Seriously….This is an hour of my time I am NEVER going to get back. Don’t get me wrong! I did learn some things and got some “why’s” answered. It just seemed like an excruciatingly long period of time to get the answer to WHY is Hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated oils bad. It could be that the first 30 minutes was the chemistry part about Saturated, Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated, carbon bonds and carbon atoms and double bonds and two or more double bonds. Blah Blah Blah…Bond Bond Bond. When all I could think about was James Bond and when was lunch. I am going to save you the pain and the time.
Drum roll please………… the answer is ……. You’re gonna have to read the article. If I told you WHY that would be like telling you WHO DID IT at the beginning of a murder mystery. 🙂
If you are eating HYDROGENATED OR PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED FATS OR OIL you are asking for trouble! If the label contains the words hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, do not let your family eat it. If the label contains the words hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, do not let your friends eat it. If the label contains the words hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, get it out of your family’s kitchen. Read labels and avoid these substances like they are poisons … which they are. Nothing like the shock factor to keep your attention.
Hydrogenation is the chemical process by which liquid vegetable oil is turned into solid fat. Partially hydrogenated oils contain trans fatty acids, or trans fats. The Dr/teacher/lecture guy turns to the class and says while nodding “and we ALL know how bad trans fats are” turns back to the screen and proceeds with the lecture. I look around and see other people nodding and talking amongst themselves. Nowhere did it say I needed to take the “Trans Fats” class before I could take this one. Ya I “heard” we shouldn’t eat that…but WHY?
This is WHY – Trans fats raise levels of bad cholesterol and lower levels of good cholesterol!
I LOVE Wikipedia’s definition of Trans Fats – “A side effect of incomplete hydrogenation having implications for human health.” A side effect??? Implications???
Before 2006, companies did not have to list the trans fat content on labels. The rule WAS, if the product contains the words “shortening”, “partially hydrogenated oil” or “hydrogenated oil” IT CONTAINED TRANS FAT. That use to be the only way to know if a product had trans fats in it. Yet a number of products state “0g Trans Fat” or declare themselves to be trans-fat free but still have these oils listed in their ingredients. How can this be?
With consumers getting smarter and reading labels, companies have to come up with ways to get us to eat their products yet still abide by the FDA rules. The rule is: trans fat content only needs to be listed if the food contains 0.5 grams or more of it per serving. What that means is, if a food contains 0.49 grams of trans fat in 1 serving, that food will have “Trans Fat: 0 grams” listed in its nutrition facts. Sneaky buggers!
And while you are processing all of this, bare in mind that the American Heart Association recommends that we consume a maximum of 2 grams of trans fat per day. However, they go on to say that there is enough naturally occurring trans fat in some meat and dairy products that most people already reach this maximum 2 grams without the additional consumption of the man-made trans fats.
Long story short, people who care about their health should ideally be aiming to consume as close to 0 grams of trans fat per day as they possibly can.
SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST: Yes its true ….that half solidified partially hydrogenated room temperature margarine remains that way while it travels through you body.
I think I just lost half of my readers with that comment. Here is Dr. Siegel with his thoughts on it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEJhBoUezZA
~Karen MacKinnon
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