What are trans fats?
Why do some companies use trans fats?
How do trans fats affect my health?
Why did trans fats become so popular if they have such bad health effects?
What foods contain trans fats?
Are there any naturally occurring trans fats?
How much trans fat can I eat a day?
How can I stay within my daily limit for trans fats?
What are trans fats?
Trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. Another name for trans fats is “partially hydrogenated oils." Look for them on the ingredient list on food packages.
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Why do some companies use trans fats?
Companies like using trans fats in their foods because they’re easy to use, inexpensive to produce and last a long time. Trans fats give foods a desirable taste and texture. Many restaurants and fast-food outlets use trans fats to deep-fry foods because oils with trans fats can be used many times in commercial fryers.
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How do trans fats affect my health?
Trans fats raise your bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and lower your good (HDL) cholesterol levels. Eating trans fats increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke. It’s also associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
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Why did trans fats become so popular if they have such bad health effects?
Before 1990, very little was known about how trans fat can harm your health. In the 1990s, research began identifying the adverse health effects of trans fats.
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What foods contain trans fats?
Trans fats can be found in many foods – but especially in fried foods like French fries and doughnuts, and baked goods including pastries, pie crusts, biscuits, pizza dough, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines and shortenings. You can determine the amount of trans fats in a particular packaged food by looking at the Nutrition Facts label. You can also spot trans fats by reading ingredient lists and looking for the ingredients referred to as “partially hydrogenated oils.”
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Are there any naturally occurring trans fats?
Small amounts of trans fats occur naturally in some meat and dairy products, including beef, lamb and butterfat. It isn’t clear; though, whether these naturally occurring trans fats have the same bad effects on cholesterol levels as trans fats that have been industrially manufactured.
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How much trans fat can I eat a day?
The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of trans fats you eat to less than 1 percent of your total daily calories. That means if you need 2,000 calories a day, no more than 20 of those calories should come from trans fats. That’s less than 2 grams of trans fats a day. Given the amount of naturally occurring trans fats you probably eat every day, this leaves virtually no room at all for industrially manufactured trans fats. Find out your personal daily fat limits on My Fats Translator.
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How can I stay within my daily limit for trans fats?
Read the Nutrition Facts label on foods you buy at the store and, when eating out, ask what kind of oil foods are cooked in. Replace the trans fats in your diet with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. For practical tips, learn how to Live Fat-Sensibly.
Watch Trans in the Bad Fats Brothers Webisode and meet all the Fats!
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Last update Jan. 2009
