is it just me?

[magicicada]

has anyone else had these questions? or better still any answers?

1. so, how do the sunnis and shi'ites tell each other apart? are there major racial differences? is it just clothing?

followup:
if it is just a matter of clothing, why not carry a second 'hat' or ID in order to switch off and get through checkpoints.

if this is a religious thing, is the idea of conversion unheard of or unacceptable?


2. Accepting that a switch to ethanol based on corn may raise food prices significantly, is it possible that there is a 'sweet spot' where price supports on sugar are dropped and corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are removed from foods in favor of their old school counterpart?

followup:
if you believe that high fructose corn syrup is responsible for much of the obesity in the U.S., is it possible that a drop in obesity might result - leading to lower medical costs, which would put back into the economy the money that the higher food prices have removed.


----

these might be dumb questions and that is why i'm not hearing anyone ask them, but i'm getting tired of debating them inside my own head. question 1 is something i've never heard addressed anywhere, as if it is not even a matter to be questioned, but why? haven't enemies always tried to sneak into one another's camps? how do you know one side from another?

question 2 is because i have heard vast amounts of discussion on the economics of ethanol, the health effects of high fructose corn syrup, and the economics of obesity and i'm wondering if there is a good logical reason why no one has put all these together.

p.s. i'm also really sick of doing french journals.

Comments

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

Oh, and on high fructose corn syrup and obesity:

We are doing our best to cut HCFS out of our diet, because we've read that it isn't processed in the same way that sugar is and that it can contribute to diabetes, etc.

However.

I think the obesity epidemic in America is only partially related to HFCS. I think it's far more related to the fact that we have a surplus of food at very low prices, and the lowest-priced foods (which are also the most convenient) are the ones laden with preservatives and HFCS. But mostly it's amounts. I did Weight Watchers for a good long while (I need to get back on it) and that was the eye-opener for me, measuring actual serving sizes. We serve ourselves HUGE portions of food, which wouldn't be bad if the huge portions were, say, vegetables, but what we're serving out is meat and starch and sugar (or HFCS...).

It's more expensive and more trouble to try and avoid HFCS, and it typically means a lot more cooking from scratch. Which we do, by and large, but I recognize that it would be a stumbling block for a lot of people.

No answers, just musing. :)

[gardenwaltz.livejournal.com]

dittos on ww, need to get back, shock at serving sizes, etc.

it is very hard to cut out the HFCS and get any food outside of a health food store. one trick that we have found is that organic food cannot have HCFS. we *grow* organic vegetables, but rarely purchase them as the price difference is quite severe - but we are starting to buy organic foods such as ketchup. i keep thinking that i've gotten it all only to be hit with new surprises:

dry roasted peanuts - which contain msg, hfcs, salt, paprika and 8 other ingredients. next to them on the shelf are unsalted peanuts which come only in jumbo size and have one ingredient. any logical person looking at the shelf would think that here are peanuts with and without salt, but the differences are huge.

ice cream - breyer's natural, that's it. not even all breyer's are hfcs free. (sore throat is all the ice cream excuse that i need)

crackers: um, haven't found any, but pita chips are pretty good. i suspect that i should not look too closely at my baked cheetos.

on the upside, there are more and more 100% juice options and avoiding preprocessed foods has its own advantages. my hungry-now snack is peanuts and dried blueberries. it has a fat/calorie whallop, but it stops the cravings cold and has some good nutrients as well.

[cadrys.livejournal.com]

Becky has taken to making home-made ketchup. Quite a different flavor...but a good one.

Ice cream--Blue Bunny. No sugar. Incredible flavor.

We've also whacked out white bread/rice/potatoes just based on glycemic index. Whole or uncracked wheat, whole-grain rice, yams. Fresh green vegetables.

blue bunny

[gardenwaltz.livejournal.com]

so, what does it have for sweetening? i know this is going to sound really fussy, but i have given up on all of the artificial sweeteners. i can taste them all and i've decided to try to get back to the idea of modest amounts of the real stuff, rather than trying to compensate with nutrasweet, splenda, etc.

we're going whole grain gradually. sylvia eats better than jeff and i in many ways as her school has a no-junk policy. however, we still have easy mac for emergencies and i'll make the white rice instead of brown basmati as a special treat for her.

also, what are your views on fructose - good alternative or just another sugar to mess with the system?

Re: blue bunny

[cadrys.livejournal.com]

*I* don't taste the splenda in the ice cream, but I can taste it elsewhere.

No real opinion on fructose...but IMAO, sugars are sugars.

[dmk.livejournal.com]

Becky has taken to making home-made ketchup. Quite a different flavor...but a good one.

I've been tempted to try this. Care to elaborate?

[gardenwaltz.livejournal.com]

secondary answer: at one point our only realistic grocery option was a winn-dixie that smelled constantly like bacon. it was very easy to see the poverty-obesity link. we were very happy to get a car and move away from there.