Are you confused about exactly what they are?
I could totally understand if you said YES; all the technical information and research reports can be confusing. Add to this paid advertising put together to look like true research by big corporations, hoping to entice you to believe their products are the healthy option.
Simply put, trans fat is made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil through a process called hydrogenation, which makes the oil less likely to spoil. Food prepared with trans fats stay fresh longer and also have a less greasy feel. Good for food manufacturers but bad for you. When hydrogen is added to oil it makes the oil more difficult to digest, and your bodies detoxification process is not able to efficiently break it down and flush it.
Make no mistake about it though, using these trans fats in food manufacturing is very profitable, but they have been linked to:
• Cancer: They interfere with enzymes used to fight cancer.
• Diabetes: They interfere with the insulin receptors in cell membranes.
• They reduce immune response.
• Problems with reproduction by interfering with enzymes needed to produce sex hormones.
• Obesity
• Heart disease, real double trouble for maintaining a healthy heart.
• Trans fat raises your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol and lowers your “good” (HDL) cholesterol
• Linked to an increase in asthma.
Trans fats are found in fried foods as well as cookies, pastries and crackers. Here are some average trans fats statistics:
• French fries typically contain about 40% trans fats
• Popular cookies and crackers range from 30-50% trans fats
• Doughnuts have about 35-40% trans fatty acids.
Per FDA regulations (USA) , a “healthy” product may contain up to 0.5 grams trans fat (called hydrogenated oil) per serving.
How do you know whether food contains trans fat? Look for the words “partially hydrogenated” or “hydrogenated” vegetable oil. That’s another term for trans fat.
As we get smarter, manufacturers get sneakier and have been replacing trans fats with “intersterified fat,” another unnatural fat, which makes foods less likely to go rancid and is stable enough to fry foods in.. However, intersterified fat contains chemical residues, hexanes, and other hazardous waste products full of free radicals that cause cell damage. Studies show that interesterified fat raises blood glucose and depresses insulin production, common to diabetes, and can present an immediate danger if you already have the disease.
To avoid dangerous fats of all kinds, eliminate processed foods from your diet.
These simple tips ensure that you’re eating the right fats:
1. Use organic butter (preferably made from raw milk) instead of margarines and vegetable oil spreads. Butter is a healthy whole food that has received an unwarranted bad rap.
2. Use coconut oil for cooking. This wonderful oil will not damage even at high temperatures therefore reducing free radical damage. Coconut oil is definitely far superior to any other cooking oil and is loaded with health benefits as well. Extra virgin oil is excellent when used at low temperatures but does not provide the endurance and protection to your health at high temperatures.
3. To round out your healthy fat intake, be sure to eat raw fats, such as those from avocados, pure butter, fermented dairy products, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, chia seeds, oily fish, soaked nuts and seeds, and also consider taking a high-quality PURE source of animal-based omega-3 fat, such as FISH OIL. Fish oil, as well as being the powerful anti-inflammatory it is well known for, has the omega-3 fat essential to our health, however finding a fish oil that is free of contamination (in the oil and in the capsule) is not easy. Also for many people being able to decipher how much active EPA/DHA is actually in the oil is tricky. Most capsules are marketed as 1,000mg of fish oil, but in most much of the oil is trygliserides.
So in an endeavour to help you eliminate the research necessary and steer you to high dose pure oils, I recommend the following brands. Nordic and Metagenics.
(c) Maxine Wright: Advanced Dip Naturopathy – Medical Herbalist – Nutritionalist – Iridologist – Hemaview Tech - Health Coach – Weight Loss counsellor – Massage Therapist – Beauty Therapist – Speaker. Step Into Health Wellness Centre - facebook - twitter.
