It is clearly no secret that diet, exercise, weight loss and overall wellness is a hot topic. It always has been and it always will be.
This may never be more true than right now. With the heated debate whether the FDA should be able to literally outlaw foods that we can consume. I personally refer to it as the “Trans fat Debacle of 2015.”
Yes, the U. S. Government is in the process and has been for years to rid our food of trans fats. Is that such a negative thing? Trans fats are fatty acids made through the chemical process of hydrogenation of oils. It helps increase the shelf life of certain foods and helps maintain the flavor stability of oils and foods that contain them. Yes, they have some very unhealthy side effects.
Many Americans are outraged by our governments’ intrusion into our lives. Really, what gives them the right to tell me what to eat anyway? Others believe that it is a necessary evil in order to save us from ourselves, our obesity rate is at an all time high and childhood obesity is approaching epidemic. While some adamantly defend the FDA, after all these people are living healthy lives and making the appropriate food choices and they feel that they are being penalized by experiencing raising health costs and insurance premiums. They attribute these rising costs to the growing unhealthy sector, those who have “no self-control” or seemingly dismiss the hazards of consuming trans fats: including, but not limited to increased heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.
Lately this is the only topic being covered by my favorite News programs. Just when I thought my head was going to explode if I heard the words ‘FDA’ or ‘Trans fat’ or ‘Nanny State’ one more time, I had an epiphany!
All of this debate and conflict is simply leading to education and awareness about a food additive that potentially leads to serious health complications. I simply assumed this was common knowledge. Guess what? It’s not. Most people are not aware of the hazards in some foods. This conflict is actually a positive thing! Keep the debates and arguments and facts coming, inundate us with information, drag it out in the courts, infuse it into the court of public opinion, let’s keep the conversation going!
Maybe, just maybe, we can eventually agree that as we as citizens of Albuquerque and the FDA have the same ultimate goal. We want to be healthier. Let’s empower ourselves and show the government that we can make better choices, thank them for the barrage of information on this subject, and hopefully let us make our own informed decisions.
Who knows what the final decision will be regarding regulation on trans fats, but if all the media hype can convince just one Albuquerque family to make better life choices then I am all for it!