Saturday, November 19, 2011

Trans Fats - Dancing with the Devil

From hunters and gatherers to the hunted and herded, that seems to be what the food manufacture’s marketing schemes have done to society.   The drive for company profits has driven many food manufactures to push the envelope and hide one of the body’s biggest enemies, which in my opinion is “Trans Fat” (fully hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil or fat) and it should be outlawed!  In 2006 the FDA required manufactures to list the amount of trans fat in products, this was a good step in the right direction, but the FDA allows manufactures to state “0 Trans Fat” as long as the amount is below 0.5 grams per serving.  Any amount of trans fat is poison to the body and should be avoided, after all who eats one serving?







THE CASCADING EFFECTS OF TRANS FAT

At the molecular level the trans fat configuration is straight, a normal configuration will have a slight bend (cis formation), the human body does not know what to do with this unnatural “trans formation”, so it’s treated as a toxin.  The trans fat molecule attaches itself to the cell walls, blocking cells from absorbing the needed nutrients.  When these fats go rancid and oxidize they cause inflammation.  The body then sends LDL to repair the damaged area.  HDL is then sent to clean up the mess, but the LDL pattern B remains stuck in the nooks and crannies of the inflammation.  This contributes to plaque build up, heart disease and many other negative health factors and why cholesterol is proclaimed to be the enemy.
Cis-9-octadecenoic acid
Trans-9-octadecenoic acid 
               
                                                                                                                                                                   
Due to the inflammation and the trapping of LDL pattern B particles, LDL gets a bad rap and the manufacturer’s marketing campaign begins hunting and herding us by pushing their “Cholesterol lowering” products.  Limiting this inflammation is one of the many reasons for including Omega-3 and anti-oxidants in our diets.


PROTECTING YOURSELF

Read food labels and avoid anything that contains the words “trans fat”, “hydrogenated” and “mono-diglycerides.”  Mono- and di-glycerides are the new label tricks that are designated as “emulsifiers” rather than fats, so the trans fats they contain don’t count until you ingest them. 
 
For more information on Label Tricks reference the following links:

Vegetable oil subjected to high heat is just as bad and is used often by fast food places due to its low cost.  The alternative would increase cost and would be bad for business.  Believe it or not, frying in lard or coconut oil would be a healthier alternative because at least the body can burn it for fuel.  

"Shocker" avoid eating at restaurants; they are not required to display nutrition information about the food they serve.

These poisons are all around us and are used by many food manufactures; however these manufactures live by profit, so they can die by profit.  Don’t purchase their products and that might get their attention!

Continuing with my belief in the power of Visualization, I hope visualizing the damage that food containing trans fats can do, gives you the needed will power to avoid the next order of french fries or donuts!

Sources: www.health-report.co.uk; Treelight.com; Mayoclinic.com; Fi.edu; Natural-health-information-centre.com; Scientificpsychic.com


Feel free to contact me.