Extra Caramel

Midtown Manhattan is not spared the presence of several famous fast-food franchises, one of which happens to be across the street from my home. On a recent cold morning, I decided to try their coffee, avoiding the synthetic admixtures that resemble bagels, donuts, and croissants.
Imagine my surprise when my neighbor on line, a young overweight adolescent, ordered her breakfast: “a caramel mocha latte, with extra caramel.” Thoughts raced through my head: “To this we’ve come.”-- “What hath God wrought?”—“Yick.” Recent houseguests, two German naturopaths, had prepared for me a breakfast of curried vegetables and millet. From the sublime to the ridiculous, you say?

Allow me to transport you back a few years, when I was asked to give nutritional advice on Breast Cancer Awareness Day for a major network news show. What foods would be the best choices to lessen the risk for this dreaded disease? This is as foolish a question as exists, since the answer, for most Americans, is less food.

As repeated studies have demonstrated, visceral fat, an “organ” deep inside the abdomen, is responsible for abnormal production of estrogenic hormones. Weight correlates with breast cancer risk, a fact well known to the American Cancer Society. Therefore, unless I missed something when studying logic at Yale University, the best way to minimize this risk is to lose weight.

This was too sensitive an issue for the television producers, and my appearance was cancelled. Certainly you’ve seen more controversial material on the air, whether mind-numbing violence, hysterical political blather, or inappropriate sexual content. Is it a badge of honor to be censored because of a statement in the textbook of internal medicine?

Or is it better to allow free reign to individuals who want an extra boost of caramel in the morning to start their day? Vitamins? Minerals? Amino acids? Who needs them when you’ve got corn syrup, thickening agents, and emulsifying additives?

A recent bill proposed in Mississippi recommended that obese people should be denied service at state-licensed restaurants: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0201081fat1.html
Yea or nay? How much micromanagement would you be willing to allow? “Sorry, sir, we cannot allow you to have salt or catsup with your burger.” “Ma’am, it’s a salad or nothing.” “Put down that slice of pizza and step away from the counter.”

Is it an inalienable right to make unwise food choices? Would communities be more responsible if they policed their residents’ health-related affairs? Should I have said something to the young woman who asked for extra caramel? If the latter case, you know the answer: she might not have enjoyed her morning drink but instead poured it over my head.