They also died at 25.
I believe that kind of average is skewed by the many children that died because modern medicine wasn't around to save them. Once they got passed childhood they lived long lives and could even reach the required of age 35 to be President!
I've always been amused by the premise that drugs can affect our health for the better but eating appropriate foods and avoiding others doesn't matter.
(My grandfather bought his acreage in 1918 and farmed for over 50 years as did his sons.)
Please tell me which foods are "Appropriate" and which are not. My nutrition teacher, way back when, insisted that there are no "good" or "bad" foods, but it's the diet as a whole that is healthy...or unhealthy.
Since the modern day "experts" can't seem to agree on what constitutes a healthy or unhealthy diet, I strongly believe that the answer is "everything is okay in moderation."
I have a nephew who is a health food nut. He drives us all crazy lecturing us on what we ought to eat. Then he goes and binges on stuff he tells everyone else they shouldn't eat. I asked him one time if broccoli is a healthy food. He said " yes," of course. So then asked him if it would be healthy if ate nothing but broccoli all day long.
I think you can figure out where this is going......
No, I don't really.
But anyway, in our family appropriate (and I couldn't think of a better word at the time I posted) are basically the foods on what I grew up with called the food pyramid. I know it's been modified over the years -- but the basic premise is lots of vegetables, fruits, protein and grains. In our house (husband, me and minor children --the adults kids do what they want and since I homeschool I know what the little squirts are eating) we don't eat Cheetos. We don't consider those a food we should eat. However, I don't think eating them occassionally would be a bad thing. However, the people I know who eat those things often have vastly different eating styles and pantries than I do. My cousin has a pantry full of Cheetos and chips and packaged snack stuff, cans and cans of soda, a freezer full of prepared foods and nary a fresh fruit or vegetable save an occassional apple or head of lettuce. Yet when we discuss nutrition (which is rare) she's all about how moderation is the key. She doesn't exercise and is constantly telling me how she needs to lose 50 pounds.
One of my kids when she was a toddler went through a phrase where she only wanted to eat broccoli and mashed potatoes. Needless to say, though both are considered healthy in our house I didn't let her just eat that for every meal though she would have if I'd let her. She goes over to my cousin's house she eats whatever they have. I don't consider that something to worry about.
My daughter was rushed to the ER last weekend as part of her follow up with her doctor later in the week she had blood work done. She discovered she's very defficient in a number of vitamins and minerals. He put her on high doses of the ones she needed. (Not related to why she went to the ER). Until last week this was her typical diet--Starbucks for breakfast, fast food lunch, and granola bar/candy/soda for a snack and for dinner I don't know what she ate since she came in from work after we'd already had dinner and she'd find something. She doesn't want to be dependent on the vit/min forever so she's suddenly discovered an interest in eating healthy.
I believe how our bodies react and process food and exercise is way more complex than is currently understood--partly related to genes and partly related to environment and the food itself. I don't eat donuts and chips and stuff like that--when I did I gained weight. My mom blames our family genes. And that may be true but if i don't eat it I don't gain the weight--so genes or not I have exercised some control over that outcome.
I personally don't care what other people choose to eat. I know people who cover the whole spectrum from vegan to junk food addicts. I know what works for our family (and now my daughter is learning it too lol).
I do have a question for everyone. It's something I've been thinking about. What is the true conservative POV on mega corporations controlling farming, people's access to food, people's desires as to how food is created for them, the disappearance of family farms, the government's finger in farming? I'm not sure I'm asking that question right--whenever I've tried people get stuck on discussing what they eat.
