I've been eating very well lately, so today I splurged a little with my lunch and had a large peanut butter cookie. After I ate it I noticed that it had three ingredients containing "partially hydrogenated oils" which consist mostly of trans fats. That made me regret my splurge.
Once upon a time the food industry figured out that "partially hydrogenated" oils have a longer shelf-life than butter and are even cheaper to make .
Among the rich food-makers there was much rejoicing. Huzzah! But, sadly, among the faceless masses there was poison being fed to us all on a grand scale.
All trans fats are made using very similar means, but here's a little play-by-play on how margerine is made from the book NOURISHING TRADITIONS by Sally Fallon:
First they take vegetable oil, soy, corn or cottonseed, of a cheap quality. The oil may be already rancid from the extraction process. Then they mix it with tiny metal particles, usually nickel oxide, a toxic substance, and then they subject the mixture to hydrogen in a high pressure high temperature reactor. Next, in order to remove the unappetizing odor of the mixture and give it a better consistancy, soap-like emulsifiers and starch are squeezed in, and the oil is, yet again, subjected to high temperatures like steam cleaning. The resulting mixture is an unattractive grey color. In order to make the hydrogenated solid oil mixture look like butter, the original gray is removed by adding bleach and coal tar dyes. Finally, strong flavors are mixed in to make it taste like butter. And this mixture is compressed into tubs or blocks which the consumer buys as margarine.
Mmmmmm. Slap that on some toast, eh?
Turns out two prominent medical research entities in America (CENTER FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST and the INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE) had discovered in 1994 that the fats formed in the above process are bad for you in any amount. I will repeat and clarify, in case you missed it. The only safe and healthy amount you should eat is zero. Nada. None.
The initial findings were presented a decade ago. Since then studies have shown trans fats to be linked to and/or contrubutors of diabetes 1 and 2, heart disease, stroke, and even a few forms of cancer.
Last year Denmark passed laws greatly decreasing the legal amount of it in their foods. Two weeks ago Canada outright banned it and appointed a taskforce to help fiure out better alternatives for it's industry. In America we just passed a law that requires "trans fat" be added to all Nutrition facts labels, but the catch is there is no Recommended Daily Allowance, and they refuse to set one, because they can't "Recommend" that you eat any. This is the only legal food ingredient in America with such status.
So what is stopping us? Well, here's the short list:
Oreos, Twinkies, Chips Ahoy, Dunkin Donuts, Krispie Kreme, McDonalds, Jack In The Box, Marie Calledars, Lays, cookies, pizzas, KFC, cakes, danishes, peanut butter, pies, french fries, crackers, buns, breads, cereals, granola bars etc. etc. ALMOST EVERY PROCESSED FOOD YOU CAN BUY!
But, kudos go to PepsiCo, who dropped hydrogenated oils in favor of other means making their Doritoes, Tostitos, and Cheetos safe once again.
My advice is to avoid buying foods that list "hydrogenated" anything. You may find it a little harder to shop, but you'll find you're eating better, probably feeling better, and living longer.
Turns out two prominent medical research entities in America (CENTER FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST and the INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE) had discovered in 1994 that the fats formed in the above process are bad for you in any amount. I will repeat and clarify, in case you missed it. The only safe and healthy amount you should eat is zero. Nada. None.
The initial findings were presented a decade ago. Since then studies have shown trans fats to be linked to and/or contrubutors of diabetes 1 and 2, heart disease, stroke, and even a few forms of cancer.
Last year Denmark passed laws greatly decreasing the legal amount of it in their foods. Two weeks ago Canada outright banned it and appointed a taskforce to help fiure out better alternatives for it's industry. In America we just passed a law that requires "trans fat" be added to all Nutrition facts labels, but the catch is there is no Recommended Daily Allowance, and they refuse to set one, because they can't "Recommend" that you eat any. This is the only legal food ingredient in America with such status.
So what is stopping us? Well, here's the short list:
Oreos, Twinkies, Chips Ahoy, Dunkin Donuts, Krispie Kreme, McDonalds, Jack In The Box, Marie Calledars, Lays, cookies, pizzas, KFC, cakes, danishes, peanut butter, pies, french fries, crackers, buns, breads, cereals, granola bars etc. etc. ALMOST EVERY PROCESSED FOOD YOU CAN BUY!
But, kudos go to PepsiCo, who dropped hydrogenated oils in favor of other means making their Doritoes, Tostitos, and Cheetos safe once again.
My advice is to avoid buying foods that list "hydrogenated" anything. You may find it a little harder to shop, but you'll find you're eating better, probably feeling better, and living longer.
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