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:

Your body is being constantly attacked by very harmful substances known as free radicals or oxygen radicals. Free radicals can destroy your cells, tissues and organs.

Free radicals are highly unstable molecules that are naturally formed inside our bodies by process of oxidation. They are normal by products of everyday functions like digestion and physical activity. Free radicals also come from outside sources, such as smoking, environmental pollution, and synthetic chemicals that are added to our water and food.

We are also all exposed daily to polluted air, ingest oxidized or partially rancid foods, and oxidizing radiations from sun and various electrical appliances.

Free radicals lack one electron making them chemically unstable. To stabilize themselves, they attack any other substance within reach and steel an electron from it. This process creates a new free radical, which repeats process, producing a "domino effect." When this reaction is uncontrolled, it can generate millions of free radicals within seconds.