From: Damien Sullivan (phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu)
Date: Sun Apr 13 2003 - 12:06:21 MDT
On Sun, Apr 13, 2003 at 03:45:59AM -0400, gts wrote:
> Damien Sullivan wrote:
> To clarify: we fortify dairy products with D to prevent *rickets*, and we
> fortify agricultural products with B to prevent *pellagra*.
While I don't know the history of pellagra, I think beriberi (B1 deficiency)
was discovered by chickens eating white rice and dying. We enrich refined
grains, yes, because they need it because we've taken the nutrients they had
away. But that doesn't mean the grains are bad, vs. how we treat them.
The Joy of Cooking mentioned some experiment where rats, given a surplus of
grain, ate the germ and left the rest, vs. modern Americans leaving the germ
and eating the rest. This does suggest the rats prefer to avoid the purer
starch given a choice, but also that there's something there.
> Notice that we fortify both food categories artificially to make them
> worthwhile components of the American diet. They have little intrinsic
> value.
Baby mammals multiply their weight a few times on milk. How can you say it
has little value? They're not just fattening up, they're building everything
in their body. The milk may be unhealthy for us -- saturated fat, or
evolutionary taboos -- but saying it lacks value is ridiculous.
Vitamin D doesn't come from any food; we make it with sunlight. If kids
weren't getting out enough, or if they lacked the dietary precursor, adding it
to something would make sense. Milk would be a candidate not because of its
value, which is irrelevant, but because it was drunk a lot, making it a good
pathway into the diet. As it happens vit D is connected to calcium uptake,
making adding it to milk fairly logical. But if you ate lots of spinach but
got no sun I think you'd still have a problem.
> meats and nuts. Breads and pasta are ~50% carb (i.e., ~50% sugar) and
> compared to other carb containing foods like fruits and veggies they have
Fruits are pretty much sugar bombs with extras too. Veggies pass my 2000
calories test, but lots of fruits don't look so good: you'd need 9000 calories
of apples to get enough protein. Bananas and oranges are better, I think.
Vitamins, fiber, random chemicals, yes, complete food no... thus dietary
cautions saying that when they recommend 5 servings of "fruit or vegetable a
day" they don't mean just 5 servings of fruit.
> Okay, but you'll have to grant me this much: if the term "empty calories"
> has any meaning beyond simple sugar then grains are it.
Grape juice or whole wheat bread: which would you rather live on?
> > Not flour, breaking up seed cases.
> That's flour.
I checked again, and you're right. Ground into meal, mixed with water, either
eaten raw or baked. Going back at least 15,000 years.
-xx- Damien X-)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun Apr 13 2003 - 12:14:40 MDT