Fight against dementia: Having the same diet, globally, isn’t a healthy idea

A group of clinicians have apparently written to the British Prime Minister averring that the so-called Mediterranean diet is crucial to fight dementia. Going by the popular notion of cuisine in that part of the world, they presumably mean meals high on vegetables and low on meats. With an Indian among the signatories of the letter (which also includes experts from the US, UK, France, Italy and Greece) that there is no mention of his country is curious considering it indubitably has the best vegetarian repertoire in the world. While Europeans in general are already chomping through more salads — Greek, Nicoise, Caprese et al — than their exclusively carnivorous forebears would have ever contemplated, surely Britons should warm to vegetable curries more than caponatas and ratatouilles, when push comes to meat?

While a common currency and a common market were good ideas and needed to be implemented, a common cuisine cannot be foisted on the continent without thinking of its consequences. The very idea of entire continents following the same sort of diet sounds un-appetisingly dreary. Besides leading to the extinction of uniquely local and possibly unhealthy — but delicious — dishes, it would also put near-unbearable pressure on producers of Mediterranean staples, from tomatoes and basil to olive oil and soft cheese.