The Scottish Diet

[Roy Hunter]

James Doohan was an Irish-Canadian, Scotch Whisky does not have an 'e', and the possessive of man is man's, with an apostrophe.

You're right about the deep-fried food, though...

[Arkaeon]

It's... ... ...it's green!

Also: please be kind and keep sending over the Scotch Whisky, please, Oh God of All That Flies and Flings Pastarific Appendages! Every whisky made in the western hemisphere is a horrible torture to the palate and soul. Honest.

[PKMKII]

Two competitive eaters were hospitalized after a spicy curry contest in Edinburgh, Scotland.

"It was very painful and felt like I was being chainsawed in the stomach with hot sauce on the chainsaw," she told BBC. Kim, it should be noted, came in second (loser), while the winner "ate the last bowl in four seconds and then ran outside to be sick," the way champions do.

[DavidH]

English diet could save thousands

[Roy Hunter]

English diet could save thousands

You have no idea how much I am annoyed by this story.

Here is the original research.

Here is a quote from the abstract:

Much of the mortality gap between Scotland and England is explained by non-dietary risk factors.

Here is what the BHF said about it.

Here is what Victoria Taylor, senior dietitian at the BHF actually wrote:

...saying the rest of the UK should follow England’s lead to cut heart deaths isn’t a foolproof solution; a quarter of English adults are obese and only 30 per cent eat their five-a-day.

I doubt if any journalists who wrote aabout this today actually read the original piece, since it is a meta-analysis and quite heavy on the statistical methods. By the time the story has been lifted second-hand from the BHF's website and re-interpreted, it bears scant resemblance to the original piece of work.

[DavidH]

Sorry to annoy you, Roy. I'm quite prepared to believe that the original research has been distorted by the media; that's par for the course.

[Roy Hunter]

Sorry to annoy you, Roy. I'm quite prepared to believe that the original research has been distorted by the media; that's par for the course.

Quite all right David, I saw it on the BBC, then I read it in the Herald, and when I got to Venganza and the Scottish Diet thread had a new post, I knew exactly what it was. I was already annoyed by it before I got here.

The thing is, I have met and corresponded with Victoria Taylor. She's smart and articulate, and she has always given me the impression that she can play the media game well without getting her name attached to dubious stories like this one. Maybe she had a bad day? Maybe someone pp-ed her on the press release? I don't know...

[Roy Hunter]

Good old Daily Mash...

[dwbzuggy]

The Scots do it right. A couple years ago me wench and I were in Edinborough and went to a Chinese restaurant, in pursuit of noodles. All entres came with choice of rice or chips (steak fries for Americans).

Glorious food, to mix with single malt and ale!

[Roy Hunter]

The Scots do it right. A couple years ago me wench and I were in Edinborough and went to a Chinese restaurant, in pursuit of noodles. All entres came with choice of rice or chips (steak fries for Americans).

Glorious food, to mix with single malt and ale!

There is of course the good old Scottish compromise of "Half rice, half chips". FML...

[daftbeaker]

The Scots do it right. A couple years ago me wench and I were in Edinborough and went to a Chinese restaurant, in pursuit of noodles. All entres came with choice of rice or chips (steak fries for Americans).

Glorious food, to mix with single malt and ale!

There is of course the good old Scottish compromise of "Half rice, half chips". FML...

It wasn't in Scotland but I have heard about a menu offering mash, chips and rice with unspecified 'sauce'. Who needs anything other than carbohydrates? (This may have been an urban legend, I never saw the restaurant or menu in question.)

[Tigger_the_Wing]

My father-in-law grew up in rural Perthshire, Scotland. For breakfast he would have porridge. For lunch, he'd walk home and have a slice of cold, congealed porridge. For tea, he'd have another slice of porridge with jam on (if he was lucky). No, that isn't one of those "When I were a lad…" stories. It was just what a poor Scottish kid ate, growing up on a farm in the depression; and he said he felt lucky to have a full stomach when many of his classmates only got one meal a day.

Is it a wonder that when they were finally able to get their mouths around high-calorie foods they went a little over-the-top?

Fried potatoes, fried-and-battered fish, fried-and-battered black pudding, fried-and-battered white pudding, fried-and-battered Mars bars…

If it can be dipped in batter and fried, someone in Scotland (and probably a lot of someones) seems to have tried it.

All right then; a great deal over-the-top.

[daftbeaker]

If it can be dipped in batter and fried, someone in Scotland (and probably a lot of someones) seems to have tried it.

I heard a story about deep fried pizza which sounds no less horrific than the Mars bars. I wonder if someone's tried to do a 'healthy' option and deep fry salad?

[Roy Hunter]

I heard a story about deep fried pizza which sounds no less horrific than the Mars bars. I wonder if someone's tried to do a 'healthy' option and deep fry salad?

When I first arrived in Scotland in 1979-ish, we went to the chip shop and ordered a pizza off the menu. Believe it or not, they ask if you want a cheese, mushroom, onion or ham pizza before they fold it in half and deep fry it for you.

Like anal sex and morris dancing, it's something you should try once...

[Arkaeon]

I think all that statistical analysis is a load of crap. As far as I can tell, at this point in history all nations have the same death rate when all is said and done: 100%. Everyone dies of something eventually. Telomere rejuvenation and other treatments may change this any day now, in which case humanity must take a serious look at our systematic over-reproduction tendencies, eh? There are over twice as many people now as when I was a child, and 7x as many as when my grandfather was young, despite the flu pandemics and world wars and genocides. Since my family has been the same size for the last 120 years, I blame others for the depredation of the planet, so there. Too many people!

Meanwhile, in hybrid cultures such as Scotland, you have people who are part celt, part norse, and may have some arctic/sami metabolism genes floating about as well, especially in the northern reaches and isles, thanks to interbreeding with norwegians, etc. Arctic cultures tolerate and thrive at much higher levels of fat and protein in their diet (up to 60% fats in some eskimo/inuit tribes!), and data regarding life expectancy is always clouded with higher rates of infant/child mortality and poor medical facilities available at all ages. For those who think that cold climate alone is responsible for indigenous lifespans... piss off! We can take the cold. One of my mother's uncles was a locksmith after he was 70 and still went out to unlock cars and otherwise help folk in the deep of Chicago winters when he was 96, no problem. I wear shorts and a t-shirt with a light jacket when it's below 0°C. It's the deadly breads/complex carbs that hurt us, but governments don't talk about that because grain-carbs are cheap feed for big cities, which means more taxes. What are we, cows?

Because the specialized metabolic patterns of ancient tribes have been so mixed in modern times, I think each person has to discover for themselves what makes their body work. Some people can live to 100 eating bacon and eggs and steak every day, with a generous dose of pipe-smoking alongside, while others need to concentrate on fruits and veggies and watch their cholesterol like a hawk.

Personally, I think that quality of life and total fitness is worth a lot more than any 1 factor, and worth more than total longevity. Averages are about bragging rights; they don't address quality of life. If deep-fried foods keep you active and alert and in shape, that's fabulous. Enjoy! If apples and spinach are what you need to stay trim and moving, then go with that instead. Total health is a personal path, not one guaranteed by following statistics and government guidelines based on averages. A good day's work and some aerobic workout is worth more than a hundred subtle factors with thresholds below statistical significance.