If you are like most people, you are probably confused about trans fats. What are they? Which foods have them? What is
health risk?The truth is, trans fats are everywhere. They are lurking on
shelves in almost every aisle of our grocery stores. Just when you think that bag of microwave popcorn was a healthy choice for a snack... it might not be. Not because of
popcorn itself but because of what has been added to it.
So what are they? Trans fats are
result of a process called hydrogenation where they take relatively healthy oil and turn it into a solid form to help prolong
shelf life and freshness of
product. When these fats become solid, our bodies treat them more like saturated fats. Evidence shows that consumption of both saturated fat and trans fat can increase our LDL (“bad”) cholesterol that increases
risk of coronary artery disease. There is also some evidence to support that trans fats may actually decrease our HDL (“good”) cholesterol. Nearly 13 million Americans suffer from coronary artery disease and more than 500,000 die each year from causes related to coronary artery disease. Heart Disease is
number one cause of death for both men and women in
United States.
Unfortunately, trans fats have been a “hidden” fat for years. They are very popular in fast food chains because they are inexpensive to produce, easy to use, and they don’t spatter. The reality is… it is in everything from crackers to breads to cereals and therefore, people who thought they were making good food choices may have been adding more fat to their diet than they anticipated.
Here are some samples of
surprise attack of trans fats:
1.Spreads. Margarine and shortening are loaded with trans fats. Stick margarine has 2.8 grams of trans fat per tablespoon Shortening has 4.2 grams of trans fat per tablespoon Tip: look for soft tub margarines that say “no trans fats” on
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