subject: Trans-fats Risks And Dangers [print this page] In the early 1900's scientists managed to discover a process whereby liquid vegetable oil could be brought to a solid state. This effort was made in order to imitate butter. It is a sophisticated process which involves hydrogen gas, intense pressure and very rare metal catalysts. This process produces "hydrogenated" fats also commonly referred to as "trans-fatty-acids." These do not exist in nature in any form and must be made artificially in a manufacturing facility. Hydrogenated fats and even most partially hydrogenated fats are basically ubiquitous (they're everywhere!) in our foods and in many dishes. It is quite difficult to avoid their consumption.
Fast food restaurants are the most prolific distributors of trans-fats. They don't want to even think of telling you they are present in their food. New York City has passed a law making it illegal for restaurants to serve these dangerous fats. This is definitely a start in the correct direction. Even new labeling laws are very misleading. Stating "trans-fats free" actually means something close to a half gram (0.5 g) of hydrogenated fat can be in every single serving.
Hydrogenated fat in the form of margarine is still presently a very big seller. Our bodies know what saturated animal fat is and can metabolize it in small amounts. Our bodies do not know what trans-fatty acids are and are incapable of dealing with them at all. They are unnatural and should not be present in our bodies. Trans-fatty acids end up as deposits in our vital arteries. Heart disease and artery disease are the biggest killers of all. These pseudo-fats are without any doubt literally killing us one by one as we consume them. Read your labels very attentively and try not to eat them.
Some Europeans and Americans eat close to 15 grams of trans-fats daily which is close to 5 percent of their total calorie intake. Americans get an astounding and incredible 47% of their calories from fat and most of these harmful calories come from saturated animal fats, other sources and hydrogenated oils (trans-fats). Then why must we wonder that we have so many cases of heart disease?
Hydrogenated oils are the very worst fat you can possibly eat yet people gobble up endless amounts of this every year as if it were a health food. READ YOUR LABELS EXTREMELY WELL! If the product has the possibility of containing hydrogenated oil don't buy it. Ask the restaurant manager if any of the foods might have hydrogenated fat in them. You can be sure that anything you get from a fast food establishment is full of hydrogenated oils and related products.
We are not able list all the international human studies that have been published up until this point in medical journals proving that trans-fatty-acids can and do cause coronary heart disease. Countless studies have been published for decades proving unequivocally that they can and do raise total cholesterol, raise the bad LDL cholesterol and lower good HDL cholesterol.
They are also able to also raise a blood related marker called "Lp(a)", or lipoprotein which is the very first predictor of pending heart disease. This fact has indeed been demonstrated at the University of Kuopio in Finland, Tufts University in Boston, Wagengin Agricultural University in the Netherlands, the famous Framingham Study, University of Oslo in Norway and so many other research facilities around the globe.
Doctors studied 698 postmenopausal women in the Netherlands. Fat biopsies were taken from their bodies. The researchers concluded, "The adipose concentration of the trans fatty acids showed a most positive trend in association with breast cancer." The more trans-fats they continued to consume the more breast cancer they were likely to incur. Do you even doubt the possibility that the same results would be found if they did the very same study with men and prostate cancer?
What can one do or what is there to be done? First of all, resolve to stop eating in fast food restaurants. They sell more hydrogenated fats than any other firm or institution. Read your labels and when you see something suspicious, stop buying that product. Refusing to eat any food that is likely to contain any type of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil does indeed make sense.
Learning how to cook without butter or any type of margarine is a good decision. Do try to avoid using vegetable oils in excess. There are types of non-hydrogenated margarines for example Smart Balance and Spectrum Spread which can even be used in moderation at any occasion. They are mostly made with palm oil which solidifies once you refrigerate it.
Always take care to write back to the manufacturers that produce the foods you like and tell them you won't buy any of their products until they discontinue the hydrogenated oil. In most cases it is actually less harmful to eat butter and even to fry your food in lard than it is to eat these unnatural, dangerous, health destroying fats.
