Sun, fish, and seaweed

heartscanblog.blogspot.com

11 points·divia··6 comments

I imagine I would do better with more fish and seaweed. However, a recent talk at TED, http://www.ted.com/talks/nina_jablonski_breaks_the_illusion_..., implies that we are getting enough sun even at higher latitudes. Humans at higher latitudes seem to have quickly evolved to lighter skin colors to allow more Vitamin D production. Drastic movements between latitudes may cause more harm than good.

Doesn't the Vitamin D argument go: "we all stay indoors these days, thus we are vitamin D deficient, regardless of skin color".

I'm not sure why he would say the unhealthiest population on earth ─ meaning Americans, when you have places like Swaziland, with a life expectancy of 32 years (vs. 78, according to the CIA).

Which of those countries would you say has a bigger health crisis?

The reason for a low life expectancy in Swaziland isn't that people eat unhealthy food, it's because they have no food to eat at all - 60% of the population get by on less than $1.25 a day. On top of that 38.8% of the population is HIV positive.

Americans have the choice of healthy living, Swaziz don't.

The underlying reasons for the gap in life expectancy are quite different, but my main gripe is with the author using the sensationalist, marketing claim that Americans are the unhealthiest people on earth, which seems to be a popular meme.

I don't disagree for a second that Americans as a population could be healthier, but that is a different, less you need to buy my book now kind of statement.

The blogger disqualified himself when he said: "Seaweed, like plants found on land, are also rich in phytonutrients." -- note the last word, which means "plant nutrients." The sentence is then as devoid of novel claims as saying that "bread is made of wheat" and "meat is made of muscle."

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