The creation of the "Bad Fat Brothers" shows the AHA hitting a new low
The low-fat apologists have never been shy or coy about espousing their beliefs about healthy nutrition on the public. They speak boldly and proudly about the alleged "dangers" of consuming fat, especially saturated fat and trans fat. But now the American Heart Association (AHA) has gone too far with their latest propaganda campaign centered around two cartoon characters named "Sat" and "Trans"--aka the "Bad Fat Brothers."
In Episode 93 of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore," we shine a light on this new public awareness campaign endorsed and paid for by the AHA that is trying to bamboozle people into thinking consuming saturated fat and trans fat is unhealthy. I could not disagree more and explain why citing evidence to the contrary in this podcast.
Click on the "LISTEN NOW" link below or download it to your iPod:
"The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore" Episode 93 [12:18m]: LISTEN NOW | Download
Have you heard "Sat" and "Trans" on the radio talking about all the foods they like people to consume so they can "break your heart?" Those spots are already running nationwide with this web site advertised at the end of the radio ad. And there's even a video on YouTube with these two goofball characters spreading their lies about fat consumption. Watch it for yourself and try not to gag too much:
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Do you agree with me that this latest campaign from the AHA is a bit of desperation on their part to try to malign saturated fat at a time when the evidence out of the scientific community is actually praising it? How effective do you think the "Bad Fat Brothers" will be at convincing people to stop eating the foods that contain saturated and trans fat in them? You know you have an opinion, so share it so we can all talk about it together!
Am I the only one who thinks the new KFC television commercials bragging about their food not having trans fat are over-the-top obnoxious? I'm mean, give me a break already. What is happening to our culture--are we a nation full of mind-numbed nincompoops who buy into everything the media says about health hook, line, and sinker?
What halfway intelligent-thinking person believes the food at the restaurant formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken is now suddenly "healthy" just because it allegedly doesn't have any trans fat? They're so proud of themselves, they even created this page about it on their web site. Oh joy!
It's pathetic, absolutely positively ridiculous. What is KFC thinking with all these ritarded people dancing around, making fools of themselves, celebrating that they can "have KFC again" now that their food is trans fat-free?
Watch this 15-second KFC ad to see what I'm talking about:
Utter nonsense! Sure, they've removed trans fat from their food just like every other restaurant chain has been on the bandwagon of doing since New York City instituted a citywide ban. It's disgusting to see all these restaurants tripping over each other to see who can ban trans fat next.
Who's gonna be next to jump ship on that great evil we call trans fat? It's the hip thing to do ya know and guaranteed to give you tons of FREE publicity with all the headlines in the media. We've seen it happen time and time again this year and it'll keep on happening as long as people keep thinking removing trans fat from restaurant menus will make their food better for them.
Wanna know what's funny? Sure, everybody knows about trans fat now, but how many people had even heard of it three, four, or five years ago? I bet you'd get a lot of funny looks followed by a response like "trans what?" This is a prime example of how the media gets people so worked up over an issue that people become hysterical. Can you say global warming?
When is somebody gonna stand up and say enough is enough already?! The fact is, yes, trans fat is bad news, but so are excessive carbohydrates, sugars, and starchy foods. Add to that all the fast food, processed foods, and fast food for a truly unhealthy diet worse than anything trans fat could ever do to your body. So where's the outrage over this?
The longer we continue to ignore the carb connection to obesity, high triglycerides, insulin resistance, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and many other health ailments, our society will just keep getting fatter and sicker than we've ever been with no end in sight.
How is it that this issue is so easy to see staring us right in the face and yet nobody wants to do anything about it? When is a major restaurant chain gonna take a stand on the gobs of sugary, starchy, carb-loaded foods they are promoting on the menus? Hello? Are you brave enough to truly educate the public and provide them with genuinely healthy options?
Of course, this is America and businesses have the right to sell whatever they want to meet a consumer demand and make a profit. That's capitalism, the product of a free society, the very essence of what makes America great.
But if people knew the truth about what that food on their plate is doing to their bodies once it is consumed, then I don't think the restaurant industry could survive for very long. Some restaurants cater to people eating healthy (like Cracker Barrel), but most of them make their money on the carbohydrate-dense foods--French fries, pancakes, sugary sodas, and worse.
When is America gonna wake up and realize that we've got a lot more problems with restaurant food than just trans fat? It breaks my heart to see people thinking they are eating right and they don't even realize they are not. Chomping down on that trans fat-free bucket of chicken ain't gonna remove the double-digit carb counts that make you fat and sick!
But...
Have you seen the ingredients list of the foods served at KFC? These so-called ZERO trans fat items have an ingredient in just about every single one of them known as partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Um, KFC, I hate to break it to you, but that would be TRANS FAT!!!
Sure, they'll claim they're allowed to round down if there is less than a half gram of trans fat. But it's dishonest to tell your customers you have "zero trans fat" when you've got partially hydrogenated anything in the ingredients.
This guy challenges KFC to fess up about their trans fat or else:
So the next time you see one of those KFC commercials with people overjoyed and excited about there being no trans fat in the food, remember this...that doesn't mean it's healthy. No trans fat is a good start. Now how about doing something about those excessive carbs?
"Sat" and "Trans" make up the heart-breaking "Bad Fat Brothers"
The impetuosity of the American Heart Association (AHA) regarding the dietary information they provide the general public has now reached a new low with the introduction of the cute, jovial, and innocent-looking, but very sinister, spurious, and smug cartoon characters named "Sat" and "Trans"--aka "The Bad Fat Brothers."
Have you seen this new perverted propaganda piece from the anti-fat adversaries at the AHA attempting to hoodwink the general public about how allegedly "unhealthy" consuming fat--specifically saturated fat and trans fat--is in your diet? You are never gonna believe this until you see if for yourself. It sorta reminds me of the Spuddy character that the potato industry created to try to endear people to their unhealthy carb-loaded products.
As the names imply, "Sat" is short for saturated fat and "Trans" is for (you guessed it!) trans fat. These two can't-help-but-love-them chaps go blabbering all about what they love to eat as you navigate around the BadFatsBrothers.com web site. The purpose of this dynamic duo is to attempt to warn the public about how dangerous it is for them to be consuming all that saturated fat and trans fat lest they "break your heart."
Get a load of this and this to see how disgusting the malicious lies from the AHA have become. How can they get away with flaunting such unfounded statements like these without any recourse?
Standing in front of a diner on a street scene, "Sat" and "Trans" are yucking it up with one another bragging about all the foods they just absolutely love. I couldn't help but notice much of the foods they brag and boast about the most are extremely high in carbohydrate--pot pie, sugary desserts, French fries, doughnuts, biscuits, pancakes, croissants, loaded potatoes, fast food, cookies, double scoop ice cream sundae, and more.
Of course, "Sat"--who describes himself as "the original 'bad' fat"--couldn't help but also talk about having a "big, fat juicy steak with loads of butter and don't forget the sausages." He also lists beef, bacon, and all kinds of other meats as his favorites--as if these foods are supposed to be harmful to your health. The same goes for the "cheese platter...oooh, Swiss and cheddar and Monterey Jack!" Yeah and what's so wrong with eating all of that?
While I certainly do not disagree that trans fat is bad news for your health (although I'm not in favor of the current trend to ban trans fats in cities across America), saturated fat is another issue entirely and has gotten a very bad rap by health policy groups like the AHA, American Diabetes Association (ADA), the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
It is a sad day in America when every kind of fat there is gets lumped together under the guise that it is bad for you. But that message has unfortunately been so hammered down our throats for most of our lives that most people have bought into the lie that eating fat makes your fat (when the research has not shown this to be true!).
And, no, saturated fat does NOT "clog your arteries" as this "Sat" character contends. Actually, just the opposite is true and consuming fat--even SATURATED FAT--is extremely healthy for you (read a thorough explanation why in this blog post).
Keep in mind the wise words of noted low-carb reseracher Dr. Jeff Volek who said that as long as you keep your carbohydrate intake low, fat will be burned and not stored. Even more importantly, though, is what Dr. Volek had to say about this nonsense that saturated fat will "clog your arteries." Not if you are livin' la vida low-carb!
"The same holds true for the atherogenic effects of saturated fat," Dr. Volek said in my interview with him last year. "The body handles saturated fat better when carbohydrates are low."
Let me translate that for you in case you missed it, AHA! If you are consuming a low-carb diet--like butter, cheese, and steak--then the risk to your heart is a non-factor. It's time to face the reality of the nutritional science rather than repeating the same old failed dietary information we've had to put up with for decades. Get with the times already!
Of course, that would mean the AHA would have to swallow some major humble pie to admit they were wrong, so instead they are pushing more of the same with their "Face The Fats" link where the misinformation campaign continues about fat. Sigh. And these are supposed to be semi-intelligent people educating the public about health.
Too bad they couldn't be more wrong if they tried! The AHA's boorish "Bad Fats Brothers" brainwashing is one of the most despicable acts of desperation I've seen in a while from these low-fatties. Do you think they have finally realized the low-fat lie is now on its last leg and they're pulling out all the stops to slow the momentum of the healthy alternative that livin' la vida low-carb has become thanks to the preponderance of the evidence from the mountains of research?
It certainly appears that way to me! How about you? :)
New York City pushing more progressive government with trans fat ban
Have you heard the news about what New York City public health officials have proposed to do in that city? After their recent ban on all smoking in restaurants and bars in the Big Apple, now they want a zero tolerance policy for any restaurant cooking food in the most evil fat to ever be exposed to mankind: trans fats!
This USA Today column gives all the sordid details. The proposal states that a new regulation needs to be implemented to REQUIRE all restaurants to eliminate trans fats from their cooking procedures by April 2007. This ban on trans fats would apply to ANY business that sells food to the public in New York City. The fines that restaurants could face for not complying with this new regulation will range from $200-$2,000 per violation.
There was a second proposal on the table to also REQUIRE the restaurant chains to list the calories of their menu items in a conspicous place for consumers to know what they are eating before they purchase it. This would impact companies like Starbucks, Subway, Burger King and McDonald's, among many others. This requirement will only apply to those restaurants that already have their nutritional information provided on the Internet or in brochures by March 1, 2007.
Not surprisingly, the restaurant industry which boasts sales of a staggering $511 BILLION annually from nearly a BILLION restaurants in the United States alone, is crying foul to these proposals. They say that consumers are intelligent enough to know what the nutritional content of what they are eating before they order it and don't need such draconian measures by the government to tell them how and what to eat.
Well, that's right and it's wrong. Let me explain.
The idea of forcing a business to stop using trans fats in their products assumes that the people who are eating them don't realize what they are shoving in their mouth when they eat fast food. But this poll of Canadians released last year showed that they are more aware of trans fats now and are paying attention to that particular ingredient now more than ever before. The same probably holds true in America as well. So, the awareness of the dangers of trans fats is already there.
What a lot of people may not know about is the little trick the FDA allows companies regarding the nutritional labeling. While a food product may be deemed "trans fat-free," that does not mean there is ZERO trans fats in them! GASP! How can this be? Well with rounding that is permitted those "trans fat-free" Oreo cookies you eat may have as much as 0.49 grams per 2 cookie serving. If you eat 12 of them, then you just consumed 2.94 grams of tran fats, higher than the MAXIMUM 2 grams recommended by the American Heart Assocation. Something to think about.
At the same time, how can we trust companies like McDonald's who got into trouble earlier this year for miscalculating the amount of trans fats in their French fries? If they SAY they drop their trans fats completely, does that really mean their food will be trans fat-free? Don't bet on it. Let's forget about KFC and all the trans fats that are hidden in their food, too. Trans fats are most definitely unhealthy for you and have been scientifically proven to make people one-third fatter as well. Yikes!
So is a total ban on trans fats--A GENUINE ONE--the answer to this problem? With kids eating more fried junk food than ever before, does Big Brother government need to come in and compel behavioral change to slow down skyrocketing obesity rates?
My answer may surprise a lot of people, but I say no.
What?! But I thought you were all for helping to improve the health and weight of people? I am, but not when it is forced on businesses and people with a government mandate. Government and health leaders are proposing throwing more money at the obesity problem, but more money isn't the answer. They also want restaurants to cut their portion sizes and calories, but those things aren't the answer either.
And neither is banning trans fats in New York City restaurants. That DOESN'T fix the underlying problem that people have in this country as it relates to the foods they eat and how that impacts their weight and health. People who are obese need to be gently confronted about their weight by those friends and family members who love them the most to encourage them to start making better food choices. Educating people about making those decisions that are best for them is what is going to bring about the most change.
It's amazing, but people are always saying to me now, "That's easy for you to say, you don't have a weight problem." That's right, I don't--ANYMORE! But it was just a little more than couple of years ago I was walking around this world as 400+ pound man looking for answers to my morbid obesity problem, too. I found the low-carb lifestyle and it changed my life forever. If you resolve today that nothing will stand in the way of your weight loss success, then IT CAN and IT WILL happen for you like it did for me. Find a plan that will work for you, implement that plan into your life, and then keep doing it forever. That is what it takes to find weight loss success.
Best of all, you won't need the government forcing it on you either!
