What is the deal with Trans Fats?
Trans fats are constantly in the press these days! Different cities and states are banning the fats all the time.
But why? What’s up with trans fats?
Trans fats are a type of unsaturated fat. And the reason that trans fats get such a “bad repuation” is simple: Unlike other fats, trans fats have no known beneficial role in human health. Even worse, eating them increases the risk of coronary heart disease.
Researchers at Harvard have written:
By our most conservative estimate, replacement of partially hydrogenated fat in the U.S. diet with natural unhydrogenated vegetable oils would prevent approximately 30,000 premature coronary deaths per year, and epidemiologic evidence suggests this number is closer to 100,000 premature deaths annually.
Yikes!
So that’s why restaurants like KFC are publicly trumpeting their efforts to eliminate trans fats from their favorite recipes.
We here at TDP remain diet agnostic; our focus is on eating smarter, regardless of the diet you choose. But we feel pretty comfortable supporting the cause of eliminating heart-clogging trans fats from your daily food intake!
What are your thoughts — or questions — on trans fats?
Kim said,
November 9, 2007 @ 7:58 am
I’m confused on Partially hydrogenated oils. Please clarify. In reading labels, I see many foods that say “no trans fats” but yet have “partially hydrogenated oils” written on the ingredients.
Are they 2 different things?
Kim
Lex said,
November 9, 2007 @ 8:17 am
Great question! About.com has a great explanation for the answer:
“There are two reasons why foods containing hydrogenated oils may be labeled trans-fat free, or list 0g trans fats on the label. First, items that list partially hydrogenated oils in the ingredients but contain less than 0.5g of trans fats are considered by the government to be trans-fat free. A good example of this would be commercial peanut butter, which contains a tiny amount of partially hydrogenated oil to prevent separation. Second, products that contain fully hydrogenated oils are trans-fat free. Crisco’s trans-fat free shortening falls into this category.”
Read the whole thing here: link
Adryen said,
November 11, 2007 @ 11:12 am
I understand that the cells have been modified by the hydrogen but it’s not something our body recognizes and knows what to do with it. I do my best to avoid anything that has ‘partially hydrogenated’.
Isn’t it similar to the ‘enriched’ products? They take a whole grain, remove the healthy portion, put part of it back, and call it enriched…
Jupiter said,
November 12, 2007 @ 3:43 pm
I avoid this ingredient like the plague. Your best bet is to read the actual ingredients, and put it back if you see the word “hydrogenated”.
I think it should be banned. It’s illegal to add arsenic or cyanide to food…and should be illegal to add this also.
It adds up to more money because of longer shelf life–that’s why it’s not illegal. Always money, isn’t it?
It’s poison. I am so thrilled that companies are starting to remove this product voluntarily. You know it’s bad when companies *voluntarily* do something that may cost them more money. They don’t care about health–they are worried about future lawsuits. (Not that I condone suing over every little thing, but you know people sue over hot coffee…).
Brenda said,
November 25, 2007 @ 7:03 am
I’d like to hear more about trans fats that occur naturally in some foods. I’ve heard it said that they’re not as dangerous as the ones in more heavily-processed foods — why is that? Are they just in smaller quantities, or are they chemically different?
Regarding Jupiter’s comment: the fact that companies are doing something voluntarily only means that consumers are scared. If consumers were afraid of the stuff that’s used to make cheese orange, suddenly all the companies would be selling white cheese. It’s not necessarily an agreement about the health risks, it’s a business decision to stop making things that people won’t buy.
If you want more evidence along those lines, look at a jar of salsa that calls itself ‘fat-free’. Salsa has always been fat free, but in the midst of diet crazes and consumer demand for low-fat foods, the salsa manufacturers decided to point out on their labels that yes, this is a fat-free food and is compatible with your diet. They didn’t change the product. I suspect that some of the foods labeled ‘no trans fats’ are similar — they never contained any to begin with, and the label is pure marketing.
dthvallequeen said,
November 25, 2007 @ 6:45 pm
I’ve been avoiding partially-hydrogenated products for some time and have been deeply saddened that my favorite cookie recipe calls for shortening. However, I just found some stuff at Wild Oats that uses peller expressed oil. Yahoo for overshooting my daily calorie goal!
It’s amazing. At first when you stop eating partially-hydrogenated products you’re constantly thinking, “I can’t eat anything that tastes good!” Then alternatives appear that are sooooo much better tasting
OctopusGirl said,
December 3, 2007 @ 9:51 pm
Is it really neccessary that these fats be banned? Fair enough, hydrogenated fats are partly what contribute to our ill-health in the west, but is it ethical not to allow people to CHOOSE whether or not they avoid this deadly indredient? Afterall, cigarettes aren’t illegal, and cigarettes (if I’m not mistaken) contain levels of tar, carbon monoxide and even arsenic!
Besides, it’s everything in moderation that keeps us healthy. If someone fancies the odd pizza or fried chicken meal every once in a while, it’s not going to hurt them to do so. The same can be said for alcohol, which actually has its benefits, yet can kill when consumed in excess.
That’s not to say I don’t support TDP’s decision to oppose their commerical use, nor do I hinder Jupiter’s adamant attack on their legality; for the record, I avoid ALL fatty or modified foods and furthermore abstain from eating animals. However, that’s my personal decision and it’s not for anybody else to dictate the lifestyles of others, nor is it up to us to make healthy/unhealthy decisions for other people. Suicide may be illegal, but as thus there seem to be no restrictions on allowing people to slowly kill themselves with KFC.
cannabisflower said,
February 26, 2008 @ 12:47 pm
OctopusGirl said: “Fair enough, hydrogenated fats are partly what contribute to our ill-health in the west, but is it ethical not to allow people to CHOOSE whether or not they avoid this deadly indredient? Afterall, cigarettes aren’t illegal, and cigarettes (if I’m not mistaken) contain levels of tar, carbon monoxide and even arsenic!”
This ingredient doesn’t really add any taste or flavor to the food. All it does is exstend the shelf life making costs cheaper for the company making it. They can still make fried chicken, pizza and french fries without transfats and no one would notice a difference in taste. So no one would choose to have it in their food if they thought about it. You might chose not to look for it like you say, but should you even have to look for it?
If arsenic extended the shelf life of food should we allow companies to put it in the food so they can save money? It’s a poison. The subject sort of reminds me of the Monty Python skit where Eric Idle is in the deli and the guy is saying they have raspberry tart with rat, pudding with rat, etc. Eric Idle says “do you have anything without any rat in it..” Do we really need to ask the people who sell us food if it has rat in it? Although I hear that there is some amount of that in the food just because rats are everywhere - but then again, should we really expect a lot of rat to be in our food. I didn’t think so.