On Monday, September 1, 2003, at 01:14 AM, jean-louis tu wrote:
> As I live in France and I've spent one year in the United States, I
> think I
> am in a good position to compare
> both diets and eating patterns:
>
> 1. Breakfast: mainly consists of bread, butter and jam. Although none
> of
> these foods are part of a Paleolithic diet, breakfast is usually much
> lighter (in terms of calories) than the average American breakfast.
Hi Jean-Louis
Is this traditional for the French, all over France and not just urban
centers? What might a typical "farm" breakfast be? In many places
this was a hardy meal, something along the line of steak and eggs. In
fact, I think the idea of a "sweet" breakfast is a relatively modern
innovation, and one that is not seen in many traditional cultures,
whether it was rich in animal protein or not (e.g. idlis and sambar in
South India, beans and tortilla in S. America etc.)
> 3. Drinks: it is true that French people drink more red wine, which is
> supposed to help prevent
> cardiovascular disease, but we drink wine mainly in social occasions
> (and
> not so often at home).
I seriously doubt that the wine issue alone makes a significant impact
upon CVD prevention. Rather, I think it might be wiser the broad array
of vegetables in the traditional diet, from garlic and shallots,
rampion and mustard greens, edible flowers and culinary herbs, as well
as free-range grass fed animal meat and viscera etc. ALL of which are
incredibly high in macro-trace minerals, water/fatsoluble vitamins,
antioxidants etc, etc.
Some cultures consider vegetables like garlic as both a food and
medicine. Garlic is only the most familiar example. Chosen somewhat
randomly, another vegetable, Benincasa hispida (Kushmanda), a gourd in
the Curcubitaceae, is used in the cuisine of both India and China and
has scientifically validated beneficial effects upon memory and
learning, ulcers and bronchospasm - of course the Indians and the
Chinese have a far more sophisticated understanding of its benefits,
and has been recorded in the materia medica of India for some 3000
years. The point is, most traditional cultures had a way to take care
of themselves that was based on empirical folkloric knowledge, easily
accessible, growing in abundance in family gardens and in the wild.
Got a cold and flu? a ancient Chinese home remedy is a nice shitake
mushroom broth with ginger and green onion - all of which have
demonstrated antiviral and immunomodulating properties. Anyway, it
should be clear that the extreme prevalence of CVD and autoimmune dz
in the West are simultaneous with a loss of traditional knowledge and
practices. Wine consumption if anything has probably increased in
prevalence in NA, which hasn't affected the incidence of CVD at all.
The to wine, as another potential source of CHOs, is in moderation
> On the other hand, I think the main difference with Americans is that
> we
> consume far less soft drinks
> and more water instead.
This is a huge problem in the states - it used to be a treat to go
downtown to hang out at the local soda fountain. Its amazing how dull
we've become, and allowed what was previously exotic become the norm,
only to observe the effects on homeostatic mechanisms
>
Todd Caldecott, Cl.H., AHG
Clinical Herbalist
Wild Rose Clinic
*******************************************
Director of Clinical Herbal Studies
Wild Rose College of Natural Healing
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400 - 1228 Kensington Rd. NW
Calgary, AB T2N 5P6 CANADA
tel: (403) 270-0891 ext 315
fax: (403) 283-0799
email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.wrc.net/phyto
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