Over43 wrote:
I think you are right, superstition has wormed its way into the diet/health world. I had not paid much attention to that, but what people do to be "healthy" (juicing, raw foodism, extra money a month buying "health" products, etc...) is at times outlandish.
I don't know that I'd call it superstition, but extreme beliefs and behaviors and it's a result of our weight and health problems.
Something I've found interesting (found in all that reading I've done) is that these things aren't popular at all in places like France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Greece, China, etc. You know, all those places they naturally eat a wide variety of foods and eat moderately. They're dismissed as unnecessary -- something those crazy Americans do.
I think they follow the principle of "it it ain't broke, don't fix it." We have a very broken food culture, which includes everything from the growing and production of food to the purchasing, cooking, eating and enjoyment of it.
Something I found interesting is that the governments of those countries have, until very recently, found no need to get involved in the dietary practices of their citizens. No food pyramids, no "eat this, not that." They didn't have huge problems with obesity or chronic health issues from dietary causes. Since American-style food and eating practices have become more common, the incidences of those have increased and the governments are concerned. Their advice? To go back to the old ways of eating.
There are few vegetarians or vegans in those places and those who do follow those guidelines tend to do so for religious reasons -- certainly not "health" (or animal rights!).
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
