Do's and doughnuts
By now, we're all well aware that we're in the midst of an obesity epidemic. In fact, the message gets drilled into our heads so often that you're probably a little sick of hearing it. But the only way to stop the media from beating this horse to death is to do something about it. And the halfhearted attempts the food industry is making (supposedly) on our behalf aren't going to cut it. For instance, I just read an article proudly touting the headline "Soybean hulls to cut fat uptake from doughnuts." Apparently, researchers found that adding milled soybean hulls to the wheat flour used to make doughnuts reduced the fat content in the final product by as much as 36 percent. And, according to taste-testers, the soybean hulls didn't negatively affect the "flavor, taste, crispiness, or general liking" of the doughnuts. On the surface it sounds great: A lower-fat doughnut! Homer Simpsons of the world, rejoice! But the fact is, it's still a doughnut -- loaded with sugar and processed carbs, then deep fried in lard or oil. And no matter how you spin it, or what you add to it, it's never going to be good for you. This study, the hundreds of others like it, and the barrage of "lower fat" and "100 calorie" portion-controlled products lining supermarket shelves all have good intentions -- trying to give people "healthier" versions of what they want. But what these things are actually doing is sending people a message that they don't really have to change the way they're eating. Unfortunately, taking a food that's horrible for you and making it a little less horrible still leaves you with something that's got the word "horrible" in its description. And "a little less horrible" isn't going to help anyone lose weight, get healthy, or put an end to the ongoing obesity epidemic we're all facing. I know that none of us are perfect, and completely eliminating all processed foods and eating all-organic, all the time is difficult for most people (myself included). But the take- home message here is to be wary of new versions of foods you would've considered junk before they got a "low-fat" makeover. After all, junk in disguise is still junk. Source: "Soybean hulls to cut fat uptake from doughnuts," FoodNavigator (www.foodnavigator.com), 2/26/08 | 
