Posted on 02/24/2006 6:33:25 PM PST by Loyalist
Coca leaf has more nutritional value than milk and should replace it in school lunches, Bolivia's new Foreign Minister has suggested.
"Our children need calcium, and the coca leaf has more calcium than milk," David Choquehuanca said.
In past interviews, Mr Choquehuanca said he stopped reading books when he discovered his Aymara heritage, and claimed to get his knowledge from reading the wrinkles of his ancestors.
"Our children need phosphorous, and the coca leaf has more phosphorous than fish," he said. "Perhaps instead of milk in school lunches, we should be giving coca leaf to our children."
Mr Choquehuanca said his information on the nutritional value of the coca leaf came from studies by the Bolivian Health Ministry and Harvard University.
Coca leaf is chewed by millions of Bolivians as a tonic and to stave off hunger. But it is also processed into cocaine and sold abroad, chiefly in the US, in a multi-billion-dollar illegal trade.
Bolivian President Evo Morales, also of indigenous extraction, who was elected in December with strong support from coca farmers, is under US pressure to repress the industry.
Asked to comment on Mr Choquehuanca's proposal, opposition MP and former education minister Tito Hoz de Vila said coca would have a detrimental effect on schoolchildren.
"Those poor students would be dozing off in the classroom instead of paying attention to their schoolwork," he said.
This guy's going to be a real treat to deal with.
must be the antidote to Ritalin.
I was wired enough on sugar and caffeine. Giving school kids coca leaf strikes me as the equivalent of pouring gasoline on an open fire.
|
%
|
Daily |
Value
|
||
| Total fat |
0
|
g
|
0
|
%
|
| Calcium (ca) |
18
|
mg
|
2.3
|
%
|
| Phosphorus(P) |
6.4
|
mg
|
0.8
|
%
|
| Magnesium(Mg) |
2.1
|
mg
|
1
|
%
|
| Potassium(K) |
30
|
mg
|
1
|
%
|
| Sodium(Na) |
0
|
g
|
0
|
%
|
| Protein |
0
|
g
|
0
|
%
|
So are they now going to make Coca-Cola with cocaine in it again?
What's for dinner, heroin?
In past interviews, Mr Choquehuanca said he stopped reading books when he discovered his Aymara heritage, and claimed to get his knowledge from reading the wrinkles of his ancestors...
Mr Choquehuanca said his information on the nutritional value of the coca leaf came from studies by the Bolivian Health Ministry and Harvard University.
You can read harvard studies in the wrinkles of your ancestors? Cool!
Cociane: It not just for enetertainment execs and club hoppers anymore!
He's right.
The coca leaf has been used by the locals for things like this for literally hundreds of years. It takes TONS of coca leaves to actually make the drug cocane. It naturally grows easily and everywhere, and if we think we can kill it through actually trying to fight the plant it's self, we're out of our gords.
This guy is the first PM to actually say he'd be actively involved in fighting the production of the drug, which is a much more winnable and reasonable goal.
Cocaine - The other white powder.
"You can read harvard studies in the wrinkles of your ancestors? Cool!"
His ancestors were translating the wrinkles on Ted Kennedy's arse, thighs, neck, etc.
(Remember, the Swimmer is a Harvard boy)
He is lucky he isnt related to Nancy Pelosi. What with Botox and plastic surgery , her wrinkles would be hard to read, She is pulled so tight now her toes curl up.
As for chewing the Coca leaf, I suppose its fine if you dont mind losing your teeth and 25 yo.
Our jungle guides pointed out that chewing the coca leaves does nothing for you unless you also chew leaves from some other tree (I forget which) to provide the alkaloids that somehow react with the coca and then get you buzzed.
For the record, the human body uses Phosphorus levels as a feedback mechanism for maintaining proper Calcium levels in the body. Amazingly, bones are only a secondary use for Calcium, probably evolved originally as a store. The primary use for Calcium is for neural voltaic cells, analagous to the copper in a battery. Since Calcium and Phosphorus are often associated with each other in bone, if the body detects a Phosphorus:Calcium ratio that is too high, the body infers that Calcium levels in the blood stream are too low, and begins to unnecessarily strip Calcium from the bones into the bloodstream. The kidneys are not part of this feedback system, so when they encounter unnecessarily elevated Calcium levels, they dump it into the urine, it exits the body, and the person loses their Calcium store.
So quite contrary to this whackos beliefs, most people -- especially the urban poor -- have dangerously high Phosphorus levels, leading to the current osteoperosis crisis. The urban poor, including in Latin America, drink large quantities of cola, which is essentially carbonated sugar water and phosphoric acid.
If you've heard people say that carbonation is bad for your bones, they are wrong. The carbonation can enter your blood stream simply by holding your breath! What gives soda a bad rap is the phosphoric acid. Sodas like orange and 7-Up are harmless, except for the sugar content.
So essentially, you have a foreign minister offering health advice in spite of preosterous and self-proclaimed ignorance, which will probably lead to scores of unneccesary deaths. But he has his job just because drug dealers conned the poor into suporting them in elections by professing socialism. And the Washington Post cnsiders this absolutely gloriously wonderful news.
"Maybe so, but the natives managed to get a pretty strong stimulant effect out of a few leaves in their cheek."
Seriously, as an avid coffee drinker (my one real vice) and having chewed coca personally, there is no comparison. The coffee is stronger.
I think they chewed the dried leaves with lime.
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