Can't help much on the instincto question, not my specialty. Although
I'm sure there are many people on this list who can.

SAD stands for Standard American Diet. I guess the Internet can at times
be U.S. centric. Am I correct, Helio, in vaguely
remembering that you are from Brazil?

The stereotypical SAD is heavy in fats. 30-40%, or more, of the calories
in the standard american diet are in the form of
saturated fats from animal products or in the form of hydrogenated oils.

The carbohydrates in the SAD diet are frequently in the form of white
flour-which goes by many names. Unprocessed
whole grains are minimized.

The SAD diet is frequently high, and getting higher, in the many forms
of processed sugar.

Factory processed & cooked foods are the norm in the SAD diet. Fresh
fruits and vegetables are minimized.

The SAD diet is high in fat and sugar, low in fiber.

The SAD diet is believed by many to be a main cause, although not
necessarily the only cause, for the degenerative
diseases. Such as heart disease, atherososclerosis (more common
than"heart disease"), some forms of dia betes, and some
forms of arthritis. Other diseases associated with the SAD, IMO(in my
opinion) are gout, diabetes, some allergies,
asthma, gall bladder disease, and constipation caused diseases.
(Incidentally, diabetes and asthma have report edly
increased by 30% in the U.S. since 1960)

Some orthodox nutritionist are coming to realize that some diseases have
a nutritional origin and a nutritional
solution.Although at the present time, a high quality organic raw diet,
seems to be too simple and too rad ical for most
people. (Am I alone in thinking that the american public, in general,
shies away from the word radical now more than
ever? And that while we may recognize some problems, we are only willing
to consider solutions that are easy a nd
"comforting")

I have thought a few times that a post listing the diseases believed to
be associated with the SAD diet would be
interesting.

But for me, that's it for now, time to go to work.

Best of luck

Roy Siegel