Trans fats have been linked to heart disease, high cholesterol, infertility, insulin resistance, and type II diabetes. They have also surely contributed to the problem of obesity, and have even been shown to cause belly fat. Though a food may have fewer calories (like a light butter substitute, or diet cakes and cookies) if it contains ANY trans fat, your dieting efforts will suffer as much as your health.
This is because our bodies don’t respond to trans fat in the same manner that they respond to old-fashioned animal fat or plain, unadulterated vegetable oils, whether saturated or not. To put it simply: trans fats are synthetic and are not broken down as readily as other fats, nor do our cells respond to them in the same way. Trans fats literally float around in our blood stream longer than they should, wreak havoc with our metabolic systems (from cells on up), and leave plaque in our vessels.
They also don’t curb our appetites as real fats do, so we end up eating even more. Additionally, by promoting insulin resistance, trans fats make it harder for our bodies to use the glucose already in our blood stream and impede the use of fat reserves for energy (fat burning).
Trans fats do not nourish our bodies in any way, but instead do damage and leave us sluggish and hungry. In other words, they’re toxic.
IT ONLY TAKES A LITTLE TO DO DAMAGE:
Negative effects of trans fats have been documented at levels as low as 1% to 3% of total energy intake: This is only 20-60 calories (2g-7g) for a 2,000 calorie diet. That’s just enough to smear on your whole grain toast!
Trans fats are so detrimental to health, that the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association recommend that less than 1% of daily calories should come from trans fats. (That’s less than 20 calories for a 2000 calorie diet.)
TRANS FAT IS STILL HIDDEN IN OUR FOOD:
A manufacturer can claim zero trans-fat on their labels if one serving contains less than 1/2 a gram. If you’ve ever noticed, the serving sizes of many foods are considerably smaller than the amount you actually eat, as much as four times—so you could be getting a significant amount of trans-fat, even when the package says “Zero Trans Fat!” on its label. This is why reading the ingredients is as essential as reading the nutritional facts.
If a package says zero trans-fat, read the ingredients, you may be suprised.
**The only reason that trans fat are even allowed in our food products at all is because there are traces found in animal and dairy products, which would be too difficult to eliminate. It is still up for debate as to whether these naturally occurring trans fats are harmful or not.**
INGREDIENTS THAT CONTAIN TRANS FATS:
The primary source of trans fat is partially hydrogenated oil. Manufacturers can use just about any plant (also fish oil), but most often choose corn or soy because they’re inexpensive. Through a process called hydrogenation, they alter the molecular structure of the oil to lengthen its shelf-life and/or to make it thicker, so it can be spread on toast for example. (I caaan’t believe it’s not butter!!)
So, when checking ingredients, look for:
HYDROGENATED or PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED + OIL (vegetable, soybean, corn, etc…)
Also avoid:
SHORTENING–this always contains trans fats
Use caution with:
FATTY ACIDS
MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES OF FATTY ACIDS–
These are modifications of fats and are produced as additives for use as emulsifiers and thickeners in foods like yogurt or whipped topping. They seem to be replacing partially hydrogenated oils in many products. Unfortunately, we didn’t know about the dangers of trans fats for decades, and we don’t know what effect these replacements may have down the road…
INTERESTERIFIED FAT (STEARIC ACID-RICH FAT)
This modified fat is also being used as a trans fat replacement, particularly in fast food restaurants. Already there is evidence indicating it may be just as harmful as trans fats.
NOTE: If labeled “fully hydrogenated,” then the oil is safe and free of trans fats. But if it only says “hydrogenated” it may contain partially hydrogenated oil mixed in with it.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Isn’t “fully-hydrogenated” another word for the same artificial process? I’m surprised you recommend it so freely when many other authors include it on the ‘avoid’ list.
A4T, You’ve made a really good point, thanks for the question…
Partial hydrogenation creates a mixture of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (there are also saturated fatty acids present), both of which have trans isomers, resulting in an unnaturally structured fat molecule that the body cannot effectively process–hence, it’s total junk at best and toxic at worst.
In contrast, full hydrogenation creates a product that is higher in saturated fat (much of which is in the form of stearic acid) but contains no trans fat. So “fully hydrogenated” oil has no trans fat.
If it just states “hydrogenated” it is still questionable, but this is more an issue of misleading language.
The Mayo Clinic website states that fully hydrogenated oil does not contain trans fat, and the Harvard website also has an excellent article discussing the various types of fat, including trans fat, if you’d like more information:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/trans-fat/cl00032
https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Time-to-fatten-up-our-dietst.htm
As an aside, personally, I stick with olive oil and good old fashioned butter for most of my cooking, while avoiding most processed foods altogether. We can never be entirely sure of what the long-term consequences will be for any type of chemical processing. Hydrogenating oil for mass consumption has been around for over a century, and was once considered a good thing, especially in the 40’s when food was being rationed and troops needed to be fed (hydrogenation/ hydrogenated oil extended food’s shelf-life while making it a lot cheaper), and to this day, many people would still say margarine is “healthier” than butter, which has more calories and “bad” saturated fat. The point is, it took a long time to realize just how awful trans fats are. So… everything in moderation and natural is best