To all fast food and junk food lovers out there, this would be the topic which concern you. People who often eat from hawkers stalls as well as majority of the 'local' coffee shops and restaurants, trans fat are almost unavoidable. Most of the people who are enjoying food which contains this deadly fat, don't even know the actual harm of the substance. Allow me to enlighten you about trans fat.
What is trans fat? Trans fats are formed when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil during food processing in order to make it solidify. This process, known as hydrogenation, makes fats less likely to spoil, so foods stay fresh longer, have a longer shelf life and also have a less greasy feel. In other words, heating food with vegetable oil in high temperature altered the molecular structure of the fat. People always ask me what type of cooking oil are considered vegetable oil. Well, cooking oils such as sunflower, soybean, canola, corn, cotton-seed, peanut, are the ones which are considered the 'bad' oils and usually they are high in Omega 6 fatty acids. Most people think that these oils are supposed to be good? People ask, "Aren't corn or canola or vegetable-based oils good for health?".
I'm not surprise after millions of dollars been thrown into marketing and advertising convincing consumers that "vegetables oils are good for cooking". These oil manufacturers telling consumers about the benefits of Omega 6 in their products and we should all buy and cook it with our food. No wonder heart diseases, stroke, atherosclerosis rates are increasing dramatically every year. Trans fat is a recipe for heart diseases. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in most countries.
How about Olive oil? This question is often being raised whenever I talk to people about trans fat or cooking with various oils. Well, the problem with these vegetable oils, is whenever they are exposed to oxygen, they turns rancid very fast. Not to mention while during processing to extract the oils out from the plant itself, the high temperature 'pressing' enables the oils to become rancid. But as for olive oil, they are much stable compared to most of the vegetable oils. If you would to shop for olive oil, look out for COLD pressed manufacturing. Unfortunately, if you would to deep heat, fry or cook in high temperature with olive oil, it will turn rancid as well. Olive oil is suitable for salad dressing but not high temperature cooking.
Trans fats are common in fried foods like french fries, fried chicken, and doughnuts as well as cookies, pastries and crackers. In countries such as US or even Malaysia, french fries typically contain about 40% trans-fatty acids and many popular cookies and crackers range from 30% to 50% trans fat. Doughnuts have about 35 percent to 40 percent trans-fatty acids and guess what, there is NO safe limit for trans fat. Because is is deadly and very destructive to the body, few grams of trans fat a day, is enough to contribute unhealthy arteries clogging in accumulative period. These completely unnatural man-made fats cause dysfunction and chaos in your body on a cellular level. They are found in tons of junk food products and virtually every fast food outlets available.
Trans fats even interfere with your body's use of beneficial Omega 3 fats, and have been linked to an increase in asthma. Studies have linked trans fat consumption with cancer, diabetes, decreased immune function, problems with reproduction, obesity and heart disease. Check this out, eating regular trans fat increased the risk of sudden cardiac arrest up to three fold!
Many European countries have banned trans fat but Malaysians are still widely consuming trans fat like never before. So, how do we know if the food product contains trans fat? The fats are listed on labels, but there's an important caveat you should know. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows food manufacturers to round to zero any ingredient that accounts for less than 0.5 grams per serving. You will notice certain junk food stating zero trans fat on the product package, but it doesn't mean that there is no trans fat content.
The key here is the serving size. What is the serving size of a box of cookies? There is no hard and fast rule and if they decide that one small cookie is a serving size and not the "typical" quantity most people eat, you could wind up with up to 10 grams or more of trans-fat, which is clearly going to be associated with health complications. So, to truly avoid trans-fats, you need to read the label and look for more than just 0 grams of trans fat. Check the ingredients and look for partially hydrogenated oil. If the product lists this ingredient, it contains trans fats and pay careful attention to the serving size.
When I inform people I know about trans fat, they tend to give me the same answer every single time. Which is, "consume in moderate amount is alright". The thing is, all your life since you were a kid, you have been eating food containing trans fat for years. It has done damage to the internal organs and arteries in your body for quite some time now. And by continuation of eating 'moderate' amount of trans fat seem to be alright? I don't think so folks.
Generally speaking, foods that are likely to contain trans-fats include deep-fried foods, processed baked goods, snack foods and processed foods, including fast foods. However, even if you know trans fats have been in your diet, don't panic. By switching to a healthier diet now you may be able to make up for some of the damage.
If you want to avoid dangerous fats of all kinds, your best bet is to eliminate processed foods from your diet. From there, use healthier cooking oils such as organic coconut oil and organic butter, preferably made from raw milk if possible. Coconut is my favourite oil of all time. I always cook with coconut oil, highly stable with high temperature and doesn't turn rancid easily. Read my post about coconut and it's benefits for health.
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