Remember when red meat was a no no?. There you were, ready to tuck into a mouthfull of medium rare when the local do-gooder appeared, gumming a carrot stick into submission.
"You know that will kill you, all that red meat. You should eat more greens. You should have more respect for your body. All that fat. All that cholesterol. Try some black-strap mollasses and bran next time you feel like some carbohydrate...I find nuts a really really good source of essential proteins and oils. Yoghurt milkshakes really really help you through the day and think of the poor cow and the greenhouse gasses and global warming and land degradation caused by you meat eaters. And, the worst of it is that they all become so bloody aggressive when they eat meat.... Just look at yourself."
And they were right you know. They could see it in your eyes...the feint tremor in your flexor tendon as your meat eating diet almost took over..So close, so close. And what did you do? Did you defend the humble and time honoured rite of eating the occasional cow. No, you disguised your steak sandwiches between slices of wholemeal-rye-enhanced-full-kibble-sour-dough bread, the blood, incognito beetroot.
"May I have a salad sandwich, no onion, brown bread, yes beetroot, tomato, no salt, no cheese and cut the butter."
(....and an enormous slab of slightly singed fillet still quivering from the knife...)
So what happened? There came to pass an iron and protein deficiency that struck throughout the land. Tests were conducted that proved (sic) that red meat in moderation was good for you. We were encouraged to incorporate regular, moderate meals of flesh, including that found under the hide of your humble bovine.
At last count, cheese (along with other milk products) has yet to be entirely rehabilitated. There even seems to be a developing school of thought that
cholesterol may actually be good for you..it's inflammation that is the problem. That's one more reason to steer (sic) clear of the salad brigade. In fact, as
more late middle aged people encounter osteo perosis, at least the females amongst us will be encouraged to re-examine the role products from the underside of the cow may play in the calcium balance of the body.
The point I'm making here is that if you live long enough, there's a fair chance science will contradict its own findings. Remember the natural anti-coagulant found in blood which until its recent resurrection was known (sic) to cause blood clots during major surgery? (Or was it the other way round?..ahh.give it a few years and we'll probably be using its synthetic derivatives to seal our driveways!) And it may not take as long as that. Mr Eliot was probably right .. "In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions that a minute will reverse."
Well what's all this to do with wine. Yes it's on again folks, the born again cocoa and blue nylon fur slipper brigade is on the march. For the next generation of dinner parties and social events, brown paper bags will be essential accessories. The neo-prohibitionists will be making you sickenly aware, that, should you be so misguided as to actually drink the stuff, you run the risk of ruining life on your own personal planet, and upsetting a million brain cells per sip. And binge drinking amongst the young is all your fault.
Binge drinking and its consequences is a very serious issue, but in my opinion it is as much to do with excessive consumptive consumerism as it is alcohol itself. Put the price up on rubbish alcohols by all means, but recognise that good wine, in moderation is not, and has never been a part of that awful, destructive scene.
Don't overlook that the moderate consumption of beverage alcohol ( ie. wine) has been shown to be beneficial to the human physical and emotional condition. Recognise that the American Journal of Medicine has published results of a ten year study of 8,000 people showing that moderate drinkers lived longer, and were 27% less likely to die from all causes than either heavy drinkers or total abstainers.
Remember to mention that this 'reduction in overall mortality corresponds largely to an enormous improvement in cardiovascular mortality, which is still the leading cause of death in (Western inflamed obese) countries.' After all your tormentors will not be aware of the work of Professor David Whitten, and the overwhelming findings of researchers as to the health benefits of moderate wine consumption.
What's the point. As Her Majesty's Demented Opposition leadership would scream, when the last flagon of four-penny dark is empty, it's only science and everybody could be wrong as least as often as they are right..probably more..or maybe less..Maybe we should all try a little more tolerance towards those less fortified than ourselves..whatever that all means.
After all, one person's poison is another person's meat
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