Trans Fats- True Villains to Your Health

It is absolutely essential to eliminate all sources of trans fats from our diet. They are not fit for human consumption. One of the basic reasons to get them out of the diet is cell membrane health. This alone should be motivation for everybody to get them out of their diet. There are numerous other reasons these horrible fats should be removed from our diets. Trans fats increase the level of low density lipoproteins in our blood aka LDL’s or bad cholesterol and they decrease the level of the good cholesterol known as high density lipoproteins or HDL’s. Trans fats have also been directly linked to type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, diminished immune system, interference in reproduction and heart disease.

Trans Fats were popular in the 1960’s when I was growing up. They were promoted as the “better choice”. Heart disease was rising and saturated fats were the unveiled culprits. It wasn’t till years later that the data actually revealed skyrocketing numbers in heart disease stats due to the growing number of trans fats in our foods.

Trans Fats were created when ordinary vegetable oils were processed. Hydrogen was added while heating to high temperatures and centrifuging them in a process called hydrogenation. This changed the oil to a semi-solid fat or solid fat at room temperature. Trans Fats are loved by food manufacturers because they extend the shelf life of food and often give the food a more desirable texture. They make the crackers crisper, the muffins moister and the people sicker !!!

In July 2002 The National Academy of Science branch called the Institute of Medicine reported that there are NO SAFE LEVELS OF TRANS FATS!1 Despite this and many other recommendations to have them eliminated from our food supply they still can be found in abundance in our grocery stores.

They are found in just about all cakes, cookies, muffins, rolls, crackers, cereals, chips and fast fried foods. In addition, they are found in unlikely places like baby foods, frozen breakfast foods, granola bars, protein bars, low-fat cookies, and many salad dressings.

It is necessary to develop a food label consciousness because trans fats are hidden in foods that are clearly labeled trans fat free. The only way to clearly identify a trans fat is to check the INGREDIENTS LABEL. If the ingredients label includes any of the following, the food contains trans fats: hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, fractionated, or shortening. The food manufacturers have passed a law which allows 500 mg of trans fat in a 1/2 cup serving of foods that are labeled trans fat free. So if your ingredients contain any of the four ingredients above you know the food is loaded with trans fats. "OUCH" says our cell membranes.

Trans Fats are considered by many experts to be the single greatest source of disease of any foods available to man. Dr Walter Willet of Harvard School of Public Health believes that cardiovascular diseases, like heart attacks and strokes, can be reduced by greater than 50% just by getting trans fats out of our diets.2

Remember, trans fats are plastics, which cannot be digested. They are especially harmful to our cell membranes. They are known to decrease cell membrane fluidity. The fatty acid content of the cell membrane determines its fluidity. We must have good fluid motion to our cell membranes for normal cellular function to occur. The cell membrane contains a multitude of receptor sites for substances to dock and lock for optimal health. For instance, if the cell membrane is stiff due to its composition of plastic like trans fasts, insulin has a difficult time docking on the cell membrane and taking glucose into the cell for energy production. This in turn causes the glucose to be stored as fat. When trans fats replace the good oils in the mitochondrial (energy center) cell membranes it makes it IMPOSSIBLE TO LOSE WEIGHT OR TO HAVE UNLIMITED ENERGY.

The good news is that even if our cell membranes are full of trans fats we can change them. In her book, Trans Fats- The Hidden Killer In Our Food, Judith Shaw, MA encourages us with, "Trans Fatty Acids will be eliminated from your cells when you no longer eat foods that contain them, given the chance, healthy fatty acids will eventually replace them and normal cellular function will be restored…. the process begins the moment you stop consuming trans fatty acids.”3

So start getting out the trans fats today!! Go through your pantry and trash foods that have trans fats. Be sure to check ingredient labels. Do not eat fried fast foods which includes french fries. This is especially important for our children. Make sure you are educating them and showing them how to check labels for these bad guys.

Finally, if you have a food that has trans fats in it you can go to Whole Foods Grocery and try to find a replacement. There are no trans fats at Whole Foods.
So the replacement of bad fats starts with the process of getting them out- tomorrow we will talk about what you need to be "putting in" to replace the ones you are eliminating!!!


References:
1. “National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine,.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 10 July 2002. 26 Nov. 2007
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/labtrans.html
2.Rogers, M.d., Sherry A. Detoxify or die. 1st ed. Sarasota: Sand Key Company, Inc., 2002. Page 63
3. Shaw, M.A., Judith. Trans Fats, the Hidden Killer in Our Food. 1st ed. New York: Pocket Books, 2004. 10.