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Writer's pictureMel Gedruj

The idea of a Miracle Ingredient should be reconsidered......

We are advised of proposed "health" enhancing information based on specific foods and ingredients. It always seems to follow the same pattern : take one product and extract one or two ingredients and identify them as miracle nutrients. That becomes the flavour of the day. It is done as if food is a fashionable process to be designed ad infinitum, history- culture-be damned ..I am not supportive of this reductionist view with something as fundamental as food. I simply don't care how many commentators have decided that this is now their so called specialty ,


All i know, and i know that very well, is that i am the result of thousand of years of food culture that somehow knew what had to be eaten without research centres or PHDs....they were .people who somehow managed to feed us the right products from the lands they cultivated and animals they raised.

So here we are again someone is claiming that Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) had antioxidants as a miracle item!!! guess what , antioxidants are also called polyphenols and are a very small part of EVOO and if not treated properly or stored in ideal conditions, the EVOO will lose a portion of them... So enough of this partial information given willy nelly ... we have to get back to basics ... EVOO is a product that we are privileged to have, it is used in religious ceremonies ( baptisms +....) which means it should be used with respect and veneration but also use in the kitchen as it what intended the last 8000 years...combine it with wine , what you have is civilization... i know that is a word that is now not always understood but let history speak... EVOO required trees to be planted requiring 8 to 10 years to yield results and vines would take up to 5 years to produce drinkable wine ... all this compelled people to settle down and plan for the long term requiring the building of communities , educating children and establishing laws etc... why is there such a lack of understanding of the impact of EVOO and Vino in our culture??? i will keep on writing until , i do hope, have a debate of what makes our culture great... Plato, Nietzsche, Freud and others may be the staple of the intellectual day.... I propose that for reality enthusiasts , lets discuss our marvelous history of sustenance and true wealth are..... And It is amazing that we have been led to believe that our current state of affairs is the best that can be in human health matters and longevity!!

Alexander the Great , was surrounded with his father's advisors , one of them was 90ish . They lived in tents , in precarious conditions and were battle ready!! Do You need more proof that we are the inadequate ones? The University of Leeds in the UK conducted an experiment that concluded beyond any doubt that ordinary people from ancient Greece were fitter than the top 5% University athletes using verifiable methodologies to reach that conclusion.


So, what is the final word? we have not been adequately informed to put it politely..........


More to come in the future.... on Wine , EVOO and Food i.e the staples of life and goodness all around...


Always enjoy your olive oil, it has been around for a very long time......














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