From: "Tom Bridgeland" <[log in to unmask]>
> I have a theory that a lot of the things we think of as "unhealthy"
> such as tobacco, alcohol, coffee etc actually have some beneficial
> aspect in third world conditions, that is why they spread so quickly
> once introduced. (Even bread eating, it was better than starving.)
>
> For example, tobacco smoke may keep mosquitoes away, or the taste of
> tobacco in the skin and blood may. Even a small difference in bite
> rates would result in fewer malaria, dengue fever, etc cases among
> tobacco users than abstainers. Alcohol the same. Tobacco certainly
> keeps certain stomach parasites down. Coffee and tea both block iron
> uptake in bacteria, perhaps preventing some cases of stomach ailments.
> I do not swear by this, but it sounds reasonable to me. I never tried
> to get people in these places to give up their "bad habits".
> Especially since I was sick all the time while they were not. Tobacco
> cuts years off the end of life, but in some circumstance may be
beneficial.

I think this makes a lot of sense.

Alcohol for instance kills harmful bacteria and lets you survive while
eating and drinking a lot of dirty stuff.

There are studies showing beneficial effects of herbs and spices that have
been long-used in preserving meats (sausage).

The traditional New World preparation of corn with lime comes to mind. When
corn was adopted as a staple amongst "more advanced" civilizations, they did
not prepare it in the traditional way, resulting in severe epidemics of
nutritional ailments (even worse than eating corn anyway).

--Richard