McDonald’s Corporation said that 1,200 of its U.S. restaurants have switched to the use of trans-fat free oil. But when the rest of its food chains will comply with the said switch is still a matter of time.
Read the Yahoo! article here.
Trans fatty acids, or trans fat, are type of unsaturated fat. And as all people know already (well, they should know this), trans fat are not required and not beneficial for health. Increased intake raises risk of coronary heart disease. And in today’s times when people, both children and adults, are always in a hurry and eat mostly fast food products, trans fat has been, unfortunately, a big part of the daily diet. Thanks to the partially hydrogenated oils used in almost all fast food chains.
So, now, more and more people have increased chances of dying with a cardiovascular disease than ever before. And the people who are dying of it are getting younger and younger, as years pass by. Deaths due to heart attacks or brain strokes have almost become common that nobody’s surprised by its occurrence anymore. Strange that it has become like that, as if it’s already been part of our natural lives.
And of course, we all know of the obesity epidemic. And the most unfortunate victims of this are the kids. Not only Western children, mind you. Asian children have caught up with the spread of obesity problem.
One need only take a look at the crowd inside most fast food stores. I remember once I ate at Jollibee for lunch (I just can’t find any other available resto at that time and had to make do with their “salad”). I almost gave up trying to find a seat because the whole place is just crawling with high school students, and kids with their parents in tow. And just looking at how some 10-year olds gobble up two pieces of chicken joy and double servings of rice just make me wince because they’ve eaten almost as much as their adult counterparts. Then, of course, there’s the chocolate sundaes for dessert. No kid would ever settle for a trip to Jollibee without their chocolate sundaes.
Now, of course, I’m not entirely innocent of this. I’ve had my share of chickenjoy-gobbling myself, both when I was still a kid and when I’m already an adult. But having been in medical practice for a year and some, I realized that I ought to be more conscious of my health, as I reflect what I’m trying to advice my patients. I’m no model for healthy living right now but at least, I’m starting to make myself look like one who’s living healthy. But it ain’t easy for a medical person like me. How much more for a nonmedical person?
I remember the numerous times at the clinic that I’ve heard parents complaining about their kids wanting to eat fast food all the time. There was this one mother who has elevated blood cholesterol levels and I was advising her on how to modify her diet. Then she told me, “but what about the kids? They want to eat deep-fried food all the time. My husband too. It’s rather difficult if I have to make a separate meal for myself. Can’t I just take medications?”
Of course, I have heard this answer for the nth time. And most of the time, these patients come back to the clinic, still having elevated blood cholesterol levels or elevated blood pressure or with other complications, despite the medications. It is as if they are so helpless about the whole thing.
Actually, we are not helpless about it. But everybody has to do his share in this battle against the spread of obesity.
We must take it upon ourselves the responsibility to live healthy. It’s not the government or the media who should have to push us to do what we must do but ourselves. Learn what must be learned about proper nutrition. Do regular exercises. Clean up our acts and remove our vices. Try to live as healthy as possible and encourage our family to do the same.
For the food industry, I hope they start by altering the way they cook the food they serve. Changing their cooking oil to a trans-fat-free one is a good start. But they ought to be offering dishes that are delights to the heart and not just delight to the palate. KFC, Kenny Rogers, and Wendy’s have started with giving healthier options to their customers by including salads in their menus. I also want to emphasize here the importance of the fast food chains. As I’ve said, most kids flock their establishments. And in order to better educated the children as to proper nutrition, I hope they change the foods in their menus to those that are healthier foods. Serve the foods with proper serving size and not the double or triple the amount that people should be eating. Offering kids’ meals in the menu would be good too.
There are still so much more to ask. But then, for the meantime, taking the first few steps would suffice. Switching to trans-fat-free cooking oil is a good start.
