I know, it's long! Just read the bold stuff if you want. :)
By: Tom VenutoAlthough the swine flu hysteria has settled down a bit, it’s still making headlines, as it was front page news here in the New York City area today. The amount of panic over this public health concern is surprising when you consider how most people continue to do things to themselves every day that are far more likely to be deadly.
For example, most people are still eating one specific type of food that has been deemed totally unfit for human consumption. Now THAT’s scary.Alas, fear-mongering and bad news sell, regardless of the true threat level, so the media has been pummeling us with stories about the flu pandemic (and I couldn’t help noticing that many health experts are now arguing that this is no worse than common strains of flu).
I wonder why the media doesn’t put this kind of effort and attention into more productive types of public health messages, like what to eat and what NOT to eat?
And why don’t consumers respond with equal alarm when messages about our food are broadcast?I find it odd the way people have been reacting to the flu news with fear and panic, even avoiding crowded public places like the gym and donning face masks when going out in public. Then they’ll remove these masks and proceed to smoke cigarettes and inhale food that’s potentially far more dangerous than any flu threat.
Most people are literally eating poison every day without giving it a second thought. Here’s the result: In the US alone, 1,700,000 new cases of diabetes, 233,600 diabetes-related deaths, 600,000 myocardial infarctions and 451,300 coronary heart disease-related deaths every year.
Trans Fatty Acids: The poison in our food supply that most people are STILL eating
Trans fatty acids (TFA’s) come mostly from the industrial partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils, which alters the natural cis configuration of the oils to the trans configuration. Trans fats are not found in nature, with the exception of some ruminant-derived TFA’s which are found in certain dairy products (usually contributing less than 0.5%of total caloric intake).
TFA’s have been studied for decades, but were largely ignored until the past several years. Since 2006, TFA’s have thankfully received a decent amount of publicity when they were in the news regarding new food labelling laws and the banning of their use in restaurants in some states.
New Studies on Trans Fats:TFA’s are not new news, but there have been new studies published this year on the dangers of TFA’s, two of them just in the last month.
If you think swine flu is scary, consider the following facts from the latest research:
Four recent studies indicated 24, 20, 27 and
32% higher risk of myocardial infarction (MI) or
CHD death for every 2% energy of TFA consumption isocalorically replacing carbohydrate, SFA, cis monounsaturated fatty acids and cis polyunsaturated fatty acids, respectively.
Even consumption of small amounts of TFA’s (2% of total energy intake) is consistently linked to coronary heart disease.If heart disease isn’t enough, the research says that TFA’s will:Increase belly fat (visceral fat) and body fat
Contribute to insulin resistance
Increase risk of type 2 diabetes
Adversely affect circulating lipid levels (increase bad LDL cholesterol)
trigger systemic inflammation
disrupt glucose-insulin homeostasis
cause metabolic dysfunction
Induce endothelial dysfunction
Adversely affect almost every cell in your body, including hepatocytes, adipocytes, macrophages and endothelial cells.
Some experts say there is NO safe level of TFA intake. They’re THAT bad.If Trans fats are so dangerous, why is their use so widespread?Nutrition author Udo Erasmus put it this way: “TFA’s are a food manufacturer’s dream: an unspoilable substance that lasts forever.” TFA’s are cheap and for countless food products, they can prolong shelf life, allow easy transport, provide solidity at room temperature, and increase suitability for commercial frying.
Public health messages have been raising awareness, but they haven’t been enough. “TFA’s are bad for you.” Ok, so now what? What you really need are some simple behavior guidelines and a list of foods to eat very infrequently if you eat them at all.
Here’s a good place for you to start.
4 Ways to Avoid Trans Fatty Acids:1. Read ingredients lists. The primary source of TFA’s is partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. In particular, soybean, sunflower, cottonseed and palm oils are frequently hydrogenated. Your first step then, is to read food labels on any packaged products and look at the ingredients list. If it contains partially hydrogenated oils, it contains TFA’s.
2. Watch for label loopholes. WARNING: Food companies are lying to you on their product labels to make you think their foods are TFA-free. The front of their package may say “ZERO grams of trans fats,” and yet there is hydrogenated oil listed in the ingredients. How could that be? There is a label loophole where the government allows companies to claim zero trans fats if there is less than a half a gram per serving. So the food companies sneakily manipulate their serving sizes until the servings are so small that the TFA content falls below the per serving limit.
3. Eat mostly foods that do not have a label. At the risk of stating the obvious, if you don’t eat anything that comes in a box or package with a label, then you won’t ever consume manmade TFA’s. If your diet consists primarily of fruits, fibrous vegetebles, root vegetables, beans, legumes, brown rice, unprocessed whole grains, nuts, seeds, eggs, fish and lean meats, you’re home free.
4. Avoid foods that contain TFA’s most of the time. TFA’s are commonly found in baked goods (bakery), fried foods and packaged convenience foods, especially:
cookies*
crackers*
biscuits*
pastries*
pies*
doughnuts*
packaged frozen foods (breaded chicken, breaded fish, etc)
corn chips
potato chips
packaged popcorn
some breads
frostings
french fries (fried potatoes)
taco shells
margarine
shortening
some salad dressings
some candies
some processed cheeses
