Avoid trans fats!

With Christmas just a few days away (!) and plenty of holiday meals yet to be eaten, I wanted to raise awareness for the best ways to avoid trans fats in hopes that everyone stays healthy this year!

Trans fats in processed foods are pesky fats created by food companies to enhance the shelf life of foods and also provide better taste and mouth feel. These fats are made by blasting hydrogen atoms into liquid vegetable oils in order to make them more solid, a process known as hydrogenation. The resulting fats are added to processed foods and help prevent them from going rancid.

So why does this even matter? Well trans fats in the body act like saturated fats do: they clog arteries, thereby increasing your risk of hypertension, heart attack, or stroke. They do this by increasing the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which travels towards the heart and creates build up in the blood vessels that block the flow of blood. Trans fats also lower the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, which travels away from the heart to be broken down and excreted by the body. These results combined are both negative for your health, and therefore it is essential to consume as little trans fats as possible.

How do you avoid foods that have trans fat? The first step is knowing which foods might contain trans fats. The following is a list of foods that may have trans fats: baked foods (cereals, granola bars, cakes, biscuits, pizza, pies, muffins, cookies, crackers), fried foods (doughnuts, fried chicken, french fries), and fat-like substances (shortening, stick margarine, ice cream, salad dressing).

In general, any type of baked or fried snack food could be a culprit for trans fat, and basically anything related to desserts (particularly, frosting) may also have trans fats. Restaurants may use oils with trans fats for frying, so avoid fried foods when you go out to eat (or at least ask if the oil has trans fats!). I have found trans fats in peanut butter, coffee creamer, microwave popcorn, cinnamon rolls, stuffing and tortillas, so please be careful!

The second step is being able to read a food label, which will tell you if there are hidden trans fats in the ingredients list. There are two areas of a food label that are important to look at in every processed food item that you wish to purchase. The first area is the Fat section of the Nutrition Facts. Foods containing trans fats will be listed under the Total Fat, as seen by the arrow in the picture below:

The second area is the ingredients list. If you see the phrase "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" or any derivative of "hydrogenated oil" you should avoid consuming that product. The pictures below demonstrate how trans fat can be buried in the ingredients list on a food label:

In those last two photos, you may notice that the food product contains hydrogenated oils yet lists 0 grams of trans fat in the Nutrition Facts, which is misleading and shows the importance of checking ingredients list for all processed food items! The first photo did not even include trans fat in the Nutrition Facts, despite the fact that hydrogenated oils are included in the ingredients list!

In addition, feel free to disregard the message on the front of food packaging that states "0 Grams of Trans Fat." The FDA has allowed food companies to list this on the food packaging as long as a recommended serving contains 0.5 grams of trans fat or less.  For example, see the pictures below:

The FDA finally determined that trans fats are no longer generally recognized as safe and hopefully that will keep food companies from tricking you on their packaging. Nevertheless, being able to read a food label and check the ingredients list is a useful skill that will help you eat more healthy and avoid harmful foods.

Happy holidays to you and your friends and families, and make sure you avoid those trans fats this holiday season!