No. No they don’t. They really, <i>really</i>, REALLY don’t. — 22 Comments
Only the latest in the usual flood of articles on how to “eat healthy.” I swear that a large proportion of the people who write such articles don’t actually like food very much … or people, either.
Cynically, I see a lot of food and living fads as trying to normalize, if not glamorize, significant reduction in quality of life. Whenever I see articles like “Six Great Ways to Eat Bugs” or “How This Family of Four Got a New Lease on Life After Selling Their Suburban Home and Moving Into a 300sf Converted Cargo Container” (/sarc, but not that much!) I fear for the future that our betters have planned for us.
Our ancestors fought for hundreds of thousands of years with all the strength and cunning they could muster to elevate the human race to be the dominant species of this planet at the top of the food chain. We are omnivorous creatures by genetic predisposition.
Vegans, vegetarians and such others who reject the consumption of animals are expressing their disrespect and hatred of humanity and, by extension, themselves.
I assume this is an attempt to avoid the heinous gluten. Although I know there are actually people with gluten problems, it also seems to be fashionable at this time. “My 3-year-old is gluten-sensitive!” is similar to (and more common than) “My 3-year-old is transexual!”.
They’re “cute” – maybe “party nibbles tray food” cute. The cucumber-as-bread thing…maybe. Portabellas around a burger…ok…
Put this in my kids’ lunch? Eat this myself regularly? No.
I get it…Western diets are way carb-overloaded…this isn’t going to fix that.
A novelty to be sure.
I’m on a diet where I avoid carbohydrates and sugar, so bread is not on the menu. Sadly, none of these is a replacement!
John Guilfoyle:
Western diets are not way carb-overloaded compared to diets in the East. Western diets might indeed be filled with too much sugar and carbs of that sort, but not carbs themselves.
For example, basic Asian diets (Chinese, for example) are far more carb-intense than basic modern Western diets. Rice is the staple, the staff of life (as bread used to be in Europe). Maybe it’s changed in Asia too (in fact, I recently saw this article that spoke of the fact that meat consumption in China is rising, although per capita it’s still half that of the US). But rice was always considered the food, and everything else just a condiment.
The same is true in many third-world countries. What are rice and beans, for example? They are carb-rich, and a basic diet in many many parts of the world, not just the Western world. India has a very carb-rich diet as well.
Perhaps you are referring to sugar rather than carbs themselves?
Roy:
Some people hate meat. Doesn’t mean they have any disrespect for humanity or themselves. It means they don’t like the taste of meat or in some cases the idea of it.
Some people don’t want to eat it for religious reasons. No lack of respect for anything or anyone.
Some people don’t digest it well, so they avoid it. Big deal.
Some people feel it adds to animals’ suffering and they don’t want to be part of it. No lack of respect for anything or anyone. Same for those who think meat-raising uses up too many resources and they don’t want to be part of that.
If you want to eat meat (I do), fine. Go right ahead. But I have zero problem with those who don’t, as long as they don’t force me to eat vegan baked goods.
Bread absorbs the juices from the fillings in a way that an apple slice can’t. I have no problem with using vegies for pick-up tidbits, but a sandwich should be substantial. Also, who wants to grill eggplant slices in the morning when you are fixing lunch, and who wants to eat it 4 hours later?
Vegetarians: Eating the food that my food eats.
Hi Neo…thanks for correcting my over-generalisation…I’m referring most specifically to the processed nature of the carbs many Western folks have as part of their daily intake. White bread…And the high-sugar high-bad-fat inclusions. I appreciate your reminder that not all carbs are created equal…just like not all fats or sugars etc…
Without looking at it, I assume that avoiding or managing diabetes is what the article is on about.
Article isn’t about diabetes. As someone who needs to restrict starch and sugar carbs, I could not agree more that these veggies are not good sandwich platforms. The closest IMO is to use lettuce as a “wrap.” If you wrap lettuce around ingredients that would normally be on a sandwich with a lot of lettuce (like a taco, BLT, or burger-with-fixins, then you get a lot of the “experience” of eating that cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato, just no bun. If you put the burger between slices of eggplant, it’s a completely different experience than the typical burger. Right now husband and I are using a limited number of low-carb tortillas as our only true bread substitute. They taste kinda strange and are non-absorbent, but it’s close to tortilla and supposedly very low carb. We have our doubts about the claim of “low carb” so we only have a couple over the course of a the week, if that.
I eat low carb, high fat, and no, these are not bread substitutes. I love bread. I don’t want to be fat and pre-diabetic, so I don’t eat it any more. (And no, my cholesterol didn’t go up because of the butter and cream I consume. The reverse. Down forty points.) Lettuce wraps work. The cucumber idea looks good.
India has a very carb-rich diet. India also has a Type 2 diabetes epidemic.
Kate:
Traditionally India did not have much diabetes, following a traditional Indian diet (that diet is what I’m referring to). The rise of diabetes in India follow dietary changes,:
A third driver of dietary change is the availability of commercial processed foods. One participant, who lived the largest of the sampled villages, told us, “Thirty years ago, there was only one shop in our village. In that shop, they sold tea, ragi, rice, pulses, some root vegetables, and some supplies. But now, there are many shops, and they sell new foods, like sodas, crisps, and sweets. There is even a bakery! They have cakes, pastries, and northern [i.e., north Indian] sweets like gulab” (Lakshmi, 64). These comments provide evidence that the study region is experiencing similar trends to those seen at the state level, which include increased availability and intake of sugar sweetened beverages, oily snacks, and sugar (Government of India 2012; Praduman Kumar and Dev 2007; Shetty 2002). Increased availability of processed foods is rooted in recent historical political and economic processes, including market liberalization…Participants also claimed that taste preferences of young people are shifting to favor high-fat and high-sugar foods, which Kessler (2007: 44) called “hyperpalatable” (Pingali and Khwaja 2004). One woman told us, “My children refuse to eat ragi. They only want rice dishes and sweets. All the young people are like this” (Chinnthayi, 46).
Also, about half the patients with diabetes 2 in India are under 40. This is an unusually high proportion.
My guess is that the Indian population may have some genetic predisposition for developing diabetes under the right circumstances. With the traditional diet, the “right” circumstances did not exist. With the adoption of a high sugar and high refined carbohydrate more-western-type of diet, diabetes 2 has suddenly soared in a place where it was rather rare before. But the diet used to be heavy on carbs, as well. It’s just that the carbs were very different, as well as the general amount of calories people were eating.
“It’s just that the carbs were very different, ” — Neo
In the West, that would have been full-grain breads, which don’t lend themselves to the problems that processed white-breads do.
All populations introduced to the processed-high-sugar foods-diet develop problems, including the Arctic Inuit, American Indians in most of the north & south, and Europeans themselves (sugar was not largely available until around the 15th or 16th century, although introduced much earlier).
Yes, sugar is primarily responsible for the huge Atlantic slave trade, along with tobacco, and cotton only much later.
Sweet tooths of the world have so much to answer for!
Neo, yes, I lived in India for two years, and I saw that they do love sweets. I also wonder about the oils used. In the traditional diet, it was probably ghee (clarified butter). Now, the grocery stores sell lots of processed oils which are likely cheaper. I bought Italian olive oil because at least I could tell what it was.
I wouldn’t call any of those a sandwich, but some of the pairings don’t look too bad. For instance, the cucumber roll could be sliced into rounds for snacking, and stuffed bell pepper is an old dish (we used meatloaf).
However, portabello mushrooms go inside the bun; they are too juicy to be the outside.
Yea, bread is bread. It any substitute is just that – a substitute. Portobello mushrooms can work out better than the rest of the list due to its texture, but 9/10 times I’d choose actual bread. Same thing with cucumbers.
I mean, I’ve tried cauliflower pizza dough and it was alright but I’d never choose it over the real thing.
GRA:
And spaghetti squash for pasta—the worst.
@ Neo: Now that I actually did like. I’d make sqaghetti squash again. One recipe I was rather disappointed with was squash lasagna. It was good but too watery.
Have Western genius scientist girls and boys figured out why sugar does that, Aesop? Or has human wisdom hit a bottleneck… once again.
Stuff they do not understand, the Divine Counsel and the starry sky already knew before they were born.
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Only the latest in the usual flood of articles on how to “eat healthy.” I swear that a large proportion of the people who write such articles don’t actually like food very much … or people, either.
Cynically, I see a lot of food and living fads as trying to normalize, if not glamorize, significant reduction in quality of life. Whenever I see articles like “Six Great Ways to Eat Bugs” or “How This Family of Four Got a New Lease on Life After Selling Their Suburban Home and Moving Into a 300sf Converted Cargo Container” (/sarc, but not that much!) I fear for the future that our betters have planned for us.
Our ancestors fought for hundreds of thousands of years with all the strength and cunning they could muster to elevate the human race to be the dominant species of this planet at the top of the food chain. We are omnivorous creatures by genetic predisposition.
Vegans, vegetarians and such others who reject the consumption of animals are expressing their disrespect and hatred of humanity and, by extension, themselves.
I assume this is an attempt to avoid the heinous gluten. Although I know there are actually people with gluten problems, it also seems to be fashionable at this time. “My 3-year-old is gluten-sensitive!” is similar to (and more common than) “My 3-year-old is transexual!”.
They’re “cute” – maybe “party nibbles tray food” cute. The cucumber-as-bread thing…maybe. Portabellas around a burger…ok…
Put this in my kids’ lunch? Eat this myself regularly? No.
I get it…Western diets are way carb-overloaded…this isn’t going to fix that.
A novelty to be sure.
I’m on a diet where I avoid carbohydrates and sugar, so bread is not on the menu. Sadly, none of these is a replacement!
John Guilfoyle:
Western diets are not way carb-overloaded compared to diets in the East. Western diets might indeed be filled with too much sugar and carbs of that sort, but not carbs themselves.
For example, basic Asian diets (Chinese, for example) are far more carb-intense than basic modern Western diets. Rice is the staple, the staff of life (as bread used to be in Europe). Maybe it’s changed in Asia too (in fact, I recently saw this article that spoke of the fact that meat consumption in China is rising, although per capita it’s still half that of the US). But rice was always considered the food, and everything else just a condiment.
The same is true in many third-world countries. What are rice and beans, for example? They are carb-rich, and a basic diet in many many parts of the world, not just the Western world. India has a very carb-rich diet as well.
Perhaps you are referring to sugar rather than carbs themselves?
Roy:
Some people hate meat. Doesn’t mean they have any disrespect for humanity or themselves. It means they don’t like the taste of meat or in some cases the idea of it.
Some people don’t want to eat it for religious reasons. No lack of respect for anything or anyone.
Some people don’t digest it well, so they avoid it. Big deal.
Some people feel it adds to animals’ suffering and they don’t want to be part of it. No lack of respect for anything or anyone. Same for those who think meat-raising uses up too many resources and they don’t want to be part of that.
If you want to eat meat (I do), fine. Go right ahead. But I have zero problem with those who don’t, as long as they don’t force me to eat vegan baked goods.
Bread absorbs the juices from the fillings in a way that an apple slice can’t. I have no problem with using vegies for pick-up tidbits, but a sandwich should be substantial. Also, who wants to grill eggplant slices in the morning when you are fixing lunch, and who wants to eat it 4 hours later?
Vegetarians: Eating the food that my food eats.
Hi Neo…thanks for correcting my over-generalisation…I’m referring most specifically to the processed nature of the carbs many Western folks have as part of their daily intake. White bread…And the high-sugar high-bad-fat inclusions. I appreciate your reminder that not all carbs are created equal…just like not all fats or sugars etc…
Without looking at it, I assume that avoiding or managing diabetes is what the article is on about.
Article isn’t about diabetes. As someone who needs to restrict starch and sugar carbs, I could not agree more that these veggies are not good sandwich platforms. The closest IMO is to use lettuce as a “wrap.” If you wrap lettuce around ingredients that would normally be on a sandwich with a lot of lettuce (like a taco, BLT, or burger-with-fixins, then you get a lot of the “experience” of eating that cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato, just no bun. If you put the burger between slices of eggplant, it’s a completely different experience than the typical burger. Right now husband and I are using a limited number of low-carb tortillas as our only true bread substitute. They taste kinda strange and are non-absorbent, but it’s close to tortilla and supposedly very low carb. We have our doubts about the claim of “low carb” so we only have a couple over the course of a the week, if that.
I eat low carb, high fat, and no, these are not bread substitutes. I love bread. I don’t want to be fat and pre-diabetic, so I don’t eat it any more. (And no, my cholesterol didn’t go up because of the butter and cream I consume. The reverse. Down forty points.) Lettuce wraps work. The cucumber idea looks good.
India has a very carb-rich diet. India also has a Type 2 diabetes epidemic.
Kate:
Traditionally India did not have much diabetes, following a traditional Indian diet (that diet is what I’m referring to). The rise of diabetes in India follow dietary changes,:
Also, about half the patients with diabetes 2 in India are under 40. This is an unusually high proportion.
My guess is that the Indian population may have some genetic predisposition for developing diabetes under the right circumstances. With the traditional diet, the “right” circumstances did not exist. With the adoption of a high sugar and high refined carbohydrate more-western-type of diet, diabetes 2 has suddenly soared in a place where it was rather rare before. But the diet used to be heavy on carbs, as well. It’s just that the carbs were very different, as well as the general amount of calories people were eating.
“It’s just that the carbs were very different, ” — Neo
In the West, that would have been full-grain breads, which don’t lend themselves to the problems that processed white-breads do.
All populations introduced to the processed-high-sugar foods-diet develop problems, including the Arctic Inuit, American Indians in most of the north & south, and Europeans themselves (sugar was not largely available until around the 15th or 16th century, although introduced much earlier).
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/history-sugar-food-nobody-needs-everyone-craves/
Yes, sugar is primarily responsible for the huge Atlantic slave trade, along with tobacco, and cotton only much later.
Sweet tooths of the world have so much to answer for!
Neo, yes, I lived in India for two years, and I saw that they do love sweets. I also wonder about the oils used. In the traditional diet, it was probably ghee (clarified butter). Now, the grocery stores sell lots of processed oils which are likely cheaper. I bought Italian olive oil because at least I could tell what it was.
I wouldn’t call any of those a sandwich, but some of the pairings don’t look too bad. For instance, the cucumber roll could be sliced into rounds for snacking, and stuffed bell pepper is an old dish (we used meatloaf).
However, portabello mushrooms go inside the bun; they are too juicy to be the outside.
Yea, bread is bread. It any substitute is just that – a substitute. Portobello mushrooms can work out better than the rest of the list due to its texture, but 9/10 times I’d choose actual bread. Same thing with cucumbers.
I mean, I’ve tried cauliflower pizza dough and it was alright but I’d never choose it over the real thing.
GRA:
And spaghetti squash for pasta—the worst.
@ Neo: Now that I actually did like. I’d make sqaghetti squash again. One recipe I was rather disappointed with was squash lasagna. It was good but too watery.
Have Western genius scientist girls and boys figured out why sugar does that, Aesop? Or has human wisdom hit a bottleneck… once again.
Stuff they do not understand, the Divine Counsel and the starry sky already knew before they were born.