The Scottish Diet

[daftbeaker]

If it can be dipped in batter and fried, someone in Scotland (and probably a lot of someones) seems to have tried it.

I heard a story about deep fried pizza which sounds no less horrific than the Mars bars. I wonder if someone's tried to do a 'healthy' option and deep fry salad?

[Arkaeon]

I think all that statistical analysis is a load of crap. As far as I can tell, at this point in history all nations have the same death rate when all is said and done: 100%. Everyone dies of something eventually. Telomere rejuvenation and other treatments may change this any day now, in which case humanity must take a serious look at our systematic over-reproduction tendencies, eh? There are over twice as many people now as when I was a child, and 7x as many as when my grandfather was young, despite the flu pandemics and world wars and genocides. Since my family has been the same size for the last 120 years, I blame others for the depredation of the planet, so there. Too many people!

Meanwhile, in hybrid cultures such as Scotland, you have people who are part celt, part norse, and may have some arctic/sami metabolism genes floating about as well, especially in the northern reaches and isles, thanks to interbreeding with norwegians, etc. Arctic cultures tolerate and thrive at much higher levels of fat and protein in their diet (up to 60% fats in some eskimo/inuit tribes!), and data regarding life expectancy is always clouded with higher rates of infant/child mortality and poor medical facilities available at all ages. For those who think that cold climate alone is responsible for indigenous lifespans... piss off! We can take the cold. One of my mother's uncles was a locksmith after he was 70 and still went out to unlock cars and otherwise help folk in the deep of Chicago winters when he was 96, no problem. I wear shorts and a t-shirt with a light jacket when it's below 0°C. It's the deadly breads/complex carbs that hurt us, but governments don't talk about that because grain-carbs are cheap feed for big cities, which means more taxes. What are we, cows?

Because the specialized metabolic patterns of ancient tribes have been so mixed in modern times, I think each person has to discover for themselves what makes their body work. Some people can live to 100 eating bacon and eggs and steak every day, with a generous dose of pipe-smoking alongside, while others need to concentrate on fruits and veggies and watch their cholesterol like a hawk.

Personally, I think that quality of life and total fitness is worth a lot more than any 1 factor, and worth more than total longevity. Averages are about bragging rights; they don't address quality of life. If deep-fried foods keep you active and alert and in shape, that's fabulous. Enjoy! If apples and spinach are what you need to stay trim and moving, then go with that instead. Total health is a personal path, not one guaranteed by following statistics and government guidelines based on averages. A good day's work and some aerobic workout is worth more than a hundred subtle factors with thresholds below statistical significance.

[Arkaeon]

Roy, you're almost scaring me (to the extent that the extinction of our species can be scary). Where I live in mid-size town USA, I can get to at least 10 sellers of fresh produce in less than 45 minutes (without an automobile even), several of which are organic farmed. If you're serious that there are people in Scotland, a seriously modern-west country, who can't get produce in their town, well, that's wacky and disgusting. I don't need to eat a lot of plants, personally, but I do recognize that they are necessary for anyone a little and for most people a lot. There are people here who can't cook, too, being totally dependent on the crooked and poisonous industrial food machine for their sustenance; which is a bit mind-boggling, considering that it's one of the basic needs like air and clothing and a place to stay out of the rain.

If it's really that bad there, you need an entire social-health-diet revolution. I thought we needed one here, but at least the ingredients are available if someone wants them. Do you really have towns where an average income person can't buy carrots and broccoli and beans and citrus fruit all year round? Outrageous and suicidal if true.

[daftbeaker]

Do you really have towns where an average income person can't buy carrots and broccoli and beans and citrus fruit all year round? Outrageous and suicidal if true.

Oh, they can buy them, they'll just be ready cooked in a supermarket, have been boiled to death to remove any sort of vitamins, coated in salt and fat and most people will leave them anyway. The worst bit is I was trying to be funny there but it's still pretty accurate.

Round here there's a similar problem (though nowhere near as bad as Roy's example) where the kids from the local council estate bring a lunch to school. It's usually a pack of Pringles or some other highly processed crisps, Coke or Red Bull and chocolate. I did once see someone eating a Ginster's cornish pasty so they at least had some veg

[Arkaeon]

Oh, I see. That's a bit different. Suicide by ignorance is a legitimate form of population control, in some ways, although tragically it doesn't seem to prevent reproduction. People can pop out a bunch of babies long before their self-abusing diets cause them to run up huge health treatment bills. There may be no solution.

All these variables you have detailed exist in USA, too. Being raised kinda hunter-gatherer, it has always boggled my mind a bit that people seek food that isn't really food until they are so bloated and weak that they can barely reach their mouth. I'm guessing they will continue for as long as governments have enough funds to pander to them (Is that time running out soon?). After that, they will learn to work and cook real food or die promptly. If the right stuff is available and people don't take advantage of it: No tears.

[PKMKII]

Oh, I see. That's a bit different. Suicide by ignorance is a legitimate form of population control, in some ways, although tragically it doesn't seem to prevent reproduction.

The rapidly expanding childhood diabetes problem may end up affecting reproduction. If you've got girls, that then become women, who are almost never ovulating due to their obesity, they're not going to have much of a chance of being impregnated.

I'm guessing they will continue for as long as governments have enough funds to pander to them (Is that time running out soon?). After that, they will learn to work and cook real food or die promptly. If the right stuff is available and people don't take advantage of it: No tears.

I heard an argument from one of the influential figures in the "food-conscious" movement (might have been Michael Pollan), that Obamacare may turn the health insurance industry into an enemy of the low-nutrition/high-calorie, crap industrialized food companies. Given that they won't be able to make money off of ripping off their policy holders anymore, there will be an economic incentive for them to keep their policy holders as healthy as possible. And a lot of the most common public health problems come back to bad eating.

[daftbeaker]

I'm guessing they will continue for as long as governments have enough funds to pander to them (Is that time running out soon?). After that, they will learn to work and cook real food or die promptly. If the right stuff is available and people don't take advantage of it: No tears.

I heard an argument from one of the influential figures in the "food-conscious" movement (might have been Michael Pollan), that Obamacare may turn the health insurance industry into an enemy of the low-nutrition/high-calorie, crap industrialized food companies. Given that they won't be able to make money off of ripping off their policy holders anymore, there will be an economic incentive for them to keep their policy holders as healthy as possible. And a lot of the most common public health problems come back to bad eating.

That does assume that the health insurance companies lie back and accept the changes. I'd lay bets (and possibly a testicle) on them finding some new way to screw people out of having decent affordable medical treatment. Mind you I am a realist cynic

[PKMKII]

More pan-UK than Scottish, but fits here regardless:

Pizza Hut UK introduces the hot-dog-stuffed pizza



I love hot dogs, and I love pizza, but this is disgusting.

[pieces o'nine]

I had friends in college who made "hot dog pizza" during peak poverty.
It sounded pretty awful -- I can't imagine ^ would be much of an improvememt.

[Roland Deschain]

^^ I had a pizza from Pizza Hut the other day, and noticed this. I went for the "Italian" base instead, so cannot comment on its flavour, or lack thereof. I'm not sure it would have made anything more awesome, though.

[black bart]

Frying tonight: