Trans Fat or Bust!
Let me get this straight, if I read all the amazing reports.....remove trans fat from the food supply, and obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and a host of other ailments will all magically disappear. The real story is a little more complicated - but not by much!. While getting rid of trans fat is a health plus, it's only part of the story.
Unless you cut down ALL sources of fat, you won't be saving calories, losing weight, or improving your health much at all. In our country, we make the mistake of selecting the information we want to use, and ignoring the rest. In fact, if we cut down on our daily total fat intake, the kinds of fat we consume would be less of an issue.
For trans fat, what is the substitute? Butter in baked goods? Or, olive oil to fry your chicken instead of shortening?
Until we decide to cut down ALL sources of fat in our diets to promote better health, we're still fooling ourselves.
It's easy to cut out trans fat from the diet, but really hard to cut fat out of the diet (we can always substitute a heart healthy fat!). Yes, it's a plus to limit trans fat in the food supply - to help support better food choices - but that is only one health factor that doesn't replace other healthful habits.
I remember doing a Today Show segment a couple of years ago, when this first became a priority in the world of nutrition. While there are some trans fats present in foods naturally (like beef), most of it is found in processed cakes, cookies, and pastries, as well as restaurant fried foods (from fish, to potatoes to onion rings). In this short time, many restaurants and food producers have voluntarily replaced trans fat in their food products. A great thing for consumers - especially those consuming fast foods!
If we simply had smaller portions - and cut down out fat to 25% of calories or less - we wouldn't really have to worry about the source of that fat. Look at the French, for example. No foods are off limits. Butter, cream, pastries -all in amounts we look at as "puny".
Can a ban be effective? While the efforts in California (and other states) to ban trans fats are a step in the right direction, how can this even be enforced? What are we protecting ourselves from? Do we all change to butter?
Does this really help us make better food choices?
As a nation, we must "get a grip" on our total fat intake, and portion sizes - the big stuff. While the trans fat ban
is a plus - I hope this does not deter you and your family from making the important changes for long term health - cutting down on ALL sources of fat,, plus working on a stable weight, and being physically active.
Here's a brief history of trans fats
Trans fat is a man-made fat which basically is a process of converting liquid vegetable oil to a solid form. Sounded like a good idea decades ago - turn a heart-healthy fat into something that "seems" like butter. You can cook with it, it's got a lot of flavor, and helps extend the shelf life of packaged foods where it's found.
So, what could be wrong? It turns out that trans fat is a double whammy for the body. Rather than be "heart healthy", it appears to raise the "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and lower the "good" cholesterol (HL). Even the artery clogging saturated fat, like butter, only raises the bad cholesterol and doesn't alter the good one.
What do you think? Please post your thoughts!
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So basically, there's three things we need to do:
1. Eliminate packaged foods containing trans fats, and reduce intake from natural sources of trans fats (fatty beef, etc.)
2. Use kitchen appliances like the new george foreman grills to cut the fat: http://www.buzzillions.com/dz_605312_george_foreman_next_grilleration_grill_reviews
3. Use non stick pans and olive oil sprays, instead of using heavy amounts of oil to cook food
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To maintain a clean and purify the body it is best to consume adequate amounts in water and foods rich in fiber such as whole grains, legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables.