From: saarinen@sp1.csrd.uiuc.edu (Sirpa Saarinen)
Subject: Re: The protein myth
Organization: UIUC Center for Supercomputing Research and Development
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 15:17:14 GMT

bj368@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Mike E. Romano) writes:


>In the last thread, Mr. Bulsari states a well documented 
>discussion of the merits of lower proteing intake.
>This discussion focuses on ==The American Diet==.

>Yet I notice that Mr. Bulsari is from an Academy in Finland.

It is Abo Academi - basically the Swedish language university in
Abo (or Turku). Mr/Ms Bulsari appears also to have knowledge from another
culture, like Indian or Pakistani. Why cannot he have something useful to say
about a low protein diet? Why only look at the American diet? There are
many people on this bulletin board also from Australia, cannot we look
at a "global healthy diet"?

>It is my impression from reading about diets that none of
>the countries of Europe (including Finland of course)
>practice a rational diet of healthy food.

Please look at some of the data comparing hearth disease in some European
countries to e.g. USA. Comparisons are useful.

>Wouldn't it be appropriate to include mention of the
>==typical diet in Finland== to see if perhaps the
>people of Finland have achieved the proper diet?

About 30 years ago a very extensive diet-health related
study was started in Finland to see whether there possibly was
connection between diet and especially hearth disease. This has lead
to several modifications in the average Finnish diet. I was amazed again
reading recent Finnish magazine on how the McDonald's corporation 
advertises its hamburgers, fries and salads as "healthy food" full of
nutrients etc. I doubt that many things in Finland could be sold anymore
without extensive assurances about the "healthfullness" of the product.
I am sure that there still exist people who eat "unhealthily" but the
eating habits of the general public has improved. Finland does not have
anymore the highest incidence of hearth disease in Europe.

>I agree that perhaps diet problems in America are
>greater in some ways than other countries which is partly
>because of the enormous prosperity (until the new recession)
>which has brought fast food, inexpensive meat and packaged
>food of all types, etc. which in fact few countries of
>Europe have created if any.

I doubt that diet problems among the prosperous Americans are serious. Isn't it
rather that the poor people in this country have such bad diets? Prosperous
people need not buy the inexpensive meat products.

>For example in Scandinavia it is a problem to obtain
>fresh fruit and vegetables in the winter.

Maybe this was true 30 years ago but not anymore. Trade has become
global - we can get Spanish tomatoes delivered with single phone call
nowadays and oranges from Marocco (sp?) or Israel. Also Californian grapes are
popular in the winter. Don't forget the massive production of fresh fruit
in the green houses of Netherlands. BTW even in Illinois they have fresh
vegetables in the winter which are imported from the more southern states!!!
In Europe the distances are shorter and therefore also transportation is
easier. What source did you use for this non-sense of no fresh fruit in
the winter? Think first how they get fresh fruit in North Dakota in the
winter and then say something useful.
 
>It is always interesting to compare diets between
>countries.
>-- 
>            Mike Romano     Univ. Calif. Berkeley

Sure, comparisons are useful.

Sirpa Saarinen
saarinen@csrd.uiuc.edu