Trans Fats: Why Even a Small Amount is a No-No

Whether you're a health buff or not, you've probably heard of the term trans fats or trans fatty acids. These fats are present in most fast foods like French fries, fried chicken, biscuits and other fried desserts. You may wonder what the fuss is all about. People have been frying their food for centuries so what made frying with trans fat laden oil any different? Research reveal that trans fat is not only devoid of nutritional value, it also increases the risk of heart disease, breast cancer, infertility, and even colon cancer. The results are so compelling that the FDA recommends that the daily trans fat intake should be a maximum of 2 grams.

In the past, people used palm oil, lard, and butter when cooking but studies showed that these are high in saturated fat, which increases the level of LDL (bad) cholesterol that may increase the risk of heart disease. For this reason, studies were done to develop vegetable oils that can replace these "unhealthy" oils. It seemed like a good solution but the vegetable oils were highly unstable when heated and easily went rancid. Scientists started "hydrogenating" the oil, which allowed it to withstand the temperatures during the process of cooking, and enabled it to have a longer shelf life but consequently, the resulting oil included trans fats.

Hydrogenated vegetable oil (loaded with trans fats) causes diseases and saturated oil increases the level of bad cholesterol which may also cause health problems. This appears to be a lose-lose situation (and in the long run, it is) but there's another reason why trans fats should be avoided. Like saturated oil, trans fats also increases the level of bad cholesterol but at the same time, it also lowers the HDL (good) cholesterol level in the body.

Trans fats are present in almost any processed food which most families consume in lieu of something healthy since they are easier to prepare. Children are even more at risk because they are exposed to fast foods, margarine, cake, cookies, chicken nuggets, pop tarts, and microwave popcorn at an early age. Parents may be on the lookout but the absence of the words trans fat in the food labels of these items does not guarantee that it's not there.

Shortening, partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils, and hydrogenated vegetable oils most likely contain trans fats.  If the amount of trans fats is not indicated, it may still be computed by subtracting the percentage of saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats from the total fats content. However, consumers should still beware of food labels that indicate "zero trans fats" as this only means that the trans fats content is 0.49 grams and below. Since that's the case, you and your family may have been consuming more than the maximum daily requirement.

In a highly competitive and fast-paced world, parents can't be blamed if they can't spend as much time and effort in cooking family meals like their own parents used to. Nevertheless, this shouldn't be an excuse not to be more concerned about the adverse effects of fast foods and processed food items on their family's health.

For starters, just cut back on fatty, fried, and processed foods so you can cut back on the harmful effects of trans fats and be on your way to better health.