Trans Fats & The Joy of Eating...
Trans Fats came into our food in the early 1900's. Was it actually a food? Food ... any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink or that plants absorb to maintain life and growth.
- Reference: Oxford Concise Dictionary They are created by taking a vegetable oil and adding hydrogen to it under heat and pressure. The process is halted before they harden, thus they are in transition which do not reach a hardened state. The result, a smooth creamy mixture and when added to the ingredients of baked goods, they give joy to our taste buds. How we love those cookies, pies, cakes, and crackers, and candies. The unhealthy results are not so joyous.
NO - They Are Not Food
These artificial ingredients are in so many foods and have been part of the American diet for decades. I remember when I was a little girl, my mother let me mix the yellow coloring into the white creamy grease to make a replacement for butter. When you grow up with these substitutes, you think they are naturally safe, nutritious foods. According to the FDA website, these fats increase our risk of coronary heart disease. A review of studies on this subject was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2006. It was estimated there have been 30,000 to 100,000 trans fat related coronary deaths per year in the United States. We've taken just about 100 years to determine the devastating health effects of these trusted ingredients. Since it has finally been brought out that they are really detrimental to our health, we can wake up to the fact that the authorities of the world are really not authorities at all. It's really time to stand up and look at what is being past off as food. Eating right is easier when we do.
How To Avoid Them
Be on guard and look for these keywords on food labels showing the ingredients: "shortening," "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" or "hydrogenated vegetable oil." You can also learn how to read the Nutrition Factsl about them. It can be tricky.There's more to learn by reading books on the subject. A very informative book is "Dr. Bob's Trans Fat Survival Guide." You will learn why some are good and why some are bad. It's easy reading and very informative.
References
- Wikipedia
- Dr. Bob's Trans Fat Survival Guide - by Dr Robert Demaria.
- http://www.cfsan.fda.gov Section 4 - Diet and Coronary Heart Disease
- San Francisco Chronical, May 26, 2006
Please feel free to email me if you have questions or comments. I am always happy to respond.
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