The Food and Drug Administration recently announced companies will be required to remove
trans fats from their foods over the next few years.
But, like, what is a trans fat?
Trans fat gets a lot of bad press, but that's because fat is a tough cookie; some are good
for you, some are bad for you.
Fat isn't just FAT there's a lot of different KINDS of fat.
Each type manifests differently, and…
#WHEW it's complicated.
Fats coat membranes, store energy, protect vital organs and insulate tissues.
The word "lipid" is a general term for a group of hydrocarbons -- that is to say a string
of carbon atoms surrounded by hydrogen atoms -- which includes all fats and many other
basic molecules in the body.
Triglycerides, cholesterols, and Vitamins like A,D,E, and K are all lipids[1].
Different fat sources each form chains a little differently; and those arrangements change
how your body can process them.
The three main lipids you hear about in the food world are saturated fats, unsaturated
fats and trans fats.
Picture a parking lot, if the hydrogen atoms are the cars -- saturated fats are saturated
-- or FILLED with hydrogen -- all the spots are full.
Unsaturated fats have some spaces here or there; and the shape of the molecules determines
their behavior[2][3].
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature because the filled up molecules are more rigid;
they usually come from animals, but are also found in coconut oil and palm oil.
Whereas unsaturated fats have more room for hydrogen, which allows the molecules to fold
over.
This folding allows them to stay liquid at room temperatures -- we think of them as oils[4]!
These mostly come from plants, and are sometimes just called vegetable oils; olive oil, corn
oil, and peanut oil are all unsaturated fats.
Mono-unsaturated fats are called "good" fats[5].
They're much easier to produce so companies came up with a way to convert these liquid
lipids to solids in a process called HYDROGENATION.
Hydrogenated oils have been chemically altered to move the hydrogen around and fill up more
of the empty parking spaces in the chain…
They try to make cheaper plant fats look more like expensive animal fats; think margarine
or shortening[6].
Because they have to alter the hydrogen bonds, these hydrogenated oils, are ALSO known as
TRANS FATS[7].
Up until the early 1980s, saturated animal fats like beef tallow were used to make french
fries, until it was thought saturated fats could raise levels of bad or Low-density lipoprotein
cholesterol -- causing increased risk of heart disease.
The public was alarmed, so companies switched to *partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.*
Recently, studies like one in the Annals of Internal Medicine from last year[8] -- show
that saturated fat is not nearly the demon it was made out to be and might be entirely
neutral, but that TRANS FAT is TERRIBLE: causing increases in LDL cholesterol and decreases
in High-density lipoprotein -- or good cholesterol[9][10].
In fact, studies have found diets high in trans fats correlate with memory loss, heart
disease, and obesity[11].
Overall the FDA ban might be a little late to the party.
From 2003 to 2012 the amount of trans fats consumed has dropped 78 percent, mainly due
to food labeling, but it's better late than never.
Commonly, you hear people say, "Everything in moderation," which works for saturated
and unsaturated fats, but for trans fat?
None.
The CDC says to keep "trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible[12]!"
Wow.
That's HUGE!
Trans fats, not even once.
What's your favorite type of good fat?
Avocados?
Nuts?
Olive oil?????
I LUVVV olive oil.
MMM.
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