Earlier this month, the Federal Drug Association (FDA) deemed KIND bars, a company that prides itself on its healthy snacks, to be unhealthy. According to the FDA, the bars contain too much saturated fat for them to authentically wear the “healthy” label that is plastered on all the products.
The FDA says they are bad. Well, I say the FDA is bad.
As a self-diagnosed health nut, it’s these kinds of things that really get me. The FDA has created concrete standards in order to cast foods as healthy or unhealthy without really understanding what the word means.
The FDA thinks that saturated fats are not suitable to eat in large quantities, which is true in many instances. However, the FDA is failing to understand that not all fats are created equal.
According to a statement made by KIND, the fats in the bars are healthy fats, coming from a large variety of nuts as well as coconut oil. Thus, it is the almonds, pistachios, and cashews in these bars that the FDA is advising people not to eat.
Liz Applegate, nutritionist at the University of California Davis says, “Eating nuts routinely – like what you find in KIND Bars – has been shown to reduce risk for heart disease.” Furthermore, Men’s Journal says that the saturated fats in nuts have the ability to control appetite and reduce bad cholesterol.
There are many foods like KIND Bars that have been unfairly discriminated against simply because of the fat content on their labels. Avocados, salmon, and eggs are routinely advised against despite their amazing health benefits.
And now that the FDA has incited a public fear of KIND Bars, people will look for new bars to satiate their hunger. And although other bars might not have as much fat in them as KIND Bars do, they are certainly not nearly as healthy.
Nutri-Grain Bars – often considered healthy because of the prefix “nutri,” which sounds like nutrient – have many ingredients that have been proven to have detrimental side effects on your body. According to Fitday.com, Nutri-Grain Bars contain high fructose corn syrup, which has been linked with obesity, diabetes, and liver disease. Additionally, the bars also contain soluble corn fiber – a common filler found in pet food.
Saturated fats from nuts don’t sound so bad now, do they?
