Trans fat

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Trans fat is an artificial food. Most of it is made in factories. Trans fat occurs in nature only very rarely. When oils are heated or when they are "hydrogenated", trans fats are made. "Hydrogenation" is the process of bubbling hydrogen gas through the oil to change its consistency. The bubbling raises the melting point of the oil. As the hydrogen passes through, the oil begins to become solid. By stopping the hydrogenation part of the way through, manufacturers obtain "partially hydrogenated oil". This is similar to butter, but much cheaper to produce. It is sold as "margarine", "oleo" or "vegetable shortening". The process allow to cheaply add a butter-like consistency to food products.

Trans fat is bad for human health and has been tied to a number of problems including: Coronary heart disease,^[1] Cancer, Diabetes,^[2]^[3] Obesity,^[4] Liver dysfunction,^[5] and Infertility.^[6] There has yet to be a study which shows that trans fat is good for human health in any way.

For now, the US government's "Food and Drug Administration" has allowed makers of food products to label their products as having "0 grams of trans fat per serving" as long as the amount of trans fat in the food product falls below 0.5 grams per serving. Since partially hydrogenated oils are the major source of trans fat, reading the "ingredients" label is the safest way to ensure that a food does not contain any trans fat at all. Fried foods will likely, but not necessarily, contain trans fat since fried foods are produced by using very hot oil.

Healthy oils are always liquid at blood temperature. Saturated and trans fats are not.

Now that the health issues related to eating trans fats are becoming more apparent, trans fats are being used less but have not yet been completely eliminated from mainstream food production.

[change] References

↑ Food and nutrition board, institute of medicine of the national academies (2005). Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (Macronutrients). National Academies Press, 504.
↑ van Dam RM, Stampfer M, Willett WC, Hu FB, Rimm EB (2002). "Dietary fat and meat intake in relation to risk of type 2 diabetes in men". Diabetes care 25 (3): 417–424.
↑ Hu FB, van Dam RM, Liu S (2001). "Diet and risk of Type II diabetes: the role of types of fat and carbohydrate". Diabetologia 44 (7): 805–817.
↑ Gosline, Anna. "Why fast foods are bad, even in moderation", New Scientist, 2006-06-12. Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
↑ Mahfouz M (1981). "Effect of dietary trans fatty acids on the delta 5, delta 6 and delta 9 desaturases of rat liver microsomes in vivo". Acta biologica et medica germanica 40 (12): 1699-1705.
↑ Chavarro Jorge E, Rich-Edwards Janet W, Rosner Bernard A and Willett Walter C (2007-01). "Dietary fatty acid intakes and the risk of ovulatory infertility". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 85: 231–237.