News Taffy

Once in awhile, we should all step outside our usual every day life and experience something totally new and different. Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Peru and my head is filled with new ideas. Peru is a day’s travel away, still in the same time zone but life there is completely different from what we know. I am hoping to assimilate some of their ideas into my own life. Here are a few of my observations.

I saw no obese people and precious few overweight people in Peru. Their diet centers around whole foods like lean meats, fish and fresh vegetables. They don’t eat much processed food. I saw few fast food restaurants while in Peru; restaurants make their food from scratch. I did see one or two fast food places - Dominos Pizza and KFC - but they weren’t on every corner, like here. Peruvians do seem to drink large quantities of Inca Cola, a Peruvian soft drink that has about 180 calories per bottle and 40 grams of sugar. Inca Cola is so popular that it was bought by Coca Cola because they couldn’t compete with it.

Peruvians walk more than Americans, much of it up and down steep mountains and streets. Many people still grow their own food on small plots of land. They plow the fields by hand or with donkeys or oxen. There aren’t many large pieces of farm equipment and certainly not smaller equipment like tillers or lawn mowers. The leading cause of death in Peru is pneumonia and influenza while in the U.S., it is heart disease. Perhaps Peruvians’ diet and exercise helps explain that difference.

I learned that there are 1,500 different types of potatoes grown in Peru! There are also several varieties of corn that I have never seen including a purple kind that they make into a delicious drink. I feel that we have severely limited our own diet in the U.S. and could benefit from growing a greater variety of fruits and vegetables. We are missing out on so much nutrition, not to mention taste, and possibly causing food allergies. I think we should encourage farmers to plant different crops rather than rewarding them for all growing the same thing.

I had the misfortune to have a bout with Montezuma’s revenge at the end of our trip. I got dehydrated so Barry asked the concierge about a doctor. The concierge arranged for a doctor to come to our hotel room! The doctor questioned me, checked me over and made a recommendation. We chose to go to the clinic for IV antibiotics and fluid as we were due to fly out that day. It would be unheard of for a U.S. doctor to visit anyone in their hotel room (unless you are a celebrity). I received excellent care from the doctors and nurses at the clinic. When I left, they gave me a large bottle of electrolytes to drink, yum, yum, but they were most concerned with my health.