Is Mexican food healthier or lower in calories than the average type of food? Just wondering, because I don't feel anywhere near as 'heavy' as would after eating normal food (portion size same
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I'm not so sure that authentic Mexican food is any healthier. All of my experience of Central and South American food is that they generally don't consider fat content at all and are often overly generous with it.
My sister lived in a small village in (or near I'm not sure) the Amazon Jungle for a while and all they ate there was beans with lard. She put on something insane like 10kg and it was all to eat gross beans and lard! lol She was not impressed... if I put on 10kg I'd rather it be from chocolate! hehe
Also I lived in Chile for a year and just about everything they ate there was loaded with fat and sugar... they generally just don't think about that kind of thing it seems. Of course I can't speak of Mexican food all that much but in Chile the national foods were pastries filled with fatty low grade meats, hot dogs LOADED with guacamole and mayonnaise, cream cakes... just about everything you'd eat if you wanted to have a heart attack! lol
Of course maybe traditional Mexican food is a little healthier than the food in Chile (obviously they are quite far away from eachother)... I'm not sure... it just seems unlikely to me from what I've seen. :)
All fair points, and I think it comes down to the first thing I said, which was "depends on what food you're eating". I've not been to South America at all, and my knowledge of the various cuisines (Mexican or otherwise) is fairly limited. I have a friend who spent some time in Honduras, and she said that they eat very little dairy, mostly tortille and beans and vegetables. But again, that's not Mexico exactly, and we didn't really discuss fat content in depth.
I also suspect that a lot of the fat content is countered by portion size - just extrapolating from other non-Western cultures, I would guess that 'traditional' Mexican portion sizes are probably a bit smaller than we're used to in the West. But that's just a guess.
My feeling is that the 'light' feeling that comes from Mexican food can be attributed mostly to the chillies. I get the same feeling from good Indian, Thai, or Vietnamese foods - and they're not always low-fat foods. At least not the ones I choose. *grin*
My sister lived in a small village in (or near I'm not sure) the Amazon Jungle for a while and all they ate there was beans with lard. She put on something insane like 10kg and it was all to eat gross beans and lard! lol She was not impressed... if I put on 10kg I'd rather it be from chocolate! hehe
Also I lived in Chile for a year and just about everything they ate there was loaded with fat and sugar... they generally just don't think about that kind of thing it seems. Of course I can't speak of Mexican food all that much but in Chile the national foods were pastries filled with fatty low grade meats, hot dogs LOADED with guacamole and mayonnaise, cream cakes... just about everything you'd eat if you wanted to have a heart attack! lol
Of course maybe traditional Mexican food is a little healthier than the food in Chile (obviously they are quite far away from eachother)... I'm not sure... it just seems unlikely to me from what I've seen. :)
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I also suspect that a lot of the fat content is countered by portion size - just extrapolating from other non-Western cultures, I would guess that 'traditional' Mexican portion sizes are probably a bit smaller than we're used to in the West. But that's just a guess.
My feeling is that the 'light' feeling that comes from Mexican food can be attributed mostly to the chillies. I get the same feeling from good Indian, Thai, or Vietnamese foods - and they're not always low-fat foods. At least not the ones I choose. *grin*
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