Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Sappho]

Corn is cheap because of subsidies and the influence of processing and genetic engineering companies, not because it's easier to grow or process. If you're interested, check out the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" or the film "King Corn," both of which explain the system pretty well. It's one of the things I dislike most about the US, actually. I have actually noticed that even things like cola taste better in Europe, and the only difference is they use sugar (from sugar beets) instead of corn syrup, so I can vouch that sugar is better for taste, and anyway studies have shown that corn syrup is somehow more likely to cause diabetes than sugar, etc. etc. so I'll personally stick with real sugar.

Anyway, this thread has gone way off from my original question. As I said before, yes, there are other types of flour in America, but they're not the "standard" type. If a recipe calls for flour in the US, everyone assumes it's standard all-purpose wheat flour. Other types are the exception. In the Czech Republic, on the other hand, if a recipe says "flour," it always specifies which type, because three types are completely common.

I'll leave the meat/bread/veggie issue for now because I think nutrition is a thousand times more complicated than most people think (reductionist science is always trying to pinpoint one or two substances that are "healthy" or "unhealthy," but it just doesn't work that way), and anyway everyone's body is different. I know I feel healthy if I almost never eat meat and in its place eat a lot of potatoes, rice, beans, and fresh vegetables. Other people feel healthier if they eat more meat, and then there's the kid who survived on nothing but jam sandwiches for sixteen years. I do notice that in general, vegetarians are very thin people, and people who eat a lot of meat tend to be bigger. But obviously the other factors in their diets affect this as well. Anyway it doesn't matter, I'll eat what I like and you can all eat what you like.

[G-Flex]

A pet peeve of mine: People saying "wheat" to mean "whole wheat", such as "wheat bread" or "wheat flour". It's all wheat!


Regarding HFCS, I have to wonder how it is for dental health, because I've noticed my teeth get worse after drinking soda than anything else (although there could be other reasons). Does it tend to stick to teeth more? Do bacteria digest fructose-glucose syrup better than sucrose? I'm not sure if any studies have been done on this, but it would be interesting.

[Sappho]

I'm not sure, but I do know that potato starch is worse for your teeth than sugar because it sticks better and all the little critters who like to give you cavities prefer potato starch.

[G-Flex]

Bacteria prefer starch? Really? I'm pretty sure most of them can't even digest it. And in my own experience, sugar is much worse, but that's just me.

[tolkafox]

If you're referring to sugar from sodas, it's the acid that will kill your teeth first.

As far as the Americans using one type of flour to cook everything bread and bread related, I use all purpose flour for everything. Not so much because I can't tell the difference between flours, but because everyone around me can't tell the difference and I'm too lazy to carry a large pantry.

Other than stereotyping myself, it's not hard to find good flour to make good bread as it is to find a good baker to make it. Typical supermarkets either under cook or burn their bread/cakes/cookies/pies/etc, and these are people who have been baking for years. I should know, I had to marry a baker and buy her a french pastry book to get good desserts without making them myself. It's not the same when you make it for yourself

[G-Flex]

If you're referring to sugar from sodas, it's the acid that will kill your teeth first.

Yeah, the acid is one thing, but I'm specifically referring to plaque formation. This is confusing, since you'd think bacteria would like it less with all the phosphoric acid around.