No, I don't think it is hidden, and I'm sorry I gave that impression. In fact, I was a bit off the beam there, since I don't know that trans fat does encourage weight gain more than other types of fat. I believe I conflated obesity with other types of problems caused by fat, such as cardiovascular disease.
Mea culpa. To clarify, I would say that
I don't believe trans fats are "poison"
I do think it would be helpful to consumers to know about trans fat levels in the foods they eat
I'm not in favor of suing food companies unless they are in fact lying to (or poisoning) consumers
(Some) people will make better eating choices when armed with better information.
You're absolutely right about 'dietary "truths"' changing over time. Salt, fat, sugar and (currently) the carbohydrate fad are all examples of this, IMHO. Look at coffee, which regularly goes from being poison to panacea.
Righteous indignation is beautiful, and injustice sets me off quicker than anything. But IMHO it is probably better to cultivate the habit of keeping cool and retaining mastery over one's emotions, rather than lying in wait for the chance to tell someone to "go fuck himself".
Our expected lifetime has grown over that time, and is greater than that of many places that don't use trans fats.
That's interesting that you should mention that, in light of this recent news:
The obesity epidemic is on the verge of causing a stunning reversal in life expectancy, a new study predicts.
If trans fats were all that bad, we'd have noticed many decades ago.
A fair point, and I'm not the one to say that trans fats are the reason for the above ( even assuming it is credible). But certainly obesity is a big (no pun intended) public health problem in the US, and "hidden" trans fats may well be part of that.
At least, it might be good to consider how much longer our potentional life spans might be if we could properly manage our intake of trans fats. I tend to believe that people in general oversimplify things: fat is not "bad", rather it's a necessary part of the diet; same for carbohydrates, sugars, etc. Even cholesterol probably belongs in this category. Moderation, IMHO, is key. It's just hard to moderate what you can't monitor. It's also hard enough to deal with obesity without being hobbled by a complete ignorance of an important contrary factor.
Of course, being very moderate about Oreo cookies is probably a wise choice in any event.:O)
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That's an awfully lot of syllables just to say "pedants" ;O)
Only the moderators, apparently.
Mea culpa. To clarify, I would say that
You're absolutely right about 'dietary "truths"' changing over time. Salt, fat, sugar and (currently) the carbohydrate fad are all examples of this, IMHO. Look at coffee, which regularly goes from being poison to panacea.
Of course, this post begs the obvious response...
That's interesting that you should mention that, in light of this recent news:
If trans fats were all that bad, we'd have noticed many decades ago.
A fair point, and I'm not the one to say that trans fats are the reason for the above ( even assuming it is credible). But certainly obesity is a big (no pun intended) public health problem in the US, and "hidden" trans fats may well be part of that.
At least, it might be good to consider how much longer our potentional life spans might be if we could properly manage our intake of trans fats. I tend to believe that people in general oversimplify things: fat is not "bad", rather it's a necessary part of the diet; same for carbohydrates, sugars, etc. Even cholesterol probably belongs in this category. Moderation, IMHO, is key. It's just hard to moderate what you can't monitor. It's also hard enough to deal with obesity without being hobbled by a complete ignorance of an important contrary factor.
Of course, being very moderate about Oreo cookies is probably a wise choice in any event. :O)
I assume someone's checked to be sure that "Kubuntu" doesn't mean something like "please make my wife heavy with child."
Well, we did entertain four hurricanes last year.
Hmm. I listened to it every morning, myself, for three years, while driving to work.
/.ers are applying, does that make me a hero?
Based on the "must defy death" standard some
Er, those are Cheerios.
(I'm sure no one's ever mentioned that before.)
"What's worth doing is worth doing for money..."
So true. No wonder things like GNU and Linux never took off...