[LadyDoc]

I am retired here so don't practice except to treat employees. But a lot of them have high blood pressure due to high salt diets (e.g. soy sauce, fish sauce, etc). We are also seeing some diabetes in one family that works for us, but they are thin so it might be a genetic problem. But as the European diet and Junk food is pushed on TV, the younger middle class generation is getting obese and taller than their parents. The farmers have a low protein diet, but tuberculosis and poor nutrition leads to a poor immune system so they are more likely to die of dengue or pneumonia.

All the hysteria about junk food and additives is true, but it ignores the alternative: low grade malnutrition and a lot of food getting thrown out because it goes bad faster. And with the long shelf life, it tends to be cheaper than fresh food.

I say this even though we grow organic rice and work with a coop for organic vegetables, which is pushed by the government here.

But the organic food is too expensive for the poor people in the cities to buy.

In the USA, I worked with native Americans, who have a genetic disposition to diabetes, and we did a lot of preventive medicine and dietary instructions. When I worked in private practice, we didn't have time, so we tended to end them to classes at the hospital or to a dietitian for this.

[LittleLinda]

Thank you for your detailed response. That’s a very sad report, LadyDoc. It angers me because I believe there are enough resources on the planet to feed everyone and keep them healthy, but our governments and geopolitical manoeuvres prevent that. I’m aware that keeping people in poverty helps to control them. I might buy some malungay anyway.