Re: Asian/Chinese diet:

actually the rice is fine--it is the lack of wheat/gluten and dairy in that drops the weight.

That all carbs are bad and that "white" carbs are bad is a huge misnomer brought on partially by Dr. Atkins (who died of a heart attack) and has been co-opted by everyone in the diet industry who wants to make a quick buck off the ever-increasingly large a**es of Americans who still cannot figure out how to eat in moderation or find the time to prepare their own food.

And yes, I eat fast food very occasionally, though I would never argue that it is a healthy choice to make. Though, as with smoking, people should continue to keep eating what they want as it is their choice and their bodies.

"Dr. Atkins (who died of a heart attack)"

Actually, he died of "blunt impact injury of head with epidural hematoma."

Please be accurate when trying to impugn someone's credentials.

I do not know what Dr Atkins officially died of

but i did read that he did have an enlarged hot indicating a poor heart and also weighed enough to be considered OBESE

Well, the official cause of death was what I quoted, so now you know. As for the obese part, he weighed 193 pounds upon admission to the hospital, but weighed 253 at death - considering that he was in a coma, I think we can all agree that fluid retention is the cause and that 193 isn't abnormal for a man measuring 6 feet.

As for the heart problems, the man was 73. He wasn't going to live forever and at that age you are bound to have heart trouble, cancer, diabetes, or arthritis. With any luck, you only suffer from one.

Many people bloated with disease, water retention, and medication side effects may end up weighing enough to be called "obese", but to refer to him as being obese is way off base.

If you want the FACTS (including an explanation of his final weight), here they are:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...atements_x.htm

Haven't eaten at a McDonalds since I was 18 and worked there one summer. It was clean and well-supervised if you care to know...

However, I am one of those people who gets way too into the food when I travel, or even in my own hometown. I just like attractive, well-prepared, tasty food.

That said, we enjoyed fantastic food in Ireland and England - 2 places where we were warned we wouldn't. So far, I don't love the food in Switzerland - very salty and low on flavor for me, although usually nicely presented in clean environs ... but I haven't given up yet. I still believe my favorite restaurant is here, I just haven't found it yet.

My teenage daughters rarely ate at McD's in the US, but do here in Zurich regularly because it's the only place they and their friends can afford on a babysitter's salary. Sadly, they say the burger is not as good as at home

Disease Proof: Examining Dr. Atkins’ Death--UPDATEDUPDATE:

TheSmokingGun.com has a wealth of information regarding the death of Dr. Atkins, including a leaked copy of his actual death certificate. ...
http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives...thupdated.html

<It is Dr. Mercola who is distorting the facts. Before Dr. Atkins was hospitalized near the end of his life, he weighed about 200 pounds. Atkins’ medical record showed he had atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, had suffered from a previous heart attack, and had high blood pressure. However, many would have you believe he was merely a healthy guy who died after slipping on a patch of ice.>

from Smoking Gun reference above

thank you PalenQ--that was what I was referring to, but too lazy to look it up.

In either case, people should feel free to eat what they want, whether it be fast food or not, but to say such prepared food is healthy--eh, think for a minute.

Obesity and diabetes are an epidemic and who pays for the ill affects? One could liken it to smoking, yet "2nd hand fat" has not reached our collective vocabulary yet.

Maybe not, but it's reached over the armrest and into my seat area on a plane or two.

hee, hee

You know, there was an interesting article today on CNN-or rather a news item (I don't know whether most people are aware of this or not but CNN folk troll this website frequently for ideas on travel and what people are talking about-I often see things talked about here, and then see an article about it on CNN-blogs are the most powerful information sources on earth, these days-governments around the world pay attention to what is said on the blogs-they must-because it is the voice of the people).


Anyway, they were showing and comparing fat content in Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill Italian foods-and they had a researcher from Science in the Public Interest as commentator. OG and MG's fettucine alfredo? the saturated fat content of SIX BIG MACS. Really unbelieveable, but OG and the Center researcher pointed out that they have low fat/low cal offerings that are excellent choices as well. The spaghetti and meatballs alla Macaroni Grill was similar-45 grams of fat! Sheesh! No wonder young people are taking Lipitor and having cholesterol problems at a rate greater than ever before!

My doctor said maybe they should put statin drugs in the water - their benefits being so much more than just lowering cholesterol so maybe it's a Godsend so many folks are taking Lipitor or other statin drugs.

His is not an isolated view and is gaining currency in the medical establishment i believe.

therefor fat may not be the problem if Lipitor works like appears to but chemical additives whose long term effects may yet be discovered.

Palenq: I never disputed the guy had heart disease, but this wasn't the cause of his death, as was stated. This is verified by looking at the death certificate.

Moreover, the heart condition that he had can be caused by things other than diet and, indeed, his doctors blamed an infection.

My issues are as follows:

a) Erroneous claims were made about the cause of death in an attempt to discredit the guy. I know whoever repeated it here wasn't willfully malicious, but I'm don't think we want to be contributing to misinformation when easily verifiable, official documents point toward head injury as the cause of death.

2) I also take issue with making casual claims about a heart condition in a 73 year old man, without access to his medical records. His doctor says it was an infection that caused it, so that should be good enough, unless someone can prove otherwise.

If I finish work late and can't be arsed to traipse round Tesco's at some ungodly hour, then yes I might well grab a burger to eat on the way home. And even enjoy it. But the idea of specifically seeking out McDonalds whilst on holiday is another matter entirely.

Also, I despair at the urban myth repeated ad-infinitum on Fodors that MD's are the only bathrooms in the western world that won't give you cholera. Or that every homegrown 'cheap' cafe costs ten times as much as MD and serves food so bad it makes chicken McNuggets look like ambrosia.

RM-you've got that wrong-it's not that they are the "only bathrooms that won't give you cholera" they are the ONLY PUBLIC BATHROOMS AVAILABLE-since in Europe, they don't "do" public restrooms as they do in the US, they just don't.

PalQ-I think maybe more than half the US population is now on Lipitor-I'm only half joking!

Public bathrooms are not so available in the US unless you are at a mall. I usually have to buy something in a cafe, bar or coffee shop to use the bathroom. Same as when I travel.

This is extreme, but still:
http://consumerist.com/consumer/jo_ann-fabrics/


Back to Atkins, curious as to defending the high fat diet as healthy? Curious as to why he gets a free pass when in likelihood the high fat, high cholesterol diet contributed to his coronary problems--would you give a smoker the same pass?

Cherrybomb, there is NO COMPARISON on public restrooms in the US and the rest of the world. ALL STORES in the US, be they grocery, department stores whatever-have AT LEAST ONE restroom for the public-grocery stores have one always. And mall stores obviously have the mall restrooms. Yet, I've been in Paris and in Germany, at the big department stores and nary a single one-really, it's very customer unfriendly, non-service oriented- they tell you-just go down the street to MickeyD's, or Starbucks, or some OTHER American ex-pat chain and use that one, which, is not very clean, because thousands of people have to use it since the Europeans for some very strange reason I've never been able to figure out, think you're supposed to hold it in until you get home or can get to a restaurant so that you can pay to use the facilities!

Girlspy, as usual (because you can't find the WC?), you are completely full of sh**.