Buzz Fleischman - Columnist Page Studies emerge all the time with new information about the things we eat.  Remember when butter was the benchmark? We used it in all our cooking. It had a lot of saturated fat and that’s what made it taste good. That’s all we cared about. Good taste. All we knew about the word, ‘saturated’ was when we walked into the house saturated from the rain and dripping on the rug. That’s when our mother de-saturated us with a towel.

Researchers decided that too much butter was no good for you and so alternative butter was born. It was called margarine. It looked like butter, yet was easier to spread right out of the fridge. What exactly was it? It was made with trans-fat. We didn’t know what trans-fat was, because at that time we had not graduated from high school and were concentrating on directing our hormones to useful pursuits like getting someone in the back seat at the drive in. Then there was ‘lite’ margarine. I guess that was for those who didn’t want all the taste they weren’t getting in the regular mix. Consumers who ‘couldn’t believe it’s not butter’ couldn’t tell the difference.

We then found that trans-fat may be even worse than butter’s saturated fat. Then it was polyunsaturated fat that we needed.

 Now they’re saying that as long as only about 30 percent of the fat in your spread is saturated-plus-trans, it should help lower your cholesterol. I’m confused. Let’s go back to the good old days when there was butter!

Hello, it looks like butter is back, so until the next study comes out, don’t sweat it. And speaking of studies, here’s one I like.

Among we who love sweets, there are many categories; licorice and gumdrop types, syrupy flavored candies, ice cream in all its forms and chocolates. 

Chocolate lovers are a breed apart, a large breed since there are so many of us. We like it all; milk chocolate, white, and my favorite, dark chocolate. I always had a good feeling about dark chocolate. There was something different about it and not just that richer, fuller, longer lasting aftertaste, and I was right!

A well-known published researcher and holistic practitioner Carmia Borek PH.D. authored a study that shows dark chocolate inhibits the clumping or aggregation of platelets, which is a major cause of blood clots which lead to stroke and heart attacks.

Yes, according to this expert, dark chocolate may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease! This is news! And I swear I didn’t pay her to say that. Wow! Let’s go to Godiva and break out the credit card. Just breathing deeply in a chocolate shop helps to clear out your brain. When we unwrap and consume bits at a time, of a lovingly prepared choco-treat, the cares of the world are as far from our minds as the end of the sun. Studies can be fun!

I’ll be looking for one that shows Oreos, when consumed by the box, help you lose weight.

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