As consumers we had no idea how much trans fatty acids
(trans-fat) were in the food we eat. Until now, the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), after much red tape, is
requiring that trans-fats be on all packaged food labels.
You will see the new addition right below the saturated fat
listing. At least now, Americans in the packaged food they
buy can see how much is in there. Trans-fat are worse on
the heart than saturated fat and should be avoided in any
diet program.
Trans-fat are, in my opinion, the most deadly of the
unnatural forms of fat. The FDA estimates that 500 deaths
from heart disease will be prevented in the next 3 years,
thanks to this new information to consumers. Harvard
researchers have estimated that 100,000 lives a year could
be saved if people cut trans-fats out of their diets
completely.
So what is a trans-fat? Trans-fats are artificially
created by a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation
is adding hydrogen atoms to liquid vegetable oil. This
process allows a longer shelf life and stabilizes the
flavor. It is also cheaper than other fats, like butter or
lard, so many food manufacturers prefer to use it. About
40% of the food on grocery store shelves contain trans-fat.
Health officials in New York City estimate that 30% of the
restaurants use trans-fats or fry food in them.
Once in the blood stream, trans-fats raise bad cholesterol
(low-density lipoprotein, LDL) and lower good cholesterol
(high-density lipoprotein, HDL). Trans-fat may raise
cholesterol twice as much as saturated fat, which makes it
one of the major contributors to heart disease deaths
crippling Americans. There are more than 1.4 million
Americans dying from heart disease each year. In a
Harvard Nurses' Health Study, those who eat more trans-fat
were 53% more likely to develop heart disease than those in
the study eating low amounts of trans-fat. The high risk
group was consuming 6.7 grams a day. You can find the same
number of trans-fat in fast food French fries fried in
partially hydrogenated oil. Higher incidence of diabetes
and gallstone disease may be linked to trans-fat as well.
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) estimates that there
is no safe amount of trans-fat to eat. No one is sure
exactly how much trans-fat Americans are eating. One
tablespoon of margarine has 3 grams, one doughnut has 5
grams. The best thing you can do is cut trans-fat out of
your diet completely. Your heart will thank you. Frito-Lay
chips and Pepperidge Farm goldfish crackers have already
taken out trans-fat from their food. Most companies still
have not taken trans-fat out of their products. There are
two grocery store chains that carry no products with
trans-fat, Whole Foods and Wild Oats. If you want to rid
your diet of trans-fat, you are going to have to read food
labels carefully. Besides the grams of trans-fat in the
product, you need to check the serving size as well. Some
products have small serving sizes to keep their grams total
down.
If you want to keep trans-fat out your diet, there are
things you can do. Cooking your own food is one of the
best ways. You then know what style you are cooking with.
Good oils to use are olive, grape seed, rice bran, canola,
corn, and safflower oil. Staying away from restaurants
that use trans-fat would also be advisable. Look for foods
that contain essential fats that our bodies want, like the
avocado.
With a little extra effort you can take trans-fat out of
your diet. Taking trans-fat out of your diet may be the
single best thing you can do to lower your risk of heart
disease. There is no known health value of trans-fat, so
your body won't be missing anything if you completely get
rid of them in your diet.
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