- Anything Else -

Your guess is as good as mine

Posted by: Darya ( USA ) on September 09, 1999 at 22:58:14:

In Reply to: Then what should we be eating? posted by Deep Dad Nine on September 09, 1999 at 11:19:29:

: Yes, that's an interesting point. It begs an old question on this forum: What are WE (Americans) supposed to be eating? And a better question might be: What are American bodies programmed to eat. It may not be a simple question to answer given the diverse combinations of ancestories of Americans. Another good question might be: How long does it take for a dietary program to instate itself in the human phisiology to the degree that, if the body goes off the program, health problems will ensue?

>>>DDN your guess is as good as mine. Almost everyone in America is of mixed ethnic backgrounds, so that is a hard question to answer. As for the diet problem, I have no idea on the particulars but be assured that I will look.

: Perhaps we should all be eating whatever the ealiest civilizations were eating? If not, shouldn't we at least be looking at what our ancestors ate before they started getting fat, violent, and stupid?

>>>Hmm that seems true. I think that if we skip the processing and eat more natural organic foods we would all be alot better off.

: Perhaps we only need to rewind our diets 50 years or so before PROCESSED foods became popular. Were people dropping dead of cancer and heart disease 100 years ago at the rate they are today? My understanding is that 50% of all males that are alive today will die of cancer. Has anyone else heard this statistic? Is it true? Where does it come from? I think its terrifying and very very telling.
: I think it should be very obvious from stats like this one that we have taken a bad turn somewhere.

>>>Yes we have taken a wrong turn somewhere indeed. The cancer statistic you mentioned seems a little high (its probably somewhere around 30 to 40%, still way too high), but nonetheless cancer is still one of the top ten preventable killers in America today.
No people 100 years ago didn't suffer from all of the preventable lifestyle diseases that we have today. But we should keep in mind that their main killers were things like the flu, gastrointestinal disorders, bacterial infections, and the like. However, this makes me wonder even more that if we weren't eating processed food loaded with chemicals, how long could we live a healthy life? Perhaps many years past the standard today? Quite possible.


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