Yep, and also Italians "do it better", what gives?
It is rare to see all together such a set of (I have to presume) unrelated items, such as the popularity of a TV show as related to a (presumed) excess of physicians, or the high public debt or the scarcity of jobs connected (How?) to a long life.
About the Mediterranean Diet and the availability of fresh products (which in itself are IMHO very good things) it is doubtful that the good people of Iceland share the same, still they are almost as long living as the Italians.
This has gotten a lot of study and comes up often here. The issue appears to be the same as with the so-called Hispanic Health Paradox where poor and likely obese Hispanic Americans have better health and life expectancy than the general population. The cause appears to be socialization and lifestyle as both Southern Italians and Hispanic Americans tend to form large accepting family groups. What is less discussed is the downside of this which is that with more social bonding and acceptance these physically healthy people are less likely to rebel in general or become extremely wealthy from business success. Neurotic and unhealthy people may have more personal challenges but build more dynamic economies and societies.
Less likely to rebel, really? WASP-powered US has had the same system of government for more than 200 years. In that timeframe, Spain and Italy saw several revolutions, upheavals, counter-revolutions, and fundamental shifts in democratic systems during peacetime. Even in the 1946-92 timeframe, the so called "First Republic" in Italy had a different government almost every year, and at various points it was on the verge of civil war.
I think you are confusing economic dynamics with political ones. Despite What Marx would say, the two don't always require each other.
>Hispanic Health Paradox where poor and likely obese Hispanic Americans have better health and life expectancy than the general population.
Anecdotally, Hispanic people tend to eat far more fruits and vegetables than the average American, so this wouldn't surprise me. Although I think the conclusions you draw beyond that are a bit of a stretch.
I am not drawing any conclusions whatsoever. I am referring to an established literature of considerable volume. For a good popular take on all of this there is a big and very well cited section of Outliers by Malcom Gladwell that outlines all of this in a conversational manner. The problem is that you are pretending to be interested in this material without bothering to spend the effort to seek out and read existing findings.
If Hispanic people eating far more fruits and vegetables is a key detail as you suggest then why is it that Hispanic peoples in the US are so much more likely to be obese? You really would do yourself a favor by consulting some of the existing literature about this rather than leaning on oversimplifications or attacking me for having dared to refer to studies I have read that may be relevant to this material.
Would love to see California and Colorado vs Mississippi and Alabama listed on here. Like the other commenters said about Italy, there's a lot of differentiation across the country.
>About the Mediterranean Diet and the availability of fresh products (which in itself are IMHO very good things) it is doubtful that the good people of Iceland share the same, still they are almost as long living as the Italians.
I don't think it's so much the particular diet, as it is the lack of refined sugars and highly processed foods. Every person I've met from outside North America always makes fun of American food. Things like canned vegetables, frozen meals, etc. simply do not exist in most of the world. We as a culture have chosen convenience over health and nutrition.
America has also LONG allowed all sorts of toxic materials and chemicals, and, through incompetence, exposed its living beings (humans included) to such. In particular, materials which bioaccumulate have a tradition of being just ignored as unimportant until a couple decades ago (ddts, lead, asbestos, silicates in general, phthalates, etc).
It's also worth noting that Italians experience some of the lowest heart disease rates in the world - one of the major killers in North America. If you want to live long, I guess live like the Italians?
My completely unsubstantiated theory behind this goes like this:
1) A diet rich in (non-animal) oils, i.e. Olive oil
2) Live in a sunny, but not oppressively warm, country.
3) Give family time and traditions far more priority than career ambitions.
Well we are still going around by clichés, it is not like all Italians have a large family, are dark, wear a moustache, smoke heavily, sing frequently and have only warm, sunny climate.
We don't even have anymore (with some exceptions of course) restaurants with white/red checquered tablecloths ;).
More or less there are 60 millions people spread over a country that is roughly 1300 Km (that is 800 miles) from north to south, it is hard to generalize about diet, climate and social structures ...
To give you an example, there is a (invisible) line just north of Bologna, recipes from regions above it traditionally use butter or animal fat, recipes from regions below it use olive oil.
Well, lard is pretty popular in Bologna and Modena too ;) but I strongly agree with your overall argument. Italy is very different throughout, and changing all the time; stereotypes don't help medicine.
Italy has the 8th largest economy (by 2016 GDP) in the world. this is struggling? Italy doesn't have a struggling economy. Italy has a disappointing growth forecast to those who conflate growth with health. Tumors grow rapidly too.
I am italian, living in Italy. A part that we have a lot of taxes, if Italy had not 40% of taxes on my salary, probably economy will be better than Germany. There are a lot of corrupt politicians.
A part that, I am 38 and everybody says I look around 5 years younger, I am trying to understand why. It would be really interesting to know it, so I could keep going in the same direction. Maybe cause i always try to avoid stress? Maybe cause I always arrive 5 minutes late? Maybe cause I always try to joke and laugh every day? I do not know, I would like to advice others as well.
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[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 52.9 ms ] threadIt is rare to see all together such a set of (I have to presume) unrelated items, such as the popularity of a TV show as related to a (presumed) excess of physicians, or the high public debt or the scarcity of jobs connected (How?) to a long life.
About the Mediterranean Diet and the availability of fresh products (which in itself are IMHO very good things) it is doubtful that the good people of Iceland share the same, still they are almost as long living as the Italians.
I think you are confusing economic dynamics with political ones. Despite What Marx would say, the two don't always require each other.
Anecdotally, Hispanic people tend to eat far more fruits and vegetables than the average American, so this wouldn't surprise me. Although I think the conclusions you draw beyond that are a bit of a stretch.
If Hispanic people eating far more fruits and vegetables is a key detail as you suggest then why is it that Hispanic peoples in the US are so much more likely to be obese? You really would do yourself a favor by consulting some of the existing literature about this rather than leaning on oversimplifications or attacking me for having dared to refer to studies I have read that may be relevant to this material.
I don't think it's so much the particular diet, as it is the lack of refined sugars and highly processed foods. Every person I've met from outside North America always makes fun of American food. Things like canned vegetables, frozen meals, etc. simply do not exist in most of the world. We as a culture have chosen convenience over health and nutrition.
Plus, their green houses grow a lot plant products that go directly to market.
The freshest food and short delivery lines may be the important factors.
Thriving in human terms.
My original comment was more about lifestyle than anything else. Healthier lifestyle does not require a higher GDP.
I think it does, but i totally agree that healthy lifestyle does NOT require money.
My completely unsubstantiated theory behind this goes like this:
1) A diet rich in (non-animal) oils, i.e. Olive oil
2) Live in a sunny, but not oppressively warm, country.
3) Give family time and traditions far more priority than career ambitions.
We don't even have anymore (with some exceptions of course) restaurants with white/red checquered tablecloths ;).
More or less there are 60 millions people spread over a country that is roughly 1300 Km (that is 800 miles) from north to south, it is hard to generalize about diet, climate and social structures ...
To give you an example, there is a (invisible) line just north of Bologna, recipes from regions above it traditionally use butter or animal fat, recipes from regions below it use olive oil.
A part that, I am 38 and everybody says I look around 5 years younger, I am trying to understand why. It would be really interesting to know it, so I could keep going in the same direction. Maybe cause i always try to avoid stress? Maybe cause I always arrive 5 minutes late? Maybe cause I always try to joke and laugh every day? I do not know, I would like to advice others as well.