Mary Brighton From BrightonYourHealth
Giving you good health tips from my plate to yours, one bite at a time
BrightonYourHealth provides healthy living, healthy eating, weight loss tips, health fitness and recipes. The articles are written by a registered dietitian and nutritionist who lives in France, adores Italy (and skips over there as much as possible to eat) and has the chance to be an American who grew up on the Jersey Shore.
That is me, Mary Brighton, the author of what you read on the site. My 11 years living in France show me (time and time again) how it is possible to eat healthy and live healthy the French way which you can read about in the articles on this website. I also travel often to Italy and embrace the Italian culture and Italian way of eating and lifestyle. My articles try to promote a European health approach for back to basics methods on wellness and living healthy.
Saying that, I also have America in my heart and in particular the Jersey Shore where I grew up. This cultural perspective helps me to bring you nutrition information about what works in these three countries: USA, France and Italy.
Please visit the About the Author page for more information on my background. I welcome your comments, support and sharing of articles. Our health is priceless, we need to preserve this valuable priceless commodity!
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Warmly,
Mary
Yes, Americans are totally obsessed with diet and weight, but continue to get fatter and fatter, and have more and more heart disease, and a plethora of other diseases. The reason is we just haven’t figured out how we can eat more without gaining weight. Everyone loves to eat. The problem is cheap food is so accessible through subsidization of our food chain, and through our industrialization of the food chain. We can get steak now cheaper than it was 20 years ago. And we are bombarded by advice, diets, food pyramids, etc. all trying to tell us what to do. And all of them have a vested interest in telling us what to do. Doctors want us to get a bypass. The cattleman’s association tells us we need good quality protein. The Dairyman’s association tells us “milk is good food”. All the research is also funded by who? Yet, despite all the information, finding the answer to our problems is quite simple. Go back to the days of old. I call it the Caveman diet. The Caveman diet does include meat, although not very much because he only ate meat after a kill. It does include many vegetables and grains. It does not include soda, cookies, ice cream, hamburgers, eggs, milk, cheese, etc. Most of the research in this area has been discredited, and those that support the position that we can improve our health and even reverse ailments through proper nutrition are seen as wackos and blacklisted. It’s easy to see that the earth is round, but they have a vested interest in the world being flat. They sell us the drugs, they do the surgeries, they sell the meat and eggs. Smoking used to not harm us either…
Lucky you in France! I thought for a minute you were going to be in Brighton!
Hubert wrote,
“I have a question and, with your experience in France, you may have the answer.
When invited out to dinner, especially when there are new faces at the table, quite a lot of time is spent –not continuously but it adds up– by guests putting in their bit about the asparagus being so green and so well cooked; another saying that he’s never had veal this tender . .and it goes on and on with everyone simply having to say something nice to the hosts or cook . . or else appear to be impolite. It can almost get to be a contest in complimenting. And has led to many reprimands made by one spouse to another. So going out and enjoying good company can become stressful.
I personally think that eating together is a blessing and certainly is a terrific occasion, backdrop, for hearing what people have to say, and for finding out something about them. But I’m inclined to think, I suppose as the British do (the well-bred ones in Downton Abbey
, that we should hardly be looking at the food in our plates and, if anything, we should be concealing our chewing and gulps with our napkins –all that to minimize the “animal” dimension of the feeding act.
The food should be there and, surely, enjoyed, but let’s not keep talking about it, first, for the reason I’ve given (that of time consumption), and then because guests will all too readily talk about what they’ve eaten last “that was simply scrumptious”. Others will say more about their favourite dish, and it can go on and on. And food will have almost become the main subject of conversation.
It should be enough when leaving to thank the hosts for the invitation and also for the lovely meal. And there’s no harm in sending a note regarding the asparagus in particular.”
Hi Hubert,
I love your comment and observations. Spot on !
While I adore dining with the French and adore French food I do agree:
it is also frustrating on my end to have dinners where everyone is making comments about the food. Sometimes the topics get heated (organic foods, GMO etc…) and we talk about the food and where it comes from…
Wine also gets commented on too.
Does any other readers feel the same or would like to differ?
Warmly, Mary