At 3:58 +1000 14/7/1999, Wally Day wrote:

>There are groups all over the world, from India to
>Europe to North America who's diet is comprised mostly
>of grain/legume mixtures.

I am not aware of any groups of people who eat a grain- and legume-based
diet and who can be considered 'healthy'. Could you please provide
references (or descriptions) of such groups?


>My conjecture is that these folks - as long as they
>stay off meat - may stay very healthy. It seems the
>unhealthiest (and fattest) folks around are those who
>"mix" meat and grains/legumes.

Perhaps people who eat grains and legumes without meat are thin because
they are malnourished and their bodies are unable to extract the required
nutrients from their food.

The rural southern Indian people who eat mainly grain and legumes, and
often a completely vegetarian diet, have the highest rate of CHD in India,
and the lowest expected life-span.

Once again, I refer you to Loren Cordain's excellent article.


>Two points here. One is that most of the studies I've
>read about the unhealthfulness of grain have been done
>on populations that do mix meat and grains in their
>diets.

Most populations do mix meat and grains. The article I quoted in my
previous post indicated that only four of 123 hunter-gatherer groups
derive more than 80% of the volume of their food from gathered sources.
In contrast, 75 of the groups derived less than 30% of their intake
from gathering.

It is therefore difficult to find a vegetarian population to study.

I also wonder whether collection of shellfish was classified as hunting or
gathering -- this is a distinction which has skewed the results of similar
studies in favour of gathering. If this is the case, the figures would be
even more indicative that primitive peoples choose animals as their primary
source of food.


> And how do you explain the robust health of
>groups like Seventh Day Adventists who eschew meat
>from their diet and rely mostly on grains/legumes?

At the risk of offending any Seventh Day Adventists and possibly any other
religious people on this list, I explain their apparent robust health as
propoganda.

The studies I have read regarding the health of Seventh Day Adventists have
been performed and published by their Church. I find myself wondering how
many other studies with less-favorable results the Church has performed on
their members.

I would certainly not expect the Church to undertake a study with the
intention of proving that vegetarian diets are unhealthy, nor to publish
the results of a study that came to that conclusion.

 ...Richard.