Philip > I was about to say that Lance Armstrong is another example of someone who consumes large amounts of modern carbs (in his case, massive) without symptoms of modern illness and with very good vital stats, but then I realized that he had testicular cancer, for which I can't rule out a diet connection. However, I don't doubt there are athletes who achieve optimal health mainly through exercise and exercise is certainly another major factor in health.

I made this point on another list I'm on, a high intensity weight training list, and everyone freaked out.  But I argue that Lance hasn't been anywhere near optimal *fitness.*  He's ridiculously overtrained -- overtrained more than any other human being in the history of this big ball we inhabit -- in order to reach his goal of winning the TDF.  He'll continue to see the effects of this throughout the rest of his life.  *Optimal* fitness can be obtained by an hour to an hour and twenty minutes a week of exercise.  Anything beyond that is done for reasons other than fitness.

Jim