THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603160023
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
In the movie ``Sleeper,'' a character played by Woody Allen is drawn from a job at a vegetarian restaurant into the distant future. There he is informed that cigarettes, coffee and red meat are all good for you, that the 20th century had it all wrong.
Friday morning's paper was reminiscent of the movie. ``Junk food may prevent heart attacks,'' said a front-page headline. Up was down.
For a decade at least, we've been told that everything that's fun or tastes good is bad for us. Every week brings more bad news on the health front.
Suddenly we're told Twinkies may prevent heart attacks - gooey, sweet, chocolate Twinkies.
It turns out the artificial flavors in Twinkies contain salicylates, a chemical cousin of aspirin. Admit it: You didn't know that. Salicylates may reduce the risk of heart attacks by preventing blood clots.
Next we'll be told to gnaw plastic and sip motor oil.
Actually, there will be a backlash to the Twinkies story, with scientists rushing forward to say that, on balance, junk foods do more harm than good. We'll be admonished again to eat carrot sticks (no salt) and to meditate to keep our blood pressure down.
But for a day, at least, what had been bad for us became good for us. Forbidden fruit was bidden. by CNB