A Few Random Facts About Trans Fat

They’re the villains in any dietary and weight loss story because they’re detrimental to health as well as pack on the pounds; we hear horror stories of how they’re are bad for us and must be avoided at all costs if we are to prevent heart disease and related illnesses; and yet it’s hard for us to steer clear of trans fats because they’re used to make all the things that are delicious – cakes, pastries, fried chicken, potato chips, doughnuts, chocolate.

But with health taking on more importance today, it’s essential for us to exclude trans fats from our diet by choosing what we eat more consciously.

Most of us know that trans fats

• It was only in the late 60s that the adverse effects of trans fats became known.
• In the late 70s, it was proved that total fat intake and vegetable fat contributed to the rise of cancer (animal fats like butter and ghee are healthier choices than margarine and other synthetic spreads).
• It was only in 2006 that the FDA mandated that food products must print the quantity of trans fats on package labels.
• Even seemingly innocuous and healthy foods like breakfast cereals and waffles can be rich in trans fats. Read food labels carefully before you buy processed and ready-to-eat food.
• As little as 5 grams of trans fat a day is enough to increase your risk of heart disease.
• Partially hydrogenated oils (they are popular because they are cheap and have longer shelf lives) are the biggest carriers of trans fat and they double your risk of heart attack and strokes.
• Besides being the obvious cause of heart disease, trans fats interfere with male fertility and cause adverse effects during pregnancy and lactation.
• Trans fats are even worse than saturated fats because while both increase your bad cholesterol, trans fats do a double whammy and also decrease your good cholesterol.
• There are some trans fats that are beneficial to health – conjugated linoleic acid or CLA is found naturally in foods like beef, lamb and dairy products. They boost weight loss and also have cancer prevention qualities; even so, they are high in saturated fats and must be limited from your diet.
• Food that is fried in your home does not contain trans fats; rather, the trans fat in fried chicken and French fries is a result of the hydrogenation of liquid vegetable oil during the processing of food (manufacturers do this to boost the shelf life of these foods).

The best way to eliminate trans fats from your diet is to read food labels more carefully and be more conscious of what you eat.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Shannon Wills, she writes on the topic of Physical Therapy Assistant Schools. She welcomes your comments at her email id: shannonwills23@gmail.com.

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