Are These High Cholesterol Foods Part of Your Diet? Trans Fats
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Margarine
Trans fats are the worst of all fats. Hydrogenated oils or trans fats, as they are usually called, are high cholesterol foods, produced artificially by inserting molecules of hydrogen in vegetable oils, a process called hydrogenation.
Through this process, the oil, which is liquid at room temperature, changes its original form and becomes a solid saturated fat. In addition, the new fat ends up with an unnatural chemical structure.
Why do you need to stay away from trans fats?
Trans fats can hurt because:
- Through the manufacturing process, the liquid oil becomes solid or saturated; saturated fat can get stuck in your arteries. In addition, eating too much saturated fat may cause your liver to produce more cholesterol than your body needs.
- Because of the hydrogenation process, the original oil ends up with a different chemical structure. The unnatural shapes of trans fats cause our cells to become malformed and to malfunction. And that includes the cells of the heart and arteries.
- They raise LDL cholesterol, the “bad” guy. This is the type of cholesterol responsible for clogging the arteries.
- They lower HDL cholesterol, the “good” guy. This is the one you need in abundance to clean your arteries.
- They damage the lining of the arteries, setting the stage for the formation of plaque. Plaque also clogs your arteries.
- Cells cannot distinguish between real fat and manufactured trans fats. When you eat manufactured trans fats, its fat molecules are absorbed into your cells, filling the space that healthy fats ordinarily occupy. Once the artificial fat is in place, the integrity of the cell is compromised and the cell’s metabolism is altered. This cellular confusion disrupts vital biological exchanges between cells.
Minimize the potential harm trans fats can cause you
Foods that contain trans fats are hard to avoid because they are all over the place, but those that contain unhealthy portions of these compounds deserve to be reduced from your table, or eliminated altogether. The FDA estimates that the typical American adult consumes nearly 6 grams of trans fats every day. Some of this occurs naturally in animal products such as milk, cheese, butter, and red meats, the same foods that are rich in saturated fats. The vast majority, however, occur in products containing naturally occurring fats that have been processed in some way, usually involving partial hydrogenation. These include:
- Baked goods. Baked goods. When buying commercial baked goods such as cookies, cakes, doughnuts, always read the label. If the label indicates the product has any amount of trans fats, don’t buy it. The report issued by the Institute of Medicine in 2002 doesn’t set maximum levels for trans fats but food authorities believe any amount above zero is a risk.
- Stick margarine. This spread contains nearly 3 grams of trans fats per tablespoon (and 2 grams of saturated fat). By contrast, butter contains about 0.3 grams of trans fat, but more than 7 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon. As you can see, going back to butter is not the solution. If you want to buy margarine, read the labels to find brands that have little or no trans fats.
- Chips and crackers. A small bag of chips contains about 3 grams of trans fat. If it is fried or buttery in texture, you can assume trans fats are present.
- Frozen treats. Pizzas, pies, pot pies, waffles, and breaded fish and chicken also contain trans fats.
- Fast foods. The primary offenders are fried chicken and French fries. Their last moments prior to entering your digestive tract these two items have been fried in hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil. While in recent years many fast food restaurants have cut back on their use of trans fats, a medium serving of fries can still contain 4 to 5 grams of trans fats.
- Always check the ingredients on the nutrition label and look for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil. Food manufacturers do not have to list the amount of trans fats if the total fat in the food is less than 0.5 grams per serving. As a safety measure, don’t buy products that list this type of oil as part of the ingredients.
Final Thoughts
Health authorities are concerned that the consumption of trans fats might have contributed to the 20th century epidemic of coronary heart disease because they are compounds that have unnatural shapes. But if you follow these few guidelines, you will have taken a big step towards the protection of your heart and arteries because you will eliminate a good portion of high cholesterol foods, among them, trans fats.
To Your Health!
Emilia Klapp,RD, BS
www.TheDiabetesClub.com
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