Heart disease? I get no beef from that.

Today on local television I saw my first health warning about the risks of a diet high in saturated fat. I haven't come across many health warnings or advertisements like this in South America. They are part of everyday life back in the UK with many food companies cashing in on a health conscious society with their promises of 'lower cholesterol levels' if you buy their margerine or a 'healthy heart' if you eat their whole grain bread.

I just can't see a health warning filtering into everyday eating out here, especially a social get together. The typical Argentine dish is the Asado - a meat lovers dream with beef steak, pork sausages and other animal parts, salted up and slapped on the grill for a couple of hours (with a little salad garnish for show).
The following situation would just not happen at an asado...

Hello bypass

'So, more meat?'
'Umm you know what? I think I'll pass...  there is a dangerous amount of saturated fat in that piece of cow and I am thinking about my cholesterol level.

(cue crickets)

You would never be invited back again, you would be sent into social exile along with those pesky vegetarians, who probably wouldn't even talk to you, and you would be called a right pain in the arsado.
Obviously, in the UK no one wants to be that health conscious nuisance who refuses food at a dinner party because they are dieting, but healthy eating is still prevalent in social situations.
The diet out here seems to go hand in hand with high cholesterol and high blood pressure - as my boss pointed out during last weekends asado - 'you can never have too much salt' (excellent news - I'll pass that on to my arteries).

So with a diet high in saturated fat and salt, surely cardiovascular problems are sky high? According to research, heart disease is indeed high in Argentina with cardiovascular diseases causing 30% of total deaths a year, but compared with the UK, where a third of all deaths are due to cardiovascular diseases, the rate is not that high.

You tell em Daise

With the average Argentine consuming a person of beef per year (about 70 kilos) why aren't the related problems through the roof? According to Beef magazine (not kidding - it exists, and is actually quite a good read....if you are into, well, beef) 60% of Argentine cattle are still grass fed - which is proven to produce beef lower in saturated fats and high in omega 3 (not the name of a spacecraft but a very handy fatty acid). These grass fed cattle produce better and healthier beef then cattle raised in feedlots - the other farming method. The feedlot option however is becoming increasingly popular with many farmers now choosing it because of the increased efficiency and convenience. It also frees up a lot of grazing land which can be used for the profitable growing of grains such as soybeans.
It is estimated that within the next 5 years 60% of Argentine beef will be farmed using feedlots - not good news for the arteries.


Another interesting fact I came across however, is that the traditional herbal tea - a massive part of Argentine culture - Mate (pronounced mah tay - not like your buddy) has been shown to lower cholesterol (so actually kind of your buddy). Yes, Mate magazine (not really) states that a study conducted in Argentina showed that drinking mate can have a significant increase in the activity of an enzyme that promotes HDL (good) cholesterol whilst lowering LDL (naughty) cholesterol.


The Argentines also seem to be a fairly active nation which helps in preventing CVDs. In BA gym culture is big time with a gym just around any corner. My local gym 'HOT gym' - oh yes, I am all about quality - is particularly busy. However I'm pretty sure one of the trainers has been taking fitness advice from a fat person - walking is just as effective as running? Am I missing a trick here - why on earth do people run then?

Obviously my research has solely consisted of a few hours on the internet and a cup of tea, but could we perhaps say that the Argentines compensate for their fatty diet with more exercise, good quality food and a helping hand from the local drink?
Also, another factor to consider is that they aren't quite yet at the same level of fast food indulgence as the 'great English speaking nations'. They are however on that McDonalds appreciation trajectory and it is becoming more popular all the time.

So, although the situation is not noticably worse than other countries, Argentina stills needs to keep those warnings coming. Another study says that mortality due to heart disease and strokes is estimated to increase by approximately 145 percent among men and women in South American countries in the next 10 years, compared with a 28 percent increase for women and a 50 percent increase for men over the same period in developed countries.

Preventative medicine is generally not a priority for developing countries but it seems to be increasing in Argentina and lets hope it keeps on going based on these statistics.

The future for Argentine cattle

Polite Porteños

Before coming to BA I was told by many other Argentinians that 'Portenos' (Spanish word referring to people from Buenos Aires - people from a 'port city') are 'stuck up'. However my experience here has shown me quite the opposite and I have encountered extremely welcoming and friendly people. 
People also show a lot of manners - for example, young teenagers on public transport offer their seat to women and the elderly far more often than I have seen in the UK. Sometimes men on the underground even offer me their seat , and I am a physically fit (that's a lie) 23 year old. I often decline however - being at crotch level in a rammed carriage during rush hour, makes for an uncomfortable journey.

In supermarkets, certain tills also give priority to pregnant women and old people. I found this out a slightly awkward way. Whilst standing in the queue, I was tapped on the shoulder by a man out of the queue who looked at me and pointing to a woman next to him, said 'she's pregnant'.
'Um...Ok' I said, confused (should I say congratulations?)
I just looked at him, smiling, so he continued... 'Are you pregnant?' 
'Um...no' (Oh great, a classic Bridget Jones moment, he thinks I look pregnant - why would he say that?)
He then pointed to a sign above the till which stated that pregnant women had priority.
'Oh, yes of course, go in front of me'.


A couple of days ago my friend Luke and I noted our frustrations on public transport. Like a lot of people we always try our best to be the first into the underground carriage or the bus, in order to get those much wanted seats. If we do get seats, the childish joy only lasts a couple of seconds. 
As all the seats start to get taken, we realise having seats is just not worth the effort. From that point on, the whole journey is spent eyeing up the door everytime a new passenger gets on, judging the demographic of the person and weighing up where they lie in the pecking order for seat priority.... 

'Young male - phew, seats mine.....'
'Young non-pregnant female - no worries, I can keep my seat for now.....'
'Old couple - damn it, both up.'

There is also that awkward line with older women - if I do offer her my seat will she be insulted and think that I think she's too old to handle the arduous task of standing up? 
As a woman, offering my seat to a man no matter what his age, often feels like I'm emasculating him. Most of the time I do offer an older man, I am declined with a 'don't be silly' Harold Bishop double-chin shake of the head, and I sit down a little embarrassed. 

Greeting people is also a lot easier out here. In the UK, there are just too many damn options.....handshake - too formal? hug - too informal? kiss - too pretentious? There is so much to think about that a lot of the time I just end up doing a hand up, salute, wave thing and looking a bit awkward. Out here it's easy - whoever you meet - old, young, male, female, it's always a kiss on the cheek - no awkwardness, straight in there, done. It is rarely even a proper kiss, just a cheek press and air kiss (far more hygienic than a germy handshake).
I have however come across a few frisky folk who adopt the 'two' method- this can confuse things a bit, especially when your caught off guard, do not move your head to the other side and nearly end up lip. on. lip.

In conclusion, not too shabby on the manners front Argentina, some of us Brits could definitely take a lesson.

Don't even bother

A sweaty, spiritual, sing a long, sunday.

Last weekend my flatmate invited me to a Temazcal ceremony in the countryside. Being an 'I'll try everything once except bungee jumping' kind of gal, I decided to go along and see what it was all about.
For those who don't know, a Temazcal ceremony is a 'spiritual purification' supposed to renew your soul and provide you with the inner strength to achieve your life goals.

A typical Temazcal clay hut

It was first practised by the Aztecs in Mexico but many other cultures throughout South America have adopted the ceremony. The main feature is a herbal steam-bath (basically a sauna) which consists of heating volcanic rocks in the centre of a dome shaped clay hut (supposed to represent the womb....)  The ceremony is usually led by a 'Shaman' - a messenger between the spiritual and human world....(Yes, this weekend was definitely going to need an open mind)

On arriving at the location where our ceremony would take place (the back garden of my flatmate's eccentric hippy friend), we met Juan or 'brother of the wind', the Shaman who would be leading the weekend. According to him he was an Indigenous Argentinian. A chat with him later on proved that he did indeed know a lot about the Indigenous Argentinian tribe the Mapuche, but his roots were a little suspect.
'So you are from an indigenous community?'
'No.'
'Oh, but your family are indigenous?
'No, actually I discovered it myself.'
I'm not quite sure how you can discover this, I am pretty sure it's something that you need to be born into, but hey ho, I assumed he was referring to the lifestyle. Anyway, he was quite an interesting guy even if his past was a bit suspicious. (Recovered alcoholic, was suggested by my sceptical French friend)

The night before the ceremony, was the preparation stage. Juan called us to the garden where we formed a semi circle in front of the moon and following his lead, began chanting towards the sky - just a typical Saturday night really. He also played a horn like instrument which at first made the most pathetic dribbling sound (think of a trumpet Fail) and I could not help but burst into laughter. The laughter that you know is wrong and because of that it makes you laugh harder. Luckily my scarf was around my neck to cover my mouth and muffle the sound… this was the first of many laugh suppressing techniques needed throughout the weekend.


The next day was the day of the ceremony. The sacred ground where the steam bath would be constructed was prepared by putting six sticks in a circle and adding some flags (bet you didn't know it was that easy to make your back yard sacred hey? - blue peter would be proud). Unable of course to create an authentic clay dome, we constructed the IKEA version with cane sticks and blankets. We then paid our respects to the trunk outside the sacred ground (The trunk did represent something but I wasn't paying much attention when he explained what) and then we entered the womb.

The ceremony began with Juan's words - 'now we will go around the group and express what problems we have in our lives at the moment and how we want to overcome them' (perhaps a line from the AA meetings? sorry)
Now, the thought of someone asking me 'how I feel about my life' or 'what goals I want to achieve ' fills me with dread. Like a typical Brit I can't just draw on these 'feelings' with a seconds notice. I need time to recall my vast knowledge of trashy American TV so that I can regurgitate phrases like - 'I want to re - connect with my body' or 'I want to love myself for who I am'.

After a standard 'I want to be happy' cop out, I began thinking about what I was actually doing. Admittedly, I was finding myself getting caught up in the pretense of the whole weekend and actually quite enjoying it. It was like nothing I had ever experienced and I was meeting some very intriguing characters. But the facts were these --- It was a hot Sunday afternoon, I was sweating profusely in a small dome of blankets in someone’s backyard, with nine other sweaty people - and a man wearing a headband was saying things like 'and now we shall establish the umbilical cord with mother earth'.

As the sauna ceremony progressed, I cunningly managed to manoeuvre into a position close to the ground where I could have a little snooze. But obviously it wasn’t just me having a wee kip because of the hot temperature, oh no, it happened 'so that the words of the Shaman could infiltrate my sub conscious and connect with my soul' according to the nice hippy lady. She also asked me whether I had been dreaming about fairies...
 'I had a vision of fairies dancing around your head whilst you were asleep - were you dreaming about them?'
Feeling the mood and not wanting to reveal the truth that I was actually dreaming about the next X factor episode, I replied...
'Yes, I think there were some...' (diva fever count?)
'What else were you dreaming about?'
'You know, my family and....traveling and stuff?' (that’s deep right?)

Finally after two hours, the door to the dome was opened and we were released or 'reborn'.

God bless the language barrier. Many times throughout the weekend my silence was reasoned with the fact that I didn't understand the Spanish.
'Do you understand what I'm saying?'
'No, not really, sorry'
'Oh I see, I am speaking too fast'.
Yes that’s it. Its got nothing to do with the fact that I wouldn't be able to understand what you were saying even if you were speaking English (did she just say that she was an eagle in her past life?)

So, I' m not sure the actual ceremony was the most authentic cultural experience I've ever had, but one thing I did enjoy about the weekend, was hearing about the Indigenous Argentinians. They are not people you hear very much about. When I think of Argentina, I basically picture a very European place, but there are indigenous groups around the country. In fact 3-5% of the total population are indigenous people living in rural communities with their own languages. The majority died out years ago, as there descendants integrated into Western civilization and according to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, due to racial discrimination, many indigenous people now hide their true identity.

They also seem to suffer from the same problems affecting many indigenous groups around the world - the battle for land ownership and recognition in general.

So although I did not learn a lot about myself (not actually sure I want to find out 'who I am') I did learn a lot about other cultures here in Argentina. And just for the record, I am sure the Temazcal ceremony is a fascinating experience....in Mexico...with indigenous descendants of the people who created it....in a dome not made from sticks and blankets.

Photo of an Indian shaman. Now, meeting this guy would have been an interesting experience...