European Mindset

[operababe]

In the news a short while back, a comparison study was done between North Americans (Canadians or Americans or both, can't remember) and the British in terms of diet and cardiovascular disease. In general, the Brits have what is considered to be a horrendous diet by our standards: Beer, lots of starches and sweets, meat and potatoes stuff. BUT, they are healthier, they don't have the level of heart disease like we do.

What's happening? What variable is showing that a diet full of meat, potatoes and sweets isn't always the worst thing?

My guess: it's the walking those Brits and other Europeans do. These people walk everywhere, or they ride a bicycle. They USE their bodies to get from point A to point B EVERYDAY. Thanks to high gas/petrol prices, and the influence of the Euro, it's extremely expensive to just hop in the car or the lorry to pop down to the market and pick up a packet of chips.

So that's why I think we're all on the right track here with Reinhard's idea of Urban Rangering. It makes perfect sense. And I truly believe that by walking everyday plus eating fruits and vegetables (which are a lot cheaper and easier to get here in North America than in Europe) we will enjoy the best quality of life and longevity. My grandmother Brewster, who arrived in Canada in 1913 from England, was shocked at how "lazy" Canadians were when it came to going shopping. She walked back and forth everyday into town (it was a distance of 3 miles!) until arthritis at age 89 kept her to just short walks (or constitutionals as she called them) and my mom would take her in the car for her shopping trips. She lived to be 98 years of age, and other than the last 6 months before her death, enjoyed excellent health.

I know she would be horrified at how large I've become, but when I'm out there walking my daughter back and forth to school, walking to work, walking to pick up a video or produce from the fruit and veggie stand, just walking whenever I can, I hope she's smiling down on me. I'm sure she is.

Keep walking people, Grandma Brewster's looking down on you!

[ThomsonsPier]

Don't worry too much - if the media over here are to be believed then the UK will be catching up in terms of heart disease in no time. Where did you read this study? A lot of people I know don't even drive anywhere because they can't be bothered to walk to the car.

Much as I'd like this country to be a shining beacon of good health and habits, I think the study may have been skewed by those chaps over the channel.

It's interesting to read your comment about fresh fruit and vegetables, too. A friend of mine moved to San Francisco a couple of years ago and on of his major complaints was that it was so expensive to eat healthily.

[operababe]

Hello Thomsonspier:

I had heard about this study on the national news about a month ago. But in response to your query, I googled and found a whole whack of references to the study which was published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) May 2006.

Here's an excerpt from a news article about the study:

"The study looked at the health of 6,400 Americans and 9,300 British people aged 40-70.

The researchers also found that in many aspects of health the UK people at the lower end of the social scale enjoyed better health than the Americans at the top end. Heart disease in Britain's lowest group stood at 11.6%, while for the highest American group it was 12%.

The researchers are not sure what the reason(s) for this disparity may be. There are many factors which could be responsible. Here is a list:

-- Britain has a universal health care system which is free for everyone. The USA has a patchwork of public and private healthcare. However, this study looked at well-off white residents - in both countries, all the people studied had good access to health care.

-- The USA has a bigger obesity/overweight problem than the UK does. The obesity/overweight problem has been present in the USA for longer than in the UK.

-- The British are more physically active than the Americans. People walk and cycle more in Britain than in America. The British also use public transport more.

-- Americans eat more junk food than the British do.

-- American food portions are much bigger than British ones. American portions are three times the size of a portion in the 1970s."


I did spend a fair bit of time in London, England in the late 70s, and I found that I walked an average of 2-3 hours every day when I was there. It was a big change from what I had grown used to in Canada! It could also be the lifestyle of living in a big city. New York city residents tend to do a lot of walking too.

As far as the expense for fruits and veg in San Francisco: a girlfriend has been living in California for about 6 months now, and she's complaining about the high cost of living there, including the fruits and vegetables! In Toronto, the cost is fairly reasonable at the local produce stores when compared to larger grocery chains like Loblaws and Dominion.

All the best,
Operababe

[This path is my life]

Thanks for the post Operababe, the message is right, thanks for reminding me and others that we're on the right track with urban rangering.

As far as I can tell (I'm currently staying with my Dutch boyfriend in Holland), it's true about how different the European lifestyle is. Europeans do drive a lot (and actually their gas is much more expensive, about the equivalent of $7 a gallon), but especially here in Holland biking is literally everywhere you look, everyone bikes from a very young age (my boyfriend started learning at 2 years old). They even have bike traffic lights (!!) and separate red bike paths on the sides of most roads.

Also the traditional dutch people hardly ever go out to eat (my boyfriend's family goes maybe once every 1.5 months) and they eat smaller breakfasts and lunch (sandwiches for both) so that they can have a nice bigger meal for dinner with the family. Every dinner is home cooked (my boyfriend's family doesn't even have a microwave) and savored. I'll start posting more details about the dinners in my daily check in.

Also, in his house there is not anything that is fat free, low fat or sugar free. In fact, his family's fridge is full tons of delicious full-fat cheeses, cuts of quality meats for sandwiches and their bread is straight from the bakery right down the street. The portions are smaller but more satisfying because of the real high quality ingredients they use. There are also always lots of fruits and veggies in the house that they get from the twice weekly trip to the produce man. His family also always has a pot of tea on the stove and after dinner instead of dessert we drink tea together.

Also interestingly, his family seems to naturally follow n-days and s-days by making the food during the week delicious and satisfying but normal portions and no sweets. Then on the weekends they always do something more, like have a big bbq or eat a "snack bar" lunch (assorted fried delicious things that are difficult to describe) and eat ice cream or something sweet. When I first realized this, I was amazed, and this gave me even more respect for No-S than I had before.

This is, in my opinion, a beautiful and refreshing look at the way that I would like to ideally live. And I plan to take many of these mentalities and ways of doing things back with me to the U.S.

[david]

Thanks for that description of your experience, ThisPath!

I would love to read more.

--david

[operababe]

Jenn,

I agree with David, it's wonderful to hear about your life in Holland. And it's interesting how you are able to see the similarities between your boyfriend's family's lifestyle and No S. It's very sane, and more importantly, it doesn't sound like there's any deprivation. And I'll bet you don't see many obese Dutch citizens!

[This path is my life]

Operababe and Simon-- You know what's funny, I have in fact seen some obese Dutch people and I asked my boyfriend why and he said that more and more Dutch (and the world in general) no longer follow the "traditional" way of eating and also eat more fast food. I was in France 2 weeks ago and I saw the same thing, more fat French people than I expected and I talked to my boyfriend's dad about it (they visit France several times a year and have done so for many years) and he said that the same reasons apply there too. Basically more and more people are moving away from a traditional way of eating (which is almost identical to no-s) which means more sweets, more fast food, more snacks and less movement. Dutch people still have an advantage because the majority (I'm not sure the exact figure but enough so they have bike paths everywhere and separate traffic lights just for bikes) still bike as a form of transportation (Holland is great for this because it's so flat too). My bf's dad also talked about more and more children are fat than in the previous generation (now you see older people thinner than children!) and that that shows another more significant break from the more traditional way of eating.

All this has reinforced No-S 110% for me. Especially because I can enjoy without guilt the wonderful and massive amounts of utterly delicious cheese here