We’ve heard about the dangers of trans-fats. Now, New York City has banned them from its restaurants. Let’s look at what trans-fats are, why they are so bad for us and how they stack up against other fats.
Fats are essential to life and good health. Our most concentrated energy source, fats fuel exercise, make hormones, regulate temperature, protect internal organs and promote healthy skin and shiny hair.
What makes a fat
To understand which fats are which, it helps to understand some simple (very simple) chemistry.
A fat is a string of carbon molecules, each with some hydrogen attached. In a saturated fat, each carbon is “saturated” with hydrogen; it can’t hold any more than the four that it has.
An unsaturated fat is missing some hydrogen. Monounsaturated fat is missing one hydrogen, and polyunsaturated fat is missing more than one.
What it means to your health
The problem with missing hydrogen is that oxygen will naturally fill this vacancy. And oxygen makes a fat spoil. The more missing hydrogen, the faster it goes bad.
That’s why butter (pure saturated fat) can sit on the table for hours without spoiling; it has no empty hydrogen slots for the oxygen to fill. Unfortunately, saturated fats (whole milk, red meat, cheese) raise your bad cholesterol, contributing to heart disease.
Monounsaturated fats (olive, peanut and canola oil; avocados) raise your healthy cholesterol, but can go bad quickly. Polyunsaturated fats (corn and sunflower oil) lower cholesterol and provide essential fatty acids, but go bad the fastest.
What about Trans-Fats
You know a food has unhealthy trans-fats if it contains hydrogenated oil. That means that they take an unsaturated fat and ‘hydrogenate’ it by adding hydrogen so it acts like a saturated fat.
This extends shelf life and is cheaper than using animal fat, so it’s great for the food industry. But for consumers, trans-fats raise bad cholesterol, lower good cholesterol and significantly increase the risk for coronary artery disease.
How to avoid Trans-Fat
Since January 2006, the Food and Drug Administration has required food products to separately list the amount of trans-fats. So check the ingredients list; the words “partially Hydrogenated vegetable oils” indicates the product has trans-fatty acid.
As always, the best way to avoid trans-fats is to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, limit red meats and consume small amounts of low-fat or non-fat dairy.
© GlobalFit 2007
Nutrition 101 articles offer introductions to basic concepts and are not comprehensive or necessarily applicable to a particular individual’s circumstances. You should consult your physician before beginning any exercise or nutrition program. |
 |
|
Jyni Holland, MS, RD is an acclaimed nutritionist, a Registered Dietician and the co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Weight Loss Tracker (Alpha, 2005). She served as the Nutrition Spokesperson for NYU Medical Center, where she provided the nation’s most prestigious media with straight facts on eating well and dieting myths. Additionally, she lectured doctors on cutting-edge nutritional therapies and advised on dietary support for organ transplant recipients, liver disease patients and breast cancer survivors.
Jyni earned her Master’s degree in Nutrition from New York University. She is now in private practice, counseling outpatients ranging from diabetics and the clinically obese to pregnant women. |
