Time for Some Schoolin

It would be far easier to lose weight permanently if replacement parts weren't so handy in the refrigerator.  ~Hugh Allen

Okay, we all know we need to watch what we eat and exercise.  It's that simple. Right?  Well, how do we do that?  Why are things bad for us?  Why are things good for us??  We all know too much sodium is bad.  Why?  We all know fat is bad.  But lately we've been hearing some fat is good.  Or is it?  Who knows????


So, we are all going to start learning together what affects our bodies, how and why.  I think it'd be a lot easier to put that glazed doughnut down if we knew that it was loaded with trans fat that's bad for us because it could increase our bad cholesterol.  But what does that even mean?  We're about to find out.


For the next few days, we're going to take a crash course in basic nutrition.  I'm the kind of person who usually needs to know WHY. (And my almost 4 year old has definitely taken after me in that aspect as "why" seems to be as popular to him as "like" is to a valley girl teenager from 1985.  But I regress....)


If someone tells you not open a door because "it wouldn't be good for you", well, you may or may not open it.  Consequences seem relative.  I, in all honesty, would probably open the door out of curiosity and just deal with the consequences in my own way.  However, if someone said, "Don't open the door because there is a pack of man-eating bears on the other side that haven't been fed in a week and by the way, we rubbed the shirt you're wearing with a t-bone steak before you put it on," I'd be more likely to not only leave the door the hell alone, but also walk away from it as fast as possible.


So, today we are going to learn about trans fat.  We hear a lot about it in the news about how bad it is and that it's being banned in some states.  We see labels practically shouting "NO TRANS FAT" but then they whisper (per serving).   Let's find out about all this, shall we?

Trans fat is double trouble for your heart health

Trans fat raises your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol and lowers your "good" (HDL) cholesterol. Find out more about trans fat and how to avoid it.

By Mayo Clinic staff When it comes to fat, trans fat is considered by some doctors to be the worst of them all because of its double-barreled impact on your cholesterol levels. Unlike other fats, trans fat — also called trans-fatty acids — both raises your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol and lowers your "good" (HDL) cholesterol.
A high LDL cholesterol level in combination with a low HDL cholesterol level increases your risk of heart disease, the leading killer of men and women. Here's some information about trans fat and how to avoid it.

What is trans fat?

Trans fat comes from adding hydrogen to vegetable oil through a process called hydrogenation. Trans fats are more solid than oil is, making them less likely to spoil. Using trans fats in the manufacturing of foods helps foods stay fresh longer, have a longer shelf life and have a less greasy feel.

Trans fat in your food

Commercial baked goods — such as crackers, cookies and cakes — and many fried foods, such as doughnuts and french fries — may contain trans fats. Shortenings and some margarines can be high in trans fat.
Trans fat used to be more common, but in recent years food manufacturers have used it less because of concerns over the health effects of trans fat. Food manufacturers in the United States and many other countries list the trans fat content on nutrition labels.
However, you should be aware of what nutritional labels really mean when it comes to trans fat. For example, in the United States if a food has less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, the food label can read 0 grams trans fat. Though that's a small amount of trans fat, if you eat multiple servings of foods with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, you could exceed recommended limits.

Reading food labels

How do you know whether food contains trans fat? Look for the words "partially hydrogenated" vegetable oil. That's another term for trans fat. The word "shortening" also is a clue: Shortening contains some trans fat.
It sounds counterintuitive, but "fully" or "completely" hydrogenated oil doesn't contain trans fat. Unlike partially hydrogenated oil, the process used to make fully or completely hydrogenated oil doesn't result in trans-fatty acids. However, if the label says just "hydrogenated" vegetable oil, it could mean the oil contains some trans fat.
Although small amounts of trans fat occur naturally in some meat and dairy products, it's the trans fats in processed foods that seem to be more harmful. 

Trans fat and cholesterol

Doctors worry about trans fat because of its unhealthy effect on your cholesterol levels — increasing your LDL and decreasing your HDL cholesterol. There are two main types of cholesterol:

• Low-density lipoprotein (LDL). LDL, or "bad," cholesterol transports cholesterol throughout your body. LDL cholesterol, when elevated, builds up in the walls of your arteries, making them hard and narrow.
• High-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL, or "good," cholesterol picks up excess cholesterol and takes it back to your liver.

A high LDL cholesterol level is a major risk factor for heart disease. If your LDL is too high, over time, it can cause atherosclerosis, a dangerous accumulation of fatty deposits on the walls of your arteries. These deposits — called plaques — can reduce blood flow through your arteries. If the arteries that supply your heart with blood (coronary arteries) are affected, you may have chest pain and other symptoms of coronary artery disease.
If plaques tear or rupture, a blood clot may form — blocking the flow of blood or breaking free and plugging an artery downstream. If blood flow to part of your heart stops, you'll have a heart attack. If blood flow to part of your brain stops, a stroke occurs.

Other effects of trans fat

Doctors are most concerned about the effect of trans fat on cholesterol. However, trans fat has also been shown to have some other harmful effects:

• Increases triglycerides. Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood. A high triglyceride level may contribute to hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) or thickening of the artery walls — which increases the risk of stroke, diabetes, heart attack and heart disease.
• Increases Lp(a) lipoprotein. Lp(a) is a type of LDL cholesterol found in varying levels in your blood, depending on your genetic makeup. It's unclear how high levels of Lp(a) — independent of other cholesterol levels — increase your risk of heart disease. More research is needed.
• Causes more inflammation. Trans fat may increase inflammation, which is a process by which your body responds to injury. It's thought that inflammation plays a key role in the formation of fatty blockages in heart blood vessels. Trans fat appears to damage the cells lining blood vessels, leading to inflammation.

Avoiding trans fat

The good news is trans fat is showing up less in food, especially food on grocery store shelves. If you eat out a lot, however, be aware that some restaurants continue to use trans fat. Trans fat is sometimes a part of the oil restaurants use to fry food. A large serving of french fries at some restaurants can contain 5 grams or more of trans fat.
Some restaurants put nutritional information on their menus, but most aren't required to list trans fat content. Some cities, such as New York City, have banned restaurants from using trans fat.
How much trans fat you can safely consume is debatable. However, there's no question you should limit trans fat, according to the Food and Drug Administration and the American Heart Association (AHA).
In the United States, food nutrition labels don't list a Percent Daily Value for trans fat because it's unknown what an appropriate level of trans fat is, other than it should be low. The AHA recommends that no more than 1 percent of your total daily calories be trans fat. If you consume 2,000 calories a day, that works out to 2 grams of trans fat or less, or about 20 calories.

What should you eat?

Don't think a trans fat-free food is automatically good for you. Food manufacturers have begun substituting other ingredients for trans fat. However, some of these ingredients, such as tropical oils — coconut, palm kernel and palm oils — contain a lot of saturated fat. Saturated fat raises your LDL cholesterol. A healthy diet includes some fat, but there's a limit.
In a healthy diet, 25 to 35 percent of your total daily calories can come from fat — but saturated fat should account for less than 10 percent of your total daily calories. Aim for consuming less than 7 percent of your fat calories from saturated fat if you have high levels of LDL cholesterol.
Monounsaturated fat — found in olive, peanut and canola oils — is a healthier option than is saturated fat. Nuts, fish and other foods containing unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids are other good choices of foods with monounsaturated fats.


Know you know.  And knowing is half the battle.  (My apologies to GI Joe.  Had to do it.)  But seriously, the more we do know about why we're doing things the better we are.

I love doing research - especially on nutrition.  If you have any questions as we go through our nutrition series, I'd love to see what I can find out.  Now, I am not a professional anything, but I do research through credible and multiple sources so we can all learn together!