People'sTonight
October 26, 2012
By Winston A. Marbella
A leading cooking oil company has launched an information campaign as part of a global effort to reduce the increasing consumption of harmful fats, especially among children.
As part of its corporate social responsibility program, Limketkai Manufacturing, makers of Marca Leon corn oil, is conducting an educational campaign to educate parents about the dangers of bad fats in the diet.
The World Bank has urged third-world countries to enact laws to encourage good food processing practices and control trans-fats content in food in the global fight against rising non-communicable diseases (NCD) like high blood pressure.
“These efforts, such as more effective legislation on the use of trans-fats and tobacco as well as public education to reduce salt intake would help delay the onset of these diseases,” the bank said in a report in Sri Lanka recently.
2 epidemics
Two epidemics are currently raging in poor countries---the all-too-familiar hunger and malnutrition and a more pernicious one, obesity. Overweight afflicts 42 million children under the age of five, 35 million of whom live in third-world countries like the Philippines.
Alarmed, the World Health Organization is calling for action to end the epidemic of child obesity by reducing marketing of unhealthy foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children.
NYC bans trans-fats
The government of New York City has banned the use of trans-fats in all restaurants.
WHO says children worldwide are exposed to marketing of foods high in fat, sugar or salt. And this increases the potential of younger generations developing non-communicable diseases during their lives.
The WHO report says non-communicable diseases already account for 60 percent of deaths worldwide, or more than 35 million people, with a majority of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries.
WHO officials cite poor diet as one of the four common causes of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and chronic lung diseases, leading to more than nine million premature deaths.
Good oil
According to the the Marca Leon corn oil website (http://www.facebook.com/marcaleoncleanhealthypure), heart disease remains the biggest killer in the Philippines.
Other health factoids from the information website:
---You can control cholesterol levels through diet and exercise. Corn oil boosts “good” cholesterol (HDL). Saturated fats boost “bad” cholesterol (LDL).
---Regular exercise lowers bad LDL cholesterol levels and boosts HDL good cholesterol. No more than 35 percent of your daily calories shouild come from fats.
---Polyunsaturated fats are good fats. Corn oil contains 85 percent unsaturated fatty acid, 59% polyunsaturated acid (Omega 3 and 6), 24% monounsaturated fatty acid (Omega 9), and only nine to 13% saturated fatty acid.
---The right combinarion of fatty acids in corn oil leads to a healthy heart. Corn oil is rich in Betacarotene and Vitamin E, good for the skin and growth, and Thiamine, Niacin, Lecithin and Folic Acid for good health.
---Corn oil is rich in good minerals like phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, iron and copper.
Good taste
Because corn oil has a neutral taste, it imparts no harmful flavors to the food, thus making food taste better.
Corn oil is rich in plant nutrients which lower cholesterol and protect the body from certain types of cancer such is prostrate, breast and colon. It is also free of transfats associated with hypertension in certain medical studies.
TV ads to blame
WHO blames television advertising largely for the marketing of unhealthy foods. It says there is evidence advertisements influence children’s food preferences, purchase requests and consumption patterns.
In the United States, a mother---with the support of an advocacy group---has filed a class-action suit against a fast-food chain for a sales promotion which invites children to collect a new toy every so often.
Clinton example
The legal arguments can go either way. In earlier cases involving the use by food manufacturers of potentially harmful trans-fats, a standard cooking ingredient in fast-food kitchens, the companies settled out of court.
Former US President Bill Clinton is a celebrated example of how fast-food addiction can lead to heart problems. Clinton underwent multiple heart bypass surgery after leaving office, adopted a healthy-eating lifestyle, and now appears to be in the pink of health.