Horiatiki Salata-Greek Village Salad
(Saga Hotel in Poros)
Gavros Salata-Fresh Anchovy Salad
(O Sabouras in Naphlion)
Posted on 07/02/2002 5:59:31 PM PDT by Pharmboy
OSLO (Reuters) - Greek cuisine and plenty of sex help to ensure a long and healthy life, and to keep cancer and heart disease at bay, a cancer expert said on Tuesday.
"It looks like the Greek diet in many ways is the optimum diet," Harvard professor Walter Willett told Reuters at an international cancer congress in Oslo.
A Greek diet--with plenty of fruit and vegetables all year round and olive oil instead of butter and lard--was the best way to keep a range of cancers at bay, while the sturdy diet of northern Europe was like a ticking bomb, Willett said.
"The traditional northern European diet comes pretty close to a worst-case diet, and we have imported that into the United States," Willett said. "That means large amounts of red meat and dairy fat, and low amounts of fruit and vegetables."
But Willett said he was not trying to take the pleasure out of life by promoting a smoke-free lifestyle that was low on red meat and alcohol but included plenty of exercise.
"Remember sex--safe sex--is a positive physical exercise," he said.
BEWARE OF BEING OVERWEIGHT
Willett said the cancer risk of being overweight was almost as bad as smoking, especially for cancer of the colon and kidney cancer as well as for postmenopausal breast cancer ( news - web sites), adding that even the slightest hint of a beer-belly was a cause for concern.
"Big is dangerous," he said.
"Even the average belly adds to the risk and the fatter you are the higher the risk," he said, adding most people should aim to keep the weight they had in their early 20s.
But nature made weight control an uphill struggle; humans gain weight as they grow older even if they eat the same amount of food.
"The way to beat the system is to gradually increase physical exercise as you get older," he said. Studies showed that women in Sweden and Japan were the best weight-watchers around.
"It is humanly possible," he added.
Sex Greek style--no thanks! I'll take to tried and tested version I'm accustomed to.
As for Greek food--the Greeks have been saying it's healthy for a long time.
As for sex--as long as Mother Nature thinks you're procreating, she tends to leave you alone. (BTW, I don't think Mother considers "Greek-style" sex to be procreation oriented.)
Where do you think lawyers come from?
I read somewhere that Greeks have one of the highest per capita rates of tobacco consumption in the world---i.e., they're furious fumeurs. Got to balance out all that healthy diet and sex---not to mention all the smoking they have to do after sex...
Horiatiki Salata-Greek Village Salad
(Saga Hotel in Poros)
Gavros Salata-Fresh Anchovy Salad
(O Sabouras in Naphlion)
Italian, Greek, Spanish, Middle Eastern.. Greek olive oil is good, very green and fruity, strong flavored for an olive oil lovin' man like you. I recommend you look for it--it's harder to find than Spanish or Italian stuff, but worth it when you find it.
Olive oil is the key to raise HDL cholesterol level that helps protect a person from developing coronary artery disease and stroke.
Almost. It's McSpanakopita, but nevermind that.
There's a Greek restaurant near me that's actually excellent, when I go in for lunch occasionally. The problem is, the guy also does a wicked Reuben, so I get that whenever I go in there - which is not part of the Greek diet, I'm sure...
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