If you think these are drugs, then you REALLY need medication...

If ever there was an example of overreaching government, this would be it. Diamond Foods has had to battle away with the Food and Drug Administration over a recent FDA decision that says since Diamond Foods' health claims on a product were not given FDA approval, the products are to be considered drugs, and as such may not be marketed without approval of a new drug application by the FDA.

The product? Walnuts. Yep. Fucking walnuts. Never mind every other 3am commercial touting the latest acai berry diet cure or silly ass pill, none of whom's statements "have been verified by the Food and Drug Administration," but the FDA is going to play Eliot Ness with walnuts. That sound you hear is Upton Sinclair facepalming from the grave...

For the record, there are thirty-five peer-reviewed papers published in the United States National Library of Medicine database touting the health benefits of walnuts. Don't ask about how many peer-reviewed papers have been published on heart-healthy potato chips. I'm not sure I want to know.

Is it any wonder we are the fattest country on Earth? Ain't no money in people being skinny and healthy. Lower insurance premiums, no body paying gym memberships or having to but two seats on a flight...how much more can our economy take? Take the other day, when I saw an ad in the Courier-Journal for a cholesterol drug trial. It was calling for people between the ages of 18 and 75. My first thought was that if someone is 18 and already on cholesterol medication, perhaps they could just push their tubby ass away from the table. Who knows, maybe just one shove a day could burn enough calories to help them lose a half-pound a month.

I'd tell them to start eating more nuts, and not the kind commonly found with a banana sundae wrapped around it, but the last thing I need is the FDA coming after my nuts over a blog post.

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