I was flipping channels the other night, and heard a teaser promo on – I think – the CBC on a story about trans fats and the drive to legislate them out of existence that went something along the lines of “Why don’t we eat the way we should?”
Now, I’m not disputing the findings of all the experts who say that trans fats are bad for us, or are a health hazard even. But I am a little wary of attempts to ban unhealthy foods. Even if fat is “the new tobacco”, as the Heart and Stroke Association sensationally warns, well, heck, even tobacco’s legal.
Every day, we’re assaulted by shocking warnings about different kinds of food. One day, it’s watch out for the water – it’s polluted and will kill you. The next day, don’t touch that protein. The day after, protein is king (thanks Atkins) and it’s the carbs that’ll kill ya. Sugar is bad so sweeten artificially… no, artificial sweetener will cause cancer; use real sugar. It’s an eternal yoyo going by with such dizzying speed that nobody can possibly keep it all straight.
In the end, everything’ll kill you. But that’s ok cause life will kill you. Death is one of the only two certainties in life. You can eat only vegan all-natural vegetables your entire life and get hit by a car.
As long as they are eaten in moderation, most foods won’t do you grievous amounts of harm. So if I want to be bad and occasionally eat something that’s bad for me, that’s nobody’s business but my own. It’s certainly not the government’s. If these interest groups get their way, every guilty pleasure will be illegal, and all the causes of death will drop drastically… but when people realize what kind of dry existence they’re left with, suddenly the suicide rate will spiral out of control. After all, what is life if you can’t indulge in a slice of triple-chocolate mousse cake on occasion?
I don’t smoke. I don’t do drugs. But I have the occasional drink, I’m positively addicted to chocolate, and I don’t always eat my recommended daily intake of the four food groups every day. Even more shocking: Sometimes I read romance novels, watch cheesy movies, and I’ve even caught an episode or two of bad reality TV. And the guilty pleasure derived from doing each of those is the same as the guilty pleasure derived from eating greasy onion rings.
So to the NDP and their proposed bill outlawing trans fats, I say try being bad once in a while. Sometimes, it just feels good.
Amen! I was just about to eat a couple of reverse Oreos, which of course have the trans fat. I’m fairly healthy, ran a half marathon last month, and think a couple of occasional treats are GOOD for the soul. Speaking of….went to a Japanese steakhouse today in Kemah, Texas. Asked a nice lady there to read the symbol on Collective Soul’s Blender CD. She said the symbol is in the Chinese dialect and means “Soul” in English. Another treat for my day.
Dave, yep, the symbol is Kanji for “soul”. Gotta love those guys… 🙂