Trans Fats: What They Are & How to Avoid Them

Staying away from saturated fat and cholesterol is conscious eating for many health nuts. But trans fats also pose dangerous health risks. Processed foods contain high amounts of trans fat, which has been linked to diabetes, stroke, cancer, and heart disease. To learn more about what foods contain trans fats and ways to avoid them in your diet, learn to change your eating regime. Stay away from processed foods and lean more toward fruits, nuts, and vegetables.

FDA Consumer Magazine cites major sources of trans fats are contained in:
1. cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, breads, baked goods
2. animal products prepared in partially hydrogenated oils
3. margarine
4. French fries
5. potato chips, corn chips, popcorn
6. shortening
7. salad dressings
8. breakfast cereals
9. candy

Trans fats raise your LDLs, or bad cholesterol, which slowly builds up on the walls of your arteries. Trans fats may even lower good cholesterol, or HDLs. The Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism says that the intake of trans fat creates a substantially higher risk for heart problems due to narrowed arteries. Animal products contain small amounts of trans fat whereas processed foods are packed and overflowing with it.

Here are some tips on avoiding trans fat in your diet and lifestyle:

Partially hydrogenated foods have trans fats. If "partially hydrogenated" appears at or near the top of the ingredients list on the nutrition label, you should find a comparable item that uses canola or olive oils. Become familiar with the other names of trans fats when you are watching your labels. These include margarine, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening, and shortening.

Stay away from fried foods. Ask your waiter or waitress to prepare your meal with 100% corn oil, which is free of trans fat and is polyunsaturated.

Use fats in moderation. Five to eight teaspoons of fat is the recommended daily intake by the American Heart Association. No more than 10% of your calories should come from saturated or trans fat.

Replace margarine with shortening with nut butters and mono or polyunsaturated rich oils in cooking and baking. Using healthier fats may even help reduce your risk of breast cancer.

Choose less processed foods. Pick a baked potato rather than french fries or some almond slivers rather than potato chips. Have a piece of fruit or a container of yogurt.

Be wary of labels! Even though a food label has a trans-fat free label, be careful. The FDA allows foods with up to 0.5 grams to claim the trans-fat free status. A little label research could save you big health troubles in the long run!