Trans Fat or Trans Fatty Acid
(or, pack up your Crisco and take it with you — it never spoils)
Trans fat is a man-made fat that is created through a process called hydrogenation. To increase the shelf-life of liquid vegetable oil, manufacturers will add hydrogen, which makes it solid and increases its shelf-life. At www.finddiethelp.com, we have created grocery lists and meal plans to help you avoid foods that contain trans fat.
Trans fats (sometimes called trans fatty acids) raise your LDL (lousy cholesterol) and also can lower your HDL (healthy cholesterol). Typically, this is important because, when we see a high LDL and low HDL, the risk of heart disease and stroke are increased.
Because trans fats are typically cheap, they are often found in commercially baked goods, such as cookies, crackers, cakes, and pies. Shortenings and margarines are mostly trans fats; they are listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated oil. As of January 2006, manufacturers have been required to list trans fat on their nutrition labels. However, if a product contains less than 0.5 gram, they can say it is “0 grams” on the label, even though it does contain the ingredient. On principle alone, I try to avoid these brands for feeling like I am being deceived.
How do you get trans fat out of your diet? Read the food labels and look for the words “partially hydrogenated” vegetable oil. Fully hydrogenated oil is not trans fat, despite what you would think by its name. But, if a product just says “hydrogenated” oil, you can probably assume it is trans fat.
Often times, I provide product names to help people with their grocery shopping and their label reading. For example, when shopping for a butter or margarine, people aren’t sure what a good product is. At this point, I can only find four products that I recommend: Smart Balance, Earth Balance, Canola Harvest and Promise. Most other products contain some quantity of trans fat. Check the label to see.
Grocery store shopping is a marketing jungle and it’s hard to know what products are truly healthy. I recommend locating a dietitian at www.finddiethelp.com, to help you with your nutrition goals and make healthy choices at the grocery store.
Angela Moore is the owner of FitLife of Colorado (www.fitlifeofcolorado.com), a wellness-oriented company that provides a variety of counseling services to individuals and groups. She enjoys helping clients meet their health and wellness needs and providing direction for their specific goals. She can be reached at 720-201-1128 or 970-726-2877.