Hypothetical Question. page

[Bushrat]

If someone ate a diet that was mainly bread and potatoes since they were a kid, what effects would it have? i.e physical, emotional etc.

[peril]

I did (adding pasta and rice as an adult) and had a heart attack last year, aged 50

[lmyers04]

insulin resistance? messed up Leptin? excess fat and not a lot of lean mass?

[Grumpycakes]

As for mental effects, look at the Irish. 'Nuff said.

[sibylsybil]

As for mental effects, look at the Irish. 'Nuff said.

Hah. this is almost totally unrelated, but that reminded me of an article I recently read about the local food movement in Ireland & traditional Irish cooking:

"For many centuries, the Irish were not able to live off the fat of their land, as landholders exported beef, butter, smoked salmon and other prime foodstuffs to Britain and its colonies. Later, when this was no longer the case, the humble food to which most Irish people had grown accustomed did not seem like something to celebrate. They began to move off the farms and into cities, where they discovered falafel, pizza, kebabs and other delights of international fast-food culture.

Fortunately, the local-sustainable-food movement began to take hold in Ireland before it was too late. Unlike in the United States, most towns still have a butcher, local milk and produce are easy to buy, and even today most Irish people are not more than a generation or two away from the farm. ]
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/di...1&pagewanted=2

[Chairdr]

You end up here!

[Acmebike]

Humans are tough critters! There *could* be a shot at a fairly healthy looking dude grown on bread and potatoes. The whole point of our complex systems is to just build a body and get it along far enough to reproduce! So I would avoid saying that bread and potatoes will build a crappy human 100% of the time.

I would be shocked and amazed that any particular individual raised on bread and potatoes had attained anything near their full potential! Gut health, mineral/nutrient and all the complex systems/tissues/organs would be compromised by such an unnatural diet. Neurological function is totally reliant on proper building blocks and fuel, PLUS the avoidance of poisons.

So I'd pity the bread and potato grown human! A switch to Primal at any point, has got to help!

[say_rahhh]

Autoimmune diseases.

[FergalJennings]

As for mental effects, look at the Irish. 'Nuff said.

haha! yes..I agree..we are a wild bunch..
But i agree with the food bit..the food people eat here isnt even normal..
We have such great produce fresh out of the feild..organic veggies and meat and people still go for the junk..
i dont understand it.

[Egoldstein]

LOL.

The adaptability of the human body is quite amazing. If you mean, what happens if people subsist on a high carbohydrate, low protein diet, you can look at India where a large population with a combination of income constraints and religious practices has a diet very rich in grains, beans, and very low (especially in certain areas) in animal protein. The vast majority of people are thin, but there is a high prevalence of congenital issues and things like osteoarthritis. Of course, traditionally this was still a whole foods diet, and with growing wealth, modern illnesses and obesity are becoming a concern.

My question is what happens when you raise a generation of kiddies on things like lunchables, diet coke, pink milk, and twinkies. I fear we are just beginning to find out.