From: Francis Hwang <sera@...>
Date: 2005-04-03T01:23:18+09:00
Subject: Re: Respect and Disappointment


On Apr 1, 2005, at 11:38 PM, Navindra Umanee wrote:

> Sugar, as an artificially-produced refined carbohydrate, is IMHO much
> less of a sane food choice.  The diet of modern man is probably
> artificially high in sugar leading to all sorts of problems.  Rice is
> similar in the sense that it is essentially filler, a staple food that
> was chosen because it was cheap and easy to obtain in bulk.  Rice +
> sugar is essentially a formula leading to an overdose of carbohydrate.
> At least in my culture, this combination seems to have been wrecking
> havoc over generations.

And yet, Japan is one of the healthiest populations in the world:

http://www3.who.int/whosis/hale/hale.cfm?language=en

I've read a number of theories about how this is related to its diet, 
which tends to emphasize fresh ingredients and be low in salt. Also, I 
think it helps that East Asian cuisines don't traditionally include 
dairy at all.

(I travelled to Taiwan last year and was astounded by the grad students 
who took us to lunch and dinner, diving into 6-course meals with gusto 
but who were all quite skinny themselves.)

Francis Hwang
http://fhwang.net/