Hi Axel,

I had said:
> >And then there's just that lovely habit of GLUTTONY.

You asked:
> without a smiley? do you mean it?

No!! I do not mean it! I apologize - I keep forgetting to be
thoughtful of the non-English speakers on the list. :(

No, no, I don't like gluttony either - my comment was just a lame
attempt to make a joke about the widespread habit of gluttony.

> i personally dislike gluttony VERY MUCH.

I agree. It doesn't feel good at the time, or afterwards.

I had said:
> >Lots of cultures encourage it, especially the ones where poverty and
> >starvation is part of the heritage.

You replied:
> it is very bad in my opinion that poverty exists, but gluttony don't
> you think is a no-no health-wise? sure it is a survival mechanism and
> all that, plenty of calories now maybe who knows when are we going to
> eat next, we survive and maybe our children will live, etc, but still,
> isn't it VERY unhealthy for several reasons, both long term and short
> term?

Yes, I agree with you 100%. What I meant was that the unhealthy
habit of overeating is often found in cultures where poverty and
starvation were part of the recent (or even not-so-recent) past, and
the reaction to those hardships still shows up in this generation,
even
when there is no longer any threat of starving to death.

I've seen this unhealthy habit almost treasured, and cherished, and
held as a very dear and familiar family "tradition" - where it's the
mother's job is to encourage the children and husband and all guests
who sit at her table to eat and eat and eat and eat - way beyond
anything that has to do with hunger or appetite. This is considered
to be the way the family shows caring. I've seen this in Chinese
families, Italian, African American, Jewish, Polish, and probably
others I'm not thinking of at the moment. (not to say that all these
groups ALWAYS have this tradition, or that other groups do not. I'm
just thinking of my own clients over the years).

Anyway, that's what I meant when I said that some cultures
"encourage" gluttony. When I work with people from families like
these, there's a lot of emotional connection, feelings of family
loyalty and tradition to the old ways, etc, that the person needs to
handle, when they decide to change to healthier eating habits.

> could i ask you specifically what do you work at? (just curious -;)

I'm a clinical nutritionist in private practice for about 20 years.

Love Liza
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[log in to unmask] (Liza May)