Well it's Friday again and now that my dad is an internet celebrity I would not dare miss this post!
Drum roll please ... as promised, here's the link to my new blog Follow Me Slim
Of course I will continue to post bi-weekly here as I really have become quite attached to Health Essentials and find that writer's block is never a problem for me.
I came across an article in Zest magazine recently on trans fats, the gist of which was an argument for continued, heightened lobbying of the UK government to ban trans fats. Apparently they are banned already in Denmark, Switzerland, New York, Boston and California.
For those of you who have been fast asleep, trans fats are chemically altered vegetable oils that are ubiquitous in processed biscuits, confectionery and fast foods. The devil of the fat world ... a shortcut to heart disease and a regular feature in many shopping carts.
Some high profile food manufacturers and retailers (including Tesco, M & S and McVitie's) have voluntarily removed them from their products, prompting the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to advise government last year that a ban was unecessary.
My position? I'm against banning anything that doesn't involve abuse of humans or other creatures. If segments of the British population want to eat themselves into an early grave, that's their perogative. No one's going to ban booze, which is every bit as harmful to people's health in the quantities most are imbibing ... and has the added bonus of causing offensive behaviour.
Then there's cigarettes, fumes from manufacturing, vehicle fumes, industrial chemicals, air fresheners, soft drinks ... should I go on?
Banning things is like dieting. It won't change the mentality of people any more than a magic bullet will teach people healthy consumption habits.
But we'll still keep looking.
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3 comments:
Your final comment is so true. There are many things going on in the world that I believe are wrong or really are harmful. But banning them doesn't really do much good. You have to change the mind or heart of the person using or doing if you want the behavior to stop. It's been demonstrated over and over in my life. If someone says 'diet', my mind screams 'FEED ME!!!!!' It's crazy.
I agree with you. Banning them seems silly. If you can't control yourself, that's your own problem. The same goes if you're an alcoholic or a smoker. I mean, too much of almost anything is going to kill you, but a small order of fries at McDonald's once a month is NOT that bad. Come on...
I guess the argument is that our proven inability to manage our own impulses justifies legislating to protect us against ourselves. When will people stop trying to control other people and let adults take responsibility for their own miserable lives? Or our own stunningly brilliant lives? Action ... and consequence.
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