Much has been said about Trans Fats lately. They are the new demon in the American Diet second only to Hydrogenated fats and oils. And in fact they are the result of the same process. An industrial process that forces hydrogen into oils. Without getting into a complicated discussion of the science of that – the purpose of creating Trans Fat was purely an economic and not a nutritional one.
Hydrogenating oils adds no nutritional or taste value to them, instead it just makes them more liquid at room temperature and last longer - which has made them highly appealing to the fast food industry.
And while hydrogenated oils and their cousins, Trans fats have no known added nutritional value over “good” unsaturated fats they have been known to increase heart disease, much like saturated fats. Although debate still rages as to why these risk factors increase all scientific and medical professionals agree they do exsist, and some 30,000 deaths alone last year have been attributed to trans fat consumption. Hence the current move to ban them.
But rather then getting into a debate on whether the current hoopla over Trans Fat is warranted or not, lets just take a look at the facts. And the truth is because of the nature of Trans Fats regardless of the reality about the negative health effects of them, you will not find them in just about any food that is “healthy”.
Remember, the purpose of their development was to be predominantly an ingredient in junk and fast foods. The very foods that are loaded with Trans fat should be avoided for a plethora of other reasons. So if you are basically easting healthy to begin with, you probably really do not need to worry about Trans Fats.
However if you are known to have heart disease, you definitely should read the labels of all foods and be aware of both the Trans Fat and the Unsaturated Fat content, and read the ingredients for hydrogenated oils.
In any event avoid fast foods; avoid junk foods, and snacks like fried chips. Stick to a healthy diet of Whole Grains, Fruits Vegetables, Nuts, get plenty of exercise and drink lots of water, and you probably do not have to worry about a Trans fat sneaking up on you in the middle of the night and giving you a heart attack.
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