When You're Looking For Health Food You Eat A Bowl Of Kale, Not An Apple Turnover
Following the lead of nanny Bloomberg, Chelsea, Massachusetts has a looming ban on trans fats -- leading a bagel shop owner to vow to stop making pastries.
Mike Beaudet and Kevin Rothstein put out this story for Fox News Boston:
At Katz's Bagel Bakery, a Chelsea fixture since 1938, the bagels have always been the big draw, but owner Richard Katz also does a brisk business with pastries like turnovers and whoopie pies, pastries that he makes with partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening.That shortening will be banned on Jan. 1, leaving Katz vowing to stop selling pastries rather than peddle what he calls "awful" tasting trans fat-free baked goods.
...Public health experts from the city and Massachusetts General Hospital have been working with Chelsea restaurants and bakeries to prepare for the ban and help come up with alternatives without artificial trans fats. But Katz tried several kinds and they all came up short.
"I made some dough, and I made it the same way I make everything else. I rested it and made turnovers from it, and they looked pretty good, but when you ate them they were awful," Katz said.
...But Dr. Dean Xerras, a Chelsea board of health member, says the board took action because city residents have higher than average rates for obesity and associated problems like heart disease and diabetes.
"We actually don't think it goes too far," he said. "Our intention was to help the health of Chelsea and really improve the health outcomes of the residents of Chelsea."
Not that I support government or any other nitwits controlling what adults can eat, but if Dr. Dean Xerras knew anything about dietary science, he'd be banning flour and sugar, which actually are what lead to diabetes (by causing the secretion of insulin that puts on fat).
Hey, Dr. Xerras, maybe spend less time meddling in other adults' lives, and pick up a copy of Gary Taubes' "Good Calories, Bad Calories," and maybe flip through a few medical journals.
By the way, Dr. Mary Dan Eades, who knows a thing or two about evidence-based dietary science, will sing you the health praises of lard (which is delicious in baked goods). Of course, the keeping kosher-ish thing may be a problem for the bagel maker-- tragic, because a world without bacon is a joyless place.
Additionally, eating shitty-tasting baked goods can leave you unsatisfied, which can lead to eating more and more baked goods. (I can be satisfied on a tiny piece of really good chocolate because really good is really satisfying, even in a really small size.)
And back to the headline, let's get real: People are not going to start putting their muzzle in a bucket of greens instead of having desert simply because the local power-mad, medical knowledge-deficient morons banned tasty deserts.
People in Chelsea have motor vehicles...do they not? And unless the article left an essential note out, it appears there's no giant forcefield around the town keeping the people in it from driving to a place where grownups get to be grownups and make their own food decisions.
via Overlawyered
Mabye lard was also banned? and thats why he isnt considering it
lujlp at December 26, 2012 6:54 AM
He's probably considering his Jewisih clients, who might not want to eat lard. lard is okay in pie crusts, but not so good for pastries. It's also pricier than Crisco, which is the home-cook version of what he was using. Butter tastes best, but is priciest and if he's got kosher clients, not a big seller. State should butt out.
KateC at December 26, 2012 7:27 AM
That shortening will be banned on Jan. 1, leaving Katz vowing to stop selling pastries rather than peddle what he calls "awful" tasting trans fat-free baked goods.
Dude. There's an alternative: lard. Your ancestors didn't have partially hydrogenated vegetable oil to do their baking...
I R A Darth Aggie at December 26, 2012 7:35 AM
The more I hear the government pontificate on nutrition, the less I think they know. I lost 100lbs going Paleo/low-carb and lifting weights. It was insanely easy. This is an issue of personal responsibility, not Byzantine, tyrannical regulations.
Kevin at December 26, 2012 10:15 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/12/26/when_youre_look.html#comment-3531418">comment from KevinExactly, Kevin. I consistently get email from people who've read my links to Dr. Michael Eades, Gary Taubes, Dr. William Davis, and others who put out evidence-based information on diet.
Other than the science, it is absolutely an issue of personal responsibility. My version of going overboard for the holidays includes eating the following during the month of December:
1. a small piece of pumpkin pie -- filling only, no crust.
2. two very small chocolate bars.
3. a single Lindt truffle.
4. a single dark chocolate Reese's Peanutbutter Cup.
5. a half-piece of cheesecake at reason's party for their new HQ.
Other than in December, I eat a chocolate bar once a week or so and have a cookie about once a month. One. Chocolate chip. Sometimes, I swap out the candy bar for ice cream.
This isn't all that hard to do once you just decide to be self-disciplined and start practicing that, and if you focus on the terrible negative effects sugar and flour have and how great you'll feel if you eat low-carb (with enough fat -- and I load it on, as it is healthy for you and keeps you from being hungry).
Amy Alkon
at December 26, 2012 10:39 AM
Exactly. I didn't even go "full" paleo; I simply transitioned from the "OMG, I eat all the carbs and sugar!!!" diet I was raised on (and which my family still takes on faith to this day) to basing my diet on paleo but with regular mental health exceptions*. Whatever I eat, I try to limit my (average) daily sugar intake to 30g and my carb intake to 100g (mostly vegetables and fruits). Once you do that, losing even pretty large amounts of weight is actually quite easy. The average person being 5-10 pounds overweight is hardly some intractable problem; if everyone got it in their heads to address it, all that fat would be gone in three months, easily.
*Though I'm actually quite lax around the holidays.
Kevin at December 26, 2012 11:00 AM
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