|
 | |||
| Lopez Island | Orcas Island | Visitor's Guide | ||
| Email this page to a friend | ||
| ||||||||||||||||
COLUMN BY SUSAN HILL |
PREVIOUS COLUMNS'Drugs—Swallowing a Double-Edged SwordBeyond Margarine-Bewildered About Trans and Other Fats? Unfluenza-Everything You Need to Know about Not Getting Influenza Squeamish about a Colonoscopy? Got GERD? It's More Than Burps and Belches Make Vitamin D When the Sun Shines Vaccinate Our Daughters Against Cancer Artificial Sweeteners—Are They a Sweet Deal—or Not Extremes at Both Ends - Anorexia and Bulimia to Obesity Making sense of Cholesterol's ABCs |
SIMPLY HEALTH: Beyond Margarine-Bewildered About Trans and Other Fats?
posted 10/06/2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
As of January 2006, food manufacturers in the U.S. are required to disclose the trans fat content in a product. Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended the consumption of trans fats not exceed 2 grams per day for adults. In December 2006, New York City made headlines by banning use of trans fats; Calgary, Canada did so in January 2008. Denmark banned trans fats from their national food supply as early as 2003. It is estimated that the average American ingests more than 6 grams of trans fat daily, while Canadian sources estimate those between 15 and 25 years of age may consume over 30 grams per day. Trans fats decrease the "good" cholesterol HDL, and increase the "bad" cholesterol LDL, which clogs our blood vessels. But don't rely on food labels to give you the straight scoop on trans fat content. The FDA allowed a single serving to contain up to 0.5 grams of trans fat without having to disclose it. (Canada set their label limit lower at 0.2 grams allowable per serving.) Labels can be also be misleading about serving sizes. If a single serving consists of 6 snack crackers and most people consume half a box, then a person can ingest much more than 0.5 grams of trans fats and think they are not eating any at all. The ingredients list is your most reliable guide. |
Trans Fats in Foods Per Serving 2 Cream Sandwich Cookies-2 grams 1 bag Microwave Popcorn-7 grams Large French Fries-5 to 9 grams Large Chicken Nuggets-5 to 9 grams Danish-3 grams or more Donut-5 grams, more if cream filled Stick Margarine-3 grams per Tbsp. Shortening-4 grams per Tbsp. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
So what is a trans fat? Liquid vegetable oils like soybean and cottonseed oil are processed with hydrogen atoms to make them stiffer and more solid (like shortening).These hydrogenated or trans fats are found listed on product ingredients as "hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated soybean, cottonseed or other oil". The bulk of these trans fats are found in stick or solid margarines; muffins, donuts and other bakery items; cake mixes, cookies and crackers; frozen foods like pies, waffles and pizzas; microwave popcorn, ramen and fried foods. Hydrogenating oil into a solid fat lengthens the shelf life of a product and makes food both crunchier and creamier, depending on the application. Restaurants, especially the ever-popular American fast food ones, use hydrogenated fats because they withstand the high temperatures of fryers. Let's look at french fries and chicken nuggets-top selling fast foods among adults and especially children. These products are fried once at the factory, frozen, then fried again before serving. Curiously, the McDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken fries and nuggets eaten here in the U.S. differ from those you might eat in London or France. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine compared trans fats in these fast foods. A large fries and nuggets varied from 1 gram of trans fats in Denmark to 10 grams in New York City. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The oils used to cook these items at McDonald's in the U.S contained 23% trans fats while the oils used for frying in Europe ranged from 1% to 10% trans fats. These regional variations continue to persist. Fats and cholesterol are a healthful part of our diet and are necessary for all body cells to develop and function. A healthy diet should derive not more than 30% of its total calories from fats and only 10% should come from saturated fats like those in meats, butter, and cheese. (In a 2000 calorie diet, this is 60 gms of fat or less per day) What about the other 20% of calories from non-saturated fats? This is where the good fats of liquid plant oils come in. Monounsaturated fats like olive and canola oil as well as polyunsaturated fats found in other vegetable oils, fish and nuts help lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of gallstones, and lower the risk of diabetes. Poly unsaturated oils found in soybeans, corn, and sunflower oils, fish and nuts actually decrease LDL, the "bad" cholesterol. In a study of diabetic patients, those who consumed 30 grams of walnuts daily (about 1/3 cup) as part of a low fat diet, lowered their LDL and raised "good" HDL by 10%. |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
HDL, the "good" cholesterol plays a role in decreasing inflammation on the inside of blood vessels. It helps keeps them smooth and elastic so they don't attract cholesterol deposits. HDL also reduces blood pressure by keeping blood vessels elastic and slows the development of hardening of the arteries. A meal rich in polyunsaturated fats also causes small blood vessels to dilate and improves blood flow to the extremities. By limiting your intake of fast foods, processed and commercially prepared foods, you can lower your trans fats intake and markedly decrease your risk for heart attack. Look at those food labels, and not just the nutrition facts. If it says "hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils" leave it on the shelf. For additional information on trans fats, saturated fats, cholesterol and label reading, see www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/transfat.html. Also see SIMPLY HEALTH: Making Sense of Cholesterol's ABCs. Susan C. Hill © 2008 To comment on the column, email susan@sanjuanislander.com |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
SAN JUAN ISLANDER © 2010 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
