New Law Allows You To Make Better Food Choices

Due to a ruling by the Food and Drug Administration in July 2003, we will soon have more information available to us to make healthy food selections. In the near future, food and supplement manufacturers will be required to include the amount of trans-fatty acids (also called trans fats) on their nutri- tion labels. For martial artists, who are working toward achieving maximal health, this information is crucial to make appropriate food choices.

As martial artists, we strive to embody the ideals of the martial arts: being healthy in mind and body. To achieve our health goals, we must physically exercise regularly (daily), train regularly, and eat correctly by making appropriate food choices. This is not to say that you can never eat “unhealthy” foods, but you should at least know all the facts about the foods you are eating before you choose to ingest them. The new labeling law will help give you the information you need to make an informed choice.

But what are trans-fatty acids and why are they significant? Trans- fatty acids occur naturally in small quantities in some foods, including beef, pork, lamb, butter and milk. The crucial word here, though, is small. The vast majority of trans fats that we actually consume are ingredients in processed foods. Fats that are “hydrogenated” are the main culprits in supplying trans-fatty acids. Oils in foods are hydrogenated to produce more palatable products or to make foods last longer. Some peanut butters are hydrogenated to make them “creamier.” And liquid vegetable oil is hydrogenated to produce solid (stick or tub) margarine.

Trans-fatty acids aect your body in much the same way as satu- rated fats. They tend to raise your cholesterol levels (of the “bad” LDL-type), and even decrease the “good” HDL-type cholesterol in your blood. Even if you have normal cholesterol levels, trans fats are certainly an “un-natural” substance that does your body no good whatsoever.

While your body does need some fat in your diet, the type of fat you select is crucial to consuming a healthy diet. Good choices of fats are “polyunsaturated fats” such as those found in sanflower, sunflower, corn and soybean oils; and “monounsaturated fats” such as those found mainly in canola, olive and peanut oils.

An overall maximally healthy diet is the compilation of mostly excellent food choices, mixed with some “OK” food choices, and very few “poor” choices. In this way, your diet can assist you in reaching your martial arts goals, culminating in a healthy mind, body and spirit.