Start Date: February 20, 2025
In the parts of the Middle East some refer to Israel as “Little Satan” and the United States as “Great Satan”. But fear not, this post is a break from the serious stuff on the world stage. Time to address something truly controversial.
CARBS, as in carbohydrates, starches.
If ever one wants to agonize about government mis-/dis-information, and you are of a certain age, you have only to look at the various food pyramids throughout the last 70 years or so. In the 1960’s most families, who could, had a main course of meat every night. The exception were Catholics who had a “fish on Friday” tradition. Sometimes others did as well and it might have been as simple as fish sticks accompanied with macaroni and cheese.
In the early 1980’s while on a trip to Egypt a guide mentioned that she had been feeding her children two eggs per day, but then cut back to one based on the latest western health guidance.
At some point meat, particularly red meat, became a killer, a widow maker. Most of the base of the pyramid was cereal, grains, bread, i.e. starch.
But in recent decades CARBs have become the dietary GREAT SATAN.
I recall a woman who was on an Atkin’s diet, which in some forms banned fruits and many vegetables. But you could live on pork chops. That seemed ludicrous. She told me that she was on a modified form.
She ONLY needed to abandon: bread, pasta, potatoes, and rice.
I looked at her stunned and said “Why would you want to live?”
So I hereby declare, in defense of carbs.
POTATOES
You may have ever heard of the Irish potato famine. It was a time of mass death in the 1840’s. The population had for some time lived almost entirely on potatoes, with some milk, maybe butter. Sounds lovely. Potatoes grew well in the Irish soil and were a reliable crop. Potato farming was so successful that it was the principal source of food. By the 1700’s each person consumed approximately 5 pounds every day [1].
The population increased from less than 1 million in 1580, when the potato was introduced, to more than 8 million in 1840 [1]. The vulnerability was that they lived so well on potatoes they ate little else. When a blight destroyed the crops there was mass famine.
But it is fair to say that millions of Irish would never have existed were it not for the mighty spud.
PASTA
Noodles have existed for 1000’s of years and are claimed by many cultures from Asia to Europe. Japanese ramen noodles are known to be a staple for American graduate students. Egg noodles are used in German and Eastern European fare. Rice noodles are the base of Pad Thai. European Jews make a casserole with noodles called kugel.
But if your friends want to go out for pasta it is likely that you are headed for an Italian restaurant. Italy consumes more pasta per capita than any other nation. According to a survey, 17 percent of Italian respondents said they eat pasta six to seven times a week [2].
The famous Italian actress and sex symbol, Sophia Loren, is reported to have said “Everything you see I owe to pasta.” While that may not be the universal outcome the obesity rate in Italy, at 12% [3], is less than a third that of the United States.
RICE
If ever there was a universal food it is rice. Over 50% of the planet, which works out to roughly 4 billion people, eat it on a daily basis [4]. It is eaten in Asia, in the Middle East, and India
I can testify that a during a summer in Japan it appeared to be eaten at all 3 mails. And to be clear this is white rice.
In case you are wondering Japan has an obesity rate of less than 4% [5] , one of the lowest on the planet. America’s rate is 42%. It isn’t the rice. The Japanese eat it with small portions of fish and vegetables. My recollection was that desert, if it existed, was likely a piece of melon. So fear not the pilaf on your restaurant menu.
BREAD
Historically there may be no more important carbohydrate than bread. There is a saying that “bread is the staff of life.” Some evidence of flat breads goes back at least 10,000 years [6].
The ancient Egyptians mastered management of seasonal flooding of the Nile from upstream, combined with always sunny weather, allowing them to become “the breadbasket of the ancient world”. An ancient Egyptian diet was primarily bread and beer (another carb) and possibly some vegetable, perhaps green onions [7].
Bread is still eaten daily in the Middle East and parts of India.
In France villages of a certain size are legally required to have a boulangerie to sell fresh bread [8].
A crusty loaf of bread or slices of focaccia with some olive oil is a common start to an Italian meal.
Unleavened matzah is an important element of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Challah bread is served at the Jewish sabbath.
For Christians bread in some form represents, or even resurrects, the body of Christ. Hot cross buns are a tradition of Good Friday.
Yes humans existed before bread, gatherers living on fruits and leaves and small game.
But it is now an element of the diet of every culture in the world.
I find myself wanting to come up with some sort of “agent of the devil” all carbohydrate anti-Atkins meal. Thanks to my Persian friend my memory banks roll back to a version of pilaf where the “tahdig” (crispy bottom) is made with slices of potatoes at at the bottom of a pot of rice. Serve it with Persian flatbread and a bowl of Persian New Year Noodle Soup (Ash Reshteh) and it would, according to “the science” and “the experts” make for a quick trip to the morgue. Yet my friend’s family members seem to be healthy and fit, with some living independently into their 90’s.
So “Cheers to Carbs! Long may they live and grace our tables.” (Yes, in moderation.)
REFERENCES
[1] “Food in Ireland 1600-1835”, December 18, 2008, https://www.dochara.com/the-irish/food-history/food-in-ireland-1600-1835/
[2] Ozbun, T., “Per capita consumption of pasta by country 2023”, Jan 17, 2025, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1379424/per-capita-consumption-pasta-by-country/
[3] “Obesity alarm in Italy: 12% of the Italian population is obese (Osservasalute Report”, UNICAMILLUS, June 23, 2023, https://unicamillus.org/en/news/obesity-alarm-in-italy-12-of-the-italian-population-is-obese/
[4] “Rice Consumption by Country”, World Population Review, 2024, https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/rice-consumption-by-country\
[5] Senauer, Benjamin, Gemma, Masahiko “Why Is the Obesity Rate So Low in Japan and High in the U.S.? Some Possible Economic Explanations”, AgEcon Search, 2006
[6] “Bread: the extraordinary fate of an ordinary food item”, https://www.technogym.com/us/newsroom/bread-history/
[7] King, Adrienne, “Food & Drink in Ancient Egypt”, World History, July 9, 2024
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2494/food–drink-in-ancient-egypt/
[8] “The Saga of the Village Bouelangerie”, Adrift in Provence, October 28, 2018,