What I Eat

I will get to that in a minute.  

But 'What I Eat - Around the world in 80 Diets', was the title of my most recent read.  More of a coffee table book littered with amazing picture stories of people around the planet and what constitutes their daily caloric intake.

Created and authored by Faith D'Aluisio who is a producer and author resident in Napa, CA this is a fascinating view of global food consumption linked to a variety of people, differing age, both genders as well as multiple job profiles.

What might be a suggestion label from the US Food and Drug Agency or FDA in terms of a recommendation for a 2,000 calorie diet per day is far cry from what the world actually eats.  As to the ideal food pyramid and the building block elements like Vitamins and Protein too the reality is a manifestation of access to raw material, living condition including geography and economics.

The book covers the gamut from the urine drinking lady in Bangalore, India who leads a rather sedentary life to the Japanese bike messenger in Tokyo that burns through calories riding 50 miles a day.  He is pictured consuming close to 5,000 of them to power his workday.  Not having to burn them but consuming what comes easy can lead to the heart attack as was the case for a truck driver in America.  The Yak herder in Tibet needs close to 6,000 calories to keep going at high altitude tending to the herd and managing a lifestyle with large family to feed.

I suspect my food intake has changed largely in part due to the access to a variety of ready-made food choices in America compared to my days growing up in a metropolitan suburb in 70s India.  Another factor is curiosity.  I am inherently curious about what the world likes to eat and having sampled the dishes in their country of origin to some extent I love to explore what America has to offer.  There are some very good approximations for that in the bay area and our intake has grown over time.  Some I attribute also to the way American portion sizes have been served.  More value for money being the mantra for marketers of all sorts the restaurant industry is no exception.  The body gets used to digesting larger sizes as the metabolism tries to keep up.  Not expending those calories has now come to bite in the literal ass.

Will that slow me down?  Doubtful.  It is addictive.