Nutrition 101

I've heard some interesting theories about nutrition from the Ugandans I work with and come in contact with...here are just a few:

1)There's a little boy in the P3 class whose belly is slightly bloated. In Africa, this is a sign of Kwashiorkor, a protein deficiency common among malnourished children. So, I asked one of the teachers if Douglas eats lunch as school (a meal of posho and beans, which would provide a good source of protein). The teacher said yes and then asked me why I was asking. I told her that I noticed his belly was a little bloated, which is a sign of malnutrition. SHE SAID...children get bloated stomachs from eating too much cold food. Yep, cold food. She even gave an example...too much juice. Be careful out there...don't drink too much juice!

2)A guest speaker came to our school and talked about nutrition. He said high blood pressure comes from eating food that is not made by God, which is not completely wrong but does discount all the other factors involved. He included the local chickens as food that is man-made, not God-made, because of what man has done to change them. I was sitting there thinking...does this mean I should stop taking my vitamins and drinking filtered water so I won't get high blood pressure? He also mentioned that Americans don't get high blood pressure because they eat right and exercise...he obviously has never been to America!