Nothing New Under The Sun

[omorka]

So I had a realization during dinner . . .

There are two camps, currently, on how one should eat to remain slim and healthy.

The first camp, and the slightly older of the two, believes that a healthy diet should be based on whole grains, minimally processed. For the protein base, they suggest pulses and beans. For vitamins and bulk, one should eat vegetables, both of the green and leafy type and of the more starchy variety. For animal protein, they suggest dairy products and eggs in moderation, and a small amount of meat - preferably poultry, with pork or red meat a rare treat. Cooking fats should be of vegetable origin, with olive oil favored for a flavoring fat.

The second camp eschews grains or starchy vegetables. They claim that the bulk of one's diet should be leafy vegetables and lean meats. Dairy products are okay, although not in large quantity - yogurt made from skim milk is good. If one must have sugars, better they be as fruit. Vegetable fats are not privileged over, say, butter.

Now, what does this resemble?

These are the eating habits of the early agriculturalists of Old Europe and the Indo-European herder cultures, respectively!

After all this time, these two early European cultures are at war again.

Then we have the Caveman Diet, for those who prefer the Neanderthal approach . . .

Comments

[pinesandmaples]

what is it with everyone on my friends list writing about history or europe?
arg.

and personally, i'm a fan of the "starve yourself and purge" diet. it's so attractive.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

My body does enough throwing up on its own when it finds foods offensive. It doesn't need any help from me. :/

I have the excuse that I was discussing European history with one of my students over AIM earlier today. :)

[gentlyepigrams]

You need an excuse to talk about European history?

*blinks*

Nobody ever told me that! I've been having unexcused discussions of history for years now! :o

[omorka.livejournal.com]

But you're not on her Friends list, you see, and thus weren't contributing to the problem . . . ;)

While diet can be important...

[quantumduck.livejournal.com]

All the talk of dieting has been driving me crazy. You cannot maintain health and trimness by simply modifying your diet. Excersise is just as important-possibly more important. How important will depend on just how much you're already eating, and how little your moving.

Our ancestors certainly were getting more excersise than we do.

Re: While diet can be important...

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Heh. Someone recently published a half-serious half-parody diet called the Amish Diet that makes exactly this point - you can eat all the roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy, and apple pie you want if you spend your morning milking cows and plowing, and your afternoons raising barns.

[bassfingers.livejournal.com]

Neal Stephenson was recently quoted as saying, "Every culture can be kind of defined by what they drink in order to avoid dying of diarrhea. In China it’s tea. In Africa it’s milk or animal blood. In Europe it was wine and beer."

Somehow it seemed appropriate to your post as well.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Hmm . . . that's not quite true, I think. Why would so many people of African descent be lactose intolerant if it were? It's the western-Asian people who took up milk-drinking - we just inherited it from them.

Besides, this downplays the vital role of mead in the development of the Northern European character. ;)

[quantumduck.livejournal.com]

I thought many African tribes mixed blood WITH milk to drink. I learned this from 'Survivor', so it may be slightly less reliable than Neal Stephenson, but perhaps not. '-)