Hi Thomas,

> Alan:
> >Here's a bit of interesting reading for you..and
> >perhaps others
> >
> >http://www.veg.on.ca/newsletr/novdec96/evolution.html
>
> Tom:
> I share Kirt's general assessment of the cited link. If you carefully read
> the papers of Prof. Milton, you might share my view that the authors of
> the link above are sloppy at best, and misleading at worst.
>
> I encourage folks to read the writings of Prof. Milton, and make your own
> assessment of the above cited link.
>
I waited a while before commenting on this. It was (admittedly)
a dirty trick on my part to demonstrate to the U.S.A. some of the
poor research and unfounded theories coming out of that self-same
country. Top marks to at least you and Kirt (wherever you are from)
for acknowledging.

To be honest, I often get the impression sitting here in 'ol
Germany that food regimes are treated as some sort of a religeon
(or maybe a substitute for a religeon) by many in the U.S.A.
Words like "dogma" and "guru" and "movement" are certainly not
common here when it comes to food regimes. Admittedly there are
a number of different food regimes being bandied around (even
the latest "fad" diets from the U.S.A.), particularly in the
yellow press, but the general public view is (at last) that
most diets are stupid or even downright dangerous as they
usually result in the so-called yo-yo effect (I'm talking
about low-calory diets here rather than vegetarianism
cooked or raw). OTOH, everybody (and I mean everybody) is
at least aware that they should eat more fruit and salads
(which is raw veggie) and most even strive to do so. I get
the impression that in the U.S.A., because it is a bigger
country with a larger obesity problem and also a much higher
population, one can make millions from selling dietary
books (particularly also worldwide because of the number of
countries who also speak, or understand, English). This is
just not true in Germany as the number of people who speak
German (Germans and Austrians and a few Swiss) is relatively
small in comparison. The same applies to other European
countries such as France, the Netherland, Belgium etc..
Thus the number of fakes and freaks publishing and
successfully selling books here is rather limited.

Best regards,

Alan