Banned in the U.S.A.

What ever happened to banned books? You know, "The Catcher in the Rye" and the like. The type that throngs of parents used to vehemently argue over at PTA meetings. Who knows, maybe it's because no one lately has written a book worth banning. So, in lieu of books, the new trend seems to be banning fat. Is it a good idea? Or should we, as a nation, forgive bad fats -- specifically, trans fat -- for its adipose transgressions?

Well, let's take this study into account: Wake Forest University researchers discovered that male monkeys who consumed diets containing trans fats registered a 7.2 percent increase in body weight, compared to a 1.8 percent increase that occurred in monkeys that ate diets rich in monounsaturated fats. What the researchers found most surprising is that this difference in weight still took place even though both groups of monkeys were consuming the same amount of total calories.

That's bad news if you're a monkey. Unfortunately, it applies to humans, too. Part of being healthy means maintaining a comfortable and safe body weight. Monkeys have little trouble doing this since most of their day is spent climbing and swinging in trees. Generally speaking, we humans don't have that kind of time on our hands, so we do our best to exercise and eat healthy as often as we can. But, based on this research, it appears that even if we are exercising and strictly monitoring our caloric intake, trans fats can still have an impact on our health.