In response to the mounting evidence demonstrating the negative health effects of trans-fats, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning the use of trans-fats in California over the next few years.
While nobody will argue that trans-fats are bad and that the elimination of them from our diets would not be missed, I do not think we should raise a toast and commend it as a worthy step towards a healthy America. Do not get me wrong. I agree that large amounts of trans-fats have no place as a food group in our diet. I am not even opposed to banning them. I am just worried that the excitement and promises of improved health detracts from the real reason why Americans are obese and unhealthy: we eat a lot (emphasize a lot) of bad stuff and do not exercise.
The addition of trans-fats to our diets occurred in part as a response to America’s eating habits. The AHA website has a FAQ page about trans-fats. On that site, they state that trans-fats can be found in many foods,
...but especially in fried foods like French fries and doughnuts, and baked goods including pastries, piza dough, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines and shortenings.
What strikes me is that these “foods” are not the basis for a healthy, diverse diet. This list is a poster child for bad foods.
America’s appetite for unhealthy foods drove the need for food industry to make those foods available and cheap. In fact, there may be other evils lurking out there that we have not even identified. Margarine was touted as healthier than butter for decades—trans-fats did not get attention until the 1990’s. What else on the ingredient list of our favorite packaged snacks is the next killer?
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