If you belong to those people who believe that the right kind of climate greatly improves your physical health and mental well being, then this is for you: the ‘right climate?’ Lots of predictable sunshine for me! Isn’t there anything more reassuring getting out of bed in the morning and seeing the sun rise over the horizon – slowly, quietly, unencumbered by gray skies and clouds; reflecting back on the water (another must – living by the sea), nothing but blue sky, blue skies from now on… with a nod to Willy Nelson. Waves gently washing against the shore. Breathe in, breathe out, and there you have your natural solution to lowering your blood pressure. First thing in the morning!
I have set the mood. Now imagine yourself in Southern California – LA, if you like, or more likely Venice, by the Beach. The setting or climate is igual, as they say. The conquistadores must have thought they were coming home to roost, so does the environment remind me of Southern Spain. But hike up to Mount Wilson, the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains, you’ll start getting a whiff of humanity, or rather it’s incessant activities. You smell gasoline. It hangs around on some days like a dull blanket suspended over the valley where Los Angeles has sprawled out. Heart healthy living? Go clutch your heart at the thought of it. And it’s not getting any better. The cars are not getting smaller, nor are the people.
Lifestyle, I am afraid, cancels out climate. Not for all, of course – how could I be so presumptuous, but even the ‘healthy’ may show strange preoccupations (size 0 anyone?).The pace for Southern Californians is fast and furious; the diet is fast food and gluttonous. Eat all you can buffets are taken advantage of as if there were no tomorrow. Chinese buffets warn you to eat and get out, not have a marathon session for 4 long and filling hours only to return for more. A culture that can kill you. Not for the faint hearted. Competition is the name of the game. Muscle-bound men, and women, grace the scenery at Venice Beach. Pumping iron in front of gawping tourists may be inspirational, but who’ll be lowering their blood pressure naturally, if not you?
Or me. Sitting sedately here on the Southern coast of Spain, life beats to a different drum. 3 hour siestas are still common. The sun beats down on you. Shops close. From 1:30 until 5:30. 4 hours even! Dentists, doctors, bankers, in short professionals, go to local restaurants and enjoy heart healthy food: Lettuce with slices of onion and pale pink tomatoes. A bit of olive oil and vinegar on it. No more. No artery clogging gunk. Some olives. Gazpacho, fresh cooked fish, small pieces of meat cooked a la plancha. El pan without butter! Builders, plumbers, mechanics get to do the same. At their local poligono. No need to drive. Cheap menus del dia serve what’s fresh, in season and on hand. With a bottle of raunchy red wine to pass around, or in summer, tinto de verano. Red raunchy wine and lemonade. With lots of ice. Yum!
Here on the Mediterranean the animal has a shorter life span. Cordero (lamb) has no juicy green grass to feast on such as British sheep can call their own. When they’re finally on your plate, their chops are as big as your palm. Here on the Med, feeding and growing season is short. The chops are as tiny as fingernails, and you’ll have to eat a dozen or so to make up for the difference. If you’re so inclined. The whole animal is still precious, and all its internal bits are prepared and eaten. Want not waste not. Food waste and gluttony has arrived with the pressures of modern life, but you’ll have to look very carefully, rather than be poked in the eye by it. The Mediterranean diet and life style still comes out on top for lowering your blood pressure naturally. Culture comes out on top. Climate is only a secondary contribution.
