My next tirade should be about the other BIG evil in my eyes in the area of nutrition, and that is partially hydrogenated oils. Food containing PHO will stay fresh longer. Cookies can stay in an unopened package for months without decaying – that’s NOT NATURAL!
Definition
Partially Hydrogenated Oil – Known as “trans fats”, these solid fats are produced artificially by heating liquid vegetable oils in the presence of metal catalysts and hydrogen. It is often used as a replacement for saturated fats, thus allowing the manufacturer to label the food as a low fat food with a longer shelf life.
Hydrogenator used to partially hydrogenate vegetable oils to
create trans fats.
What are the health concerns with trans fats? They have been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease. This may be due to the fact that they increase LDL (bad cholesterol) and decrease HDL (good cholesterol). The combined effect is double that of saturated fats. (See the Harvard study link below for sources).
Because of the research revealing the adverse effect on heart health, the FDA made changes to the label requirements for manufacturers, requiring them to disclose the amount of trans fats per serving. The new labels are designed to inform the consumer about trans fat content, however, the FDA regulations are misleading. If a product has less than 0.5 grams per serving, the label is permitted to claim 0 grams trans fats!! So you really have to read the labels! If it includes “partially hydrogenated” in the list of ingredients, it contains trans fats!
Here is a FANTASTIC website if you’re interested in learning more about trans fats:
http://www.bantransfats.com/
The Harvard Study on trans fats. "By our most conservative estimate, replacement of partially hydrogenated fat in the U.S. diet with natural unhydrogenated vegetable oils would prevent approximately 30,000 premature coronary deaths per year, and epidemiologic evidence suggests this number is closer to 100,000 premature deaths annually." http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/reviews/transfats.html
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