years

> have seen unprecedented increases in obesity and diabetes worldwide...

>

>

[Guest guest]

We just got back from our trip from Italy where everyone eats huge loads of

pasta and

pizza on a regular basis. Most of Italians are pretty slim and I didn't notice

any obese

people (except for a few American tourists). I'm wondering why that is. I don't

know the

statistics on diabetes etc in Italy, but I would be interested what you all

think about it.

Also, India has pretty low rate of diabetes, cancer, obesity etc and most

Indians (at least

before India became part of our globalization plan) are vegetarians.

Just curious...

Thanks,

Elena

>

> http://tinyurl.com/5opdml

>

> As an investigative journalist working in science and health, I've

> spent the last decade assessing the conventional wisdom on diet,

> weight control and disease. My conclusion is that much of what we've

> been taught since the early 1970s — most of which we've all come to

> accept — is simply wrong. This might explain why those same years

> have seen unprecedented increases in obesity and diabetes worldwide...

>

>

[Guest guest]

> We just got back from our trip from Italy where everyone

> eats huge loads of pasta and

> pizza on a regular basis. Most of Italians are pretty slim

> and I didn't notice any obese

> people (except for a few American tourists). I'm

> wondering why that is.

Elena, I lived in Italy for five years and, in my experience, Italians don't eat

as much pasta and pizza as might be thought. True, they eat pasta regularly,

but generally it is eaten in smaller quantities per sitting. By this, I mean

that when Americans eat pasta, it is generally the ONLY food being consumed at

that meal. As you know, Italians, on the other hand, will eat pasta or rice as

a first course (in much smaller quantities), and then have a second course of

meat/fish with vegetables, then cheese and maybe a piece of fruit (occasionally

a desert).

Another reason, I suspect, is that Italians don't drink sugary drinks with their

meals. Yes, they might have a glass of wine but then they generally will have

water with their meals...Not coke, Hawaiian punch or the other crap people in

the US drink.

As their diets are more nutritious than the average American diet, they don't

snack so much on carb-rich food that is nutrition-poor. As a result, they don't

get morbidly obese, though a lot of them, especially in the cities, are what we

could call skinny-fat, high ratio of fat to muscle.

One cannot claim that Italians vigorous exercise regimen has to do with their

slimness though. True they might be prone to take an after-meal walk, but

that's about it. And they smoke like chimneys.

[Guest guest]

> Also, India has pretty low rate of diabetes, cancer,

> obesity etc and most Indians (at least

> before India became part of our globalization plan) are

> vegetarians.

That's not true. About 30-40 percent of Indians are vegetarians. Working here

in Silicon Valley, I can USUALLY tell which of my Indian colleagues are

vegetarians...they are the chubby ones.

[Guest guest]

Sally Fallon said in one of her tapes that the Indians were vegetarians

but still healthy because there was a lot of bugs and bug poop, which

has a lot of B12, in their veggies.

Nothing to do with how fat or slim they are though.

On Oct 14, 2008, at 9:38 AM, Elena wrote:

Also, India has pretty low rate of diabetes, cancer, obesity etc and

most Indians (at least

before India became part of our globalization plan) are vegetarians.

Parashis

artpages@...

artpagesonline.com

[Guest guest]

I think even more important than the bugs is the fact that they prized

and consumed a lot of ghee. Ghee with something high in minerals such

as lentils can make for a pretty nutritious diet.

-

>

> Also, India has pretty low rate of diabetes, cancer, obesity etc and

> most Indians (at least

> before India became part of our globalization plan) are vegetarians.

> Parashis

> artpages@...

>

> artpagesonline.com

>

>

[Guest guest]

Elena,

> We just got back from our trip from Italy where everyone eats huge

loads of pasta and

> pizza on a regular basis. Most of Italians are pretty slim and I

didn't notice any obese

> people (except for a few American tourists). I'm wondering why that

is. I don't know the

> statistics on diabetes etc in Italy, but I would be interested what

you all think about it.

I second what said. I've been to Italy twice and I never

noticed Italians eating " huge loads " of anything. That is the common

American misconception: we eat a lot of pizza and pasta, which are

Italian foods, therefore Italians eat a lot of pizza and pasta. In

northern Italy, pasta is not even a part of the traditional diet. Meat

and cheese and seafood dishes are prominent throughout the country.

The concept that the " Mediterranean diet " is low fat and high carb is

erroneous and used by American diet " experts " to justify their dietary

recommendations.

Tom