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Nutrition Tip from February, 2008

2/5/08

Trans fats are in the news frequently, as fast-food restaurants change their “formulas” for foods in order to take out trans fats. Do you know what trans fats even are? Trans fats are fats that started out healthy and were chemically changed. For example, peanuts have healthy fats in them naturally (mono- and polyunsaturated fats are healthy fats). Most healthy fats are liquid at room temperature. So, when peanuts are ground up to make peanut butter, the healthy fats separate out and form the liquid at the top of the jar if you’ve ever seen “natural” peanut butter. Food producers decided that, in the face of competition, in order to make their product look more attractive to the consumer, that they would change the chemical composition of these healthy fats to make them stay solid at room temperature. So, these healthy fats were changed to be closer to unhealthy fats (like saturated fats), which stay solid more readily at room temperature. The product stays more consistent in texture throughout, and the product also lasts longer. Unfortunately, a formerly healthy product was converted into something very unhealthy! Trans fats, as these converted fats are called, are thought to be very dangerous to the body, causing plaque buildups in arteries and therefore heart attacks. In fact, an article in “The Economist” magazine said that one large way for the government to reduce the cost of healthcare in this country would be to ban trans fats. The FDA is suggesting limiting the amount of trans fats a person intakes, to 2 grams per WEEK!! How do you know if you are eating trans fats? Sadly, these food companies also try to get away with disclosing that there are trans fats in their foods, so if you look on a nutrition label, it might say “Total Fats….X grams, Trans Fats … 0 grams” but the product could still have trans fats in it! The best way to know is to read the ingredients. If in the list of ingredients you see the words “partially hydrogenated….. oil” then that food has trans fats in it. Please make a point, the best way a consumer can, and refuse to buy that food! Your health is worth it!

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