Memo To The Fat Police: Stuff it!

The almost trillion-dollar fat-free industry, promoters of fat paranoia on a scale exceeded only by the extreme paranoia promoted by the crusading zealots — political, professional, and civilian — devoted to the secondhand smoke myth, needs to be exposed before it succeeds in robbing us totally of yet one more of life's greatest pleasures.

[We have been] told that fat [is] out of fashion and that eating fat made you fat. The food industry backed this claim with new products: reduced-fat, no-fat, fat-free. Everything fat-free came with a license to eat more and we did. And got fatter. By now we have been so long bombarded with fat-phobic fear mongering that much of it is considered accepted wisdom.

[...]

Fat, the fat we cook with and eat, is good for you.... Our bodies need fat. That's right — fat supports cellular growth, the immune system, the brain, and our hormone-producing endocrine system. We'd struggle to function without it. The low- and no-fat era of the last half century made us heavier, not healthier, and in the process has taken a lot of the pleasure from eating.

[...]

Fat in its natural state is not the enemy. You need it, and you love it. It makes all food taste better and even feel better. You crave it. The key is to use it well and to eat well.

Word!

RTWT here.

(Our thanks to the always indispensable Arts & Letters Daily for the link.)