Health & Wellness Issues

Trans fat is a killer. It's dangerous and in food you eat every day.

Phantom fat is hiding in your cereal bowl. It's the bad boy in your bag of microwave popcorn. It lurks in those low-fat cookies and even in that energy bar.

The stuff is called trans fat, created when ordinary vegetable oil is processed into partially hydrogenated oil. It's why Crisco stays solid at room temperature and what makes cakes moist, cookies fresh and crackers crisp. Partially hydrogenated oil is in about 40 percent of the food at the grocery store, including some products most consumers regard as healthy.

A generation ago, when cardiologists waved Americans off saturated fats like butter and beef tallow, partially hydrogenated oils became a preferred alternative. Now, in an about-face, researchers have determined that trans fat can grease the way to a heart attack faster than a cup of lard.

Some of the nation's leading medical researchers, including many in the Bay Area, also believe that the trans fat that marbles the modern American diet may be why kids are so fat, diabetes is at record levels and why some people develop cancer. They say trans fat is a big player in Syndrome X, a cluster of health problems characterized by a beer belly, high blood pressure and out-of-whack blood fats and sugars.

"There should be a warning on food made with this stuff like there is on nicotine products. It's that bad for you," says Dr. Jeffrey Aron, a University of California at San Francisco professor of medicine and one of the nation's leading experts on fatty acids and their effects on the body.

But there is no warning label. Trans fat amounts aren't regulated at all, so manufacturers and fast food operators don't have to list it on nutrition labels. That means there's no easy way to know how much you're eating.

And chances are, it's a lot more than you think.

Virtually every fast-food or family restaurant french fry is cooked in trans fat-filled grease. Almost half of all cereals, both cold and hot, contain it, according to the Food and Drug Administration. So do 70 percent of cake mixes, 75 percent of chips and other salty snacks, 80 percent of frozen breakfast foods like waffles, and 95 percent of cookies.

Slow Killers to watch for: Trans Fatty Acids - Hydrogenated fats

Reversing Diabetes by Julian Whitaker MD I'm more concerned about trans fatty acids, for they are like nothing Mother Nature has ever seen before. These chemically altered fats are cropping up everywhere: in margarine, hydrogenated oils, peanut butter, baked goods, and fried foods. Recent research suggests that trans fatty acids are even more harmful than saturated fats. They increase the risk of heart disease to a greater degree than saturated fats, for in addition to raising total cholesterol, they lower protective HDL cholesterol. They also have been implicated in cancer of the breast and prostate, diabetes, immune dysfunction, and infertility.

Drs. Walter Willett and Alberto Ascherio of the Harvard School of Public Health have estimated that 30,000 premature deaths every year are attributable to our consumption of trans fats. The good news about these harmful fats is that they are very easy to avoid. Select whole and natural foods over prepared, fried, and processed and you will escape these highly damaging fats.

Nuts and seeds have a bad reputation because they are so high in fat. However, if those nuts and seeds are in their natural state, their oils are among the most healthful. Too bad we have a preference for roasted nuts, for once they are heated their delicate oils are damaged. The same goes for nut butters.

Although most brands of peanut butter you'll find in the grocery store are made with roasted nuts and then hydrogenated, resulting in harmful trans fatty acids, there's nothing wrong with eating modest amounts of raw nut butter. You'll find these in your health food store.

Prescription For Dietary Wellness by Phyllis A Balch
Since 1930, the increased use of pasteurized dairy products and hydrogenated oils has increased in direct proportion to the number of deaths from heart attack. The March 1998 issue of Harvard University's Women's Health Watch reported that in one major study, a 2 percent increase in calories from trans-fats was associated with a 93 percent increase in the risk of coronary artery disease, the precursor to heart attack.

A Physicians Guide To Natural Health Products That Work By James Howenstine MD
Hydrogenated fats could be considered slow poison. You do not drop dead like you would with cyanide but your arteries and ability to fight cancer gets impaired. Hydrogenated fats are an artificial product that are hard for the body to eliminate. These artificial, abnormal fats raise the level of LDL (bad) cholesterol and decrease the level of HDL (good) cholesterol.

Start reading labels again and if you see hydrogenated fats on the lable put it back on the shelf. Bendicks White Chocolate mints may have the Royal Charter but they contain these poisons. I shall watch for others and post them on this site.

CLICK HERE to download the eBook: Poison in the Food: Hydrogenated Oils

KFC Switching to Trans-Fat-Free Cooking Oil

KFC, a unit of Yum Brands Inc., announced today that it plans to switch all its U.S. fried chicken restaurants to trans-fat-free cooking oils by April 2007.

KFC, which recently came under fire for the high trans fat content of its fried chicken products, joins hamburger giant Wendy's in removing trans fats from its products. Fast-food restaurants have been targeted as significant contributors to the global obesity epidemic, especially because many fried products use high-trans-fat oils that can clog the arteries and cause heart disease.

Trans fatty acids increase "bad" LDL cholesterol levels, which can cause a wide range of health disorders, including heart attacks and cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced last year that beginning Jan. 1, 2006, all food manufacturers would be required to list the trans fat content of their products on nutrition labels.

McDonald's Corp. announced in 2002 that it planned to reduce the trans fat content of some of its products, falling short of a pledge to eliminate the unhealthy oils. Though the fast-food chain has introduced healthier options -- including salads and fruit side dishes -- it has not eliminated hydrogenated oils from its menu, claiming it has yet to find an alternative that works as well as the trans fat oils.

Link: hydrogenated oils news and information on NewsTarget.