|
It is a
bit frightening that we have progressed to the point
where there is little meaningful discussion about some
issues.
In the
not-too-distant past, it seemed there was an excitement
over the fact the knowledge and, therefore, wisdom,
changed constantly as new facts were discovered and
brought to light.
We
followed the adage that “a man who knows not and knows
that he knows not is wise,” meaning we knew that we did
not understand everything there was to know. There was
always more to learn.
Those of
my generation had life a little easier when we were
still young. Life had more gray areas and was less black
and white. We learned what food was healthy and yet
eating the “less-healthy” food was not considered a
mortal physical sin but actually a treat. Everyone knew
you were not supposed to have a “treat” every day.
And then
we got very smart.
Take
cholesterol, for example. Middle-aged men of the 21st
century talk about their cholesterol numbers the way
they used to talk about their amorous adventures; with
pride, scorning other males not quite as accomplished.
Drugs to reduce cholesterol are as popular as Viagra.
High
cholesterol being associated with heart disease has been
a “fact” for 30 years. Skeptics of the harm of high
cholesterol have been viewed the same way global-warming
doubters are regarded: as heretics. And anyone who dared
expressed a fondness for consuming fried pig skin on a
somewhat regular basis as a culinary treat was
considered a fool, if not worse. Then knowledge
increases.
A study
released last month that was supposed to show that
lowering cholesterol would lower the risk of heart
problems failed miserably. From Fortune magazine: “A
recently released study of Merck and Schering-Plough’s
cholesterol-lowering drug, Vytorin, is giving new voice
to medical critics who have groused for decades about
the questionable benefit of using medications to lower
cholesterol and thereby prevent heart disease.” What the
scientists have discovered is that our mothers and
grandmothers were right. However, the pharmaceutical
companies have created a $30-billion-a-year business
from cholesterol-lowering drugs.
“In one
particularly noteworthy study conducted in Lyon, France,
heart-attack sufferers who were counseled to eat a
Mediterranean-style diet [fruits and vegetables, more
whole grains, olive oil and fish, and less red meat,
butter, fatty cheeses and egg yolks] had significantly
less risk of recurrent heart attack. Surprisingly,
patients in the Lyon Diet Study achieved these benefits
without reducing their cholesterol levels at all.” In
other words, eat your vegetables and forget your
cholesterol levels. You live healthier and enjoy life
more.
The same
change in thinking, as new information comes to light,
is quickly happening about biofuels. These renewable
sources of energy are turning out to be more harmful
than the petroleum products they are replacing. From
Wired.com: “When all relevant factors are accounted for,
biofuels produce more greenhouse-gas emissions than
fossil fuels. So conclude two studies published
yesterday in Science, adding to a growing body of
research suggesting that crop-based fuels, once hailed
as a clean answer to oil, are not a magic green bullet.”
The idea
for using biofuels, other than not having to pay Opec
for its oil, is to reduce that dreaded greenhouse gas,
CO2. Yet “Using biofuels probably would cut emissions,
but that could take decades. And the second study,
authored by Nature Conservancy researchers, pegged that
timetable at the level of centuries.” This is because
“The first study [Princeton University] found that
replacing fossil fuels with corn-based ethanol would
double greenhouse-gas emissions for the next 30 years.”
So maybe
biofuels are not everything they are glorified to be.
But the Philippines has the potential for making a
windfall on the biofuels craze just the way the
drugmakers did on the cholesterol panic.
According to studies, the
Philippines
is on the list of those countries that have a capacity
for being a top producer of biodiesel. And check this,
from a Swiss study: “The best biofuels came from
recycled cooking oils and grass- and wood-produced
ethanol. The worst came from Brazilian soy, Malaysian
palm oil and
US
corn, all of which are central to their respective
countries’ biofuel programs.”
So in
conclusion, those of us who enjoy eating our “treat” of
pig skin deep-fried in cooking oil are not really
hurting our hearts but are lowering the overall cost of
health care, reducing the nation’s trade deficit and
helping the local swine producers. Moreover, the
leftover cooking oil makes the best biodiesel, saving
the environment (sort of), further improving our
country’s export earnings and helping our local coconut
oil industry.
E-mail comments to mangun@email.com. |
