Tranny Fats ha ha ha
[Jane]: I read this simply brilliant article recently, which I want to share with you. It's written by Dr Malcom Kendrick, a Scottish doctor, author, speaker and sceptic. His original article can be accessed by clicking this link, but for now though, please do read on...
Dr Malcom Kendrick writes...
[An apology. Some people have objected to the word Tranny, as this is considered offensive to trans-gendered individuals. I was attempting a play on words from Roddy Doyle’s well known book Paddy Clarke ha ha ha. I had not the slightest intention of causing offense in this way, and I apologise if I have done so. I hope the title can be taken in the ‘innocent’ way that it was meant]
Many years ago a man, who they say, had an ego the size of a planet decided that he just knew what caused heart disease. It was cholesterol consumption in the diet that raised blood cholesterol and killed us all. Unfortunately, for him, he did some research that however much cholesterol you ate, it had no effect on the cholesterol level in the blood.
‘No matter.’ He laughed gaily. ‘What is the point of a good hypothesis if you cannot change it upon a whim?’
So he then decided that it was dietary fat that raised cholesterol levels in the blood and caused us all to die of heart disease. Only it wasn’t that one either. So then he thought it was animal fat (wrong again!) and finally settled upon saturated fat.
Then, through a combination of his forceful personality, and a good bit of merciless bullying anyone who disagreed, Ancel Keys promoted his message far and wide, and those in power decided he was right.
This set in chain a whole series of seemingly disconnected phenomena. The first of these was to start telling everyone that they should not be eating saturated fats, assumed to be animal fats, or else they would die. Thus, recommendations about what was healthy to eat became moved away from those horrible, unhealthy fats, and focussed entirely on eating carbohydrates.
At which point the obesity epidemic began- as you would expect. This was closely followed by the epidemic of diabetes – as you would expect. If you know anything about human physiology.
Then it was realised that diabetics, who were more likely to develop heart disease than anyone else really, really, should not eat any sort of fat. Saturated or otherwise. They were all advised to switch to eating carbohydrates. This of course, makes perfect sense. We have a group of people who cannot control their blood sugar levels, so we tell them to eat almost nothing but sugar.
We now spend more on medication for diabetes than any other form of medicine in the world. Why, because no-one can get their blood sugar levels under control any more. Quelle surprise?
In parallel with this nonsense it was decided that we should replace saturated fats with ‘healthy’ polyunsaturated fats and suchlike. Which inevitably included trans-fatty acids. These were first discovered many years ago, when oils were turned into margarine. The margarine was, at first, coloured pink – as it was considered unfit for human consumption, and was only fed to animals.
Gradually trans-fats, which are also polyunsaturated fats, found their way into almost everything anyone ate – including of course margarine (no longer coloured pink, instead with pretty coloured flowers on the tub). MacDonald’s were virtually forced into cooking their fries in vegetable fat, so that no-one would be exposed to the deadly, evil saturated fats. Hey ho, what happens to vegetable fats at high temperatures? Well, they turn into trans-fatty acids, of course. Who knew? Apart from all chemists in the world.
More recently we find that trans-fatty acids are uniquely unhealthy substances that should be banned, and excluded from human consumption. What a surprise, a range of chemical compounds almost unknown to nature may not be healthy….well, who’d a thunk? This morning I was listening to a debate on the radio about whether the UK should ban all trans-fatty acids. [Well, you can’t ban them all, because some are found in natural foodstuffs.]
I just sat and listened, and thought that the entire world of nutrition was bonkers, and remains bonkers. An egocentric megalomaniac called Ancel Keys decided that ‘HE KNEW’ what caused heart disease, and would brook no dissent. His legacy is that we now force carbohydrates into diabetics, and almost everyone else. We also forced manufacturers to stop selling saturated fat and, instead, switch to super-healthy trans-fats. We made MacDonald’s French fries uniquely unhealthy. A perfect and delicious irony. Accuse MacDonald’s of selling unhealthy food, then make them do it.
God knows how many have died prematurely because of this complete and utter nonsense. Tranny fats, ha ha ha.
