I'm Hungry

It is interesting to see how different countries around the world establish their ideal "food pyramid". In America we are taught that there are five core food groups to make a healthy diet. Those groups include grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, and meats & beans. Interestingly no alcohol is represented in our food pyramid for an ideal diet, but for some other countries, alcohol is actually included in their own pyramid systems. Each country has a different perspective on the importance of each food type. Some countries decide that fruits are most important, some meats, some consider milk their highest important substance and some think oil is very important to their diet. There is reasonable arguments for most of the food groups, but ultimately I feel like it comes down to the culture of people whether they like being skinny or are unaccepting of unhealthy weight or even that they have genetics that require them to have a different diet from us. Many factors contribute to the diverse diets of different people so it is definitely wrong to say that any food pyramid is better than another.

A particular example of different diets comes to mind. When traveling in Europe a few years ago I lived off mostly bread, vegetables, pastas, and bland seasonings. This was when i was in France and Italy and i remember celebrating any time I would find a Burger King. Being accustomed to the food in America, the diet I had overseas always left me hungry, though it was probably why i saw a non-existent number of overweight people there.