Carpe Foodem: Seize the Hollandaise

I am consistently surprised by the number of people who rely on fat-free fats and sugar-free sugars as a regular part of their diet.

This week, I conducted a test to determine if I was letting my food snobbishness get the better of me, or if something is actually wrong with these foods. I bought a tub of trans-fat free margarine, and had a friend over for a tasting. Her palate is best described as indelicate; she has been known to eat food out of the garbage.

She is my dog.

I put a little schmear of unsalted Land O' Lakes butter on my finger tip, and held it at dog-nose height. She lapped it up, wagged her tail and begged for more.

Next, I took a finger tip of trans-fat free margarine. She sniffed it, looked at me like I had betrayed her and left the kitchen.

My dog is not a fussy mutt. She subsists primarily on Purina products, punctuated by the occasional Peter Luger doggy bag. But somehow, she knows better than to eat trans-fat free margarine.

So why do we?

When marketers tell us we'll get skinny eating X and Y while avoiding Z, we do it. If we were more in touch with our animal instinct (eat when hungry, stop when full, ingest only things that grow, walk, swim or fly), we'd be less likely to stuff ourselves silly, then rely on fake food as salvation.