"Ronn! Blankenship" wrote:
> Okay, so we outlaw alcohol, tobacco, and all other "recreational" drugs
> (including coffee and tea?), as well as unhealthy/excessive food.
The problem is, all of the things you list above except the tobacco and
"unhealthy" food have been shown to have some health benefits in at
least some groups, when ingested in moderation.
The key is moderation.
1 glass of red wine with a red meat meal assists in digestion and may
help with cholesterol issues. (Can't remember the source.)
Beer in moderation was shown in a study to be good for you. (I can't
remember details; it was reported in the Wall Street Journal sometime in
the past 6 months.) But the maximum benefit is reported at just 1 or 2
beers a day. (And I don't know what having beer as well as red wine is
going to do....)
Tea has flavonids (sp?) that are good for you. 5 cups of green tea a
day gives demonstrated health benefits. (This was in Reader's Digest
awhile back.) I don't know what the health benefits of black tea are,
but I think I remember reading something about them sometime this year.
On the food -- what is deemed "unhealthy" at some point may be found to
be "healthy" at a later time -- in moderation. The whole "fat is bad
for you" being turned on its head is a good example.
Of course, there's no excuse for Twinkies, but one Twinkie a week isn't
going to be horribly detrimental, if you're eating reasonably good food
the rest of the week.
The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that vegetables are good for
you. (And a wide variety of vegetables is best.)
Julia
p.s. thanks for the recommend on the Scientific American article that
got eliminated in my drastic surgery on your original post; I'll see if
I can remember to pick up a copy the next time I'm in a store that would
be selling it
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