Curious Cook: Observations about food in France in May – Part 1

I probably like my dog too much – he is now beside me providing inspiration as I write. His inspiration is mostly a bunch of snores – but I know that if I lock him and my wife in the cellar overnight, only he will be happy to see me again when I open the door.

June 24, 2018 Food, Food News

By CHRIS CHAN

Anyway, here are some observations from May 2018.

Real cheese

In France, foodies are up in arms about the imminent “murder” of a famous cheese from Normandy. Traditionally, real Camembert cheese carries the label “Camembert de Normandie” which has the protected AOP (l’Appellation d’Origine Protégée) status, as opposed to “Fabriqué en Normandie” which means that cheese made elsewhere is just “finished” in Normandy and then labelled as “Camembert”. The production of real Camembert is only 5,500 tonnes a year compared to 60,000 tonnes of the other cheese.

But from 2021, cheese from outside Normandy can be labelled as “Camembert de Normandie” using the prized AOP designation, provided it meets some new production criteria – and the original real cheese will be confusingly relabelled as “Véritable Camembert de Normandie” (or REAL Camembert from Normandy). Why is it a big deal? Just try the two cheeses side by side and you will see. This move was likely instigated by cynical industrial producers wishing to hijack a famous global appellation to sell more inferior cheeses to the rest of the world.

As to the interesting question why real Camembert differs in taste to its facsimiles, the answers are unclear. One hypothesis is unspecified differences in the nutrition of cows in the region of real Camembert production, for example, types of grass eaten or the underlying mineral nature of the land itself. More relevant is probably the use of unpasteurised milk for producing real Camembert, and maturation via the introduction of a particular assortment of bacteria which includes Penicillium camemberti, Geotrichum candidum, Debaryomyces hansenii, and Kluyveromyces lactis. How bacteria confer flavours into milk solids during cheese production is briefly covered in the two-part series, “A quorum of flavour” although Camembert is somewhat unusual in that the bacterium Kluyveromyces lactis only survives the first 11 days of maturation before it is destroyed by Debaryomyces hansenii. Cheeses initiated outside Camembert normally use pasteurised milk – and transportation to Normandy (to qualify for using the name “Camembert”) may also interfere with the affinage (maturation) of the cheese.

Fake truffles

One simple fail-safe dish to make is cream and fresh cooked flat pasta with shavings of truffles on top. If you feel adventurous, then add a dusting of grated parmesan and ground pepper. But this dish failed spectacularly at home the last two times – and annoyed, I investigated the problem.

I found that, despite the “Fabriqué en France” (Made in France) label on the jar, the truffles inside were denoted as Tuber indicum – the same truffles traditionally used by Chinese farmers to feed pigs (as the fungi tastes like sawdust and is generally unfit for human consumption). Further research revealed that for a jar of truffles to qualify for a “Made in France” label, the sole requirement is simply to package any truffles in a factory located on French soil. Personally, I am outraged as people are being deliberately (yet legally) misled by deceitful labelling into overpaying for a fake premium product. The real French (and Italian) black truffles are Tuber melanosporum and the genuine white truffles are Tuber magnatum – and both varieties are sensually, profoundly and uniquely aromatic. Proper black truffles can sell for over €800 a kilo, the white truffles are even more expensive – and in case you are curious, rubbish tasteless Chinese truffles usually fetch less than €40-50 a kilo.

So the sad lesson is, with both cheeses and truffles, one cannot assume the labelled origin is any indication of true quality – and I am certain this applies to many other foods as well. We are probably aware of “Italian” olive oil which actually originates from other countries, but I had not expected that a premium iconic European delicacy could be debased so blatantly in its home country by imported Chinese pig food. Even in the EU (and other countries), one cannot rely on governments to uphold quality of food above the interests of industrial food producers.

Fat Mediterranean kids

The home of the Mediterranean diet is now awash with fat children, according to the WHO’s Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative, which claimed that over 40% of children aged nine are now overweight or obese in Greece, Spain, Italy and Cyprus – exceeding even the 31% rate in the US. This jarring spike in childhood obesity has little to do with the Mediterranean diet as children in these countries are ignoring the diet and instead are eating more junk food and sugar, combined with less exercise. The statistic is actually a sobering reminder how quickly public health can deteriorate with unbalanced modern eating habits, and it is just ironic that it is happening in the region credited with one of the world’s healthiest diets.

Curiously, France still has relatively low child obesity rates (less than 9%), which may be attributable to the general French preference for good local produce over foreign fast food.

Cockroach milk as a superfood

This is a revival of an old story, based on a 2016 paper on insect proteins titled “Structure of a heterogeneous, glycosylated, lipid-bound, in vivo-grown protein crystal at atomic resolution from the viviparous cockroach Diploptera punctate”. The “milk” referred to is a soup of curious crystals secreted by pregnant females to nourish embryos in the uterus of an unusual cockroach species (Diploptera punctuate) which gives birth to live young.

Research revealed these crystals contain fats, sugars and proteins, are densely calorific (four to five times the calories of cow milk) and the crystal nutrients are released based on the rate of digestion. This may be useful for endurance sportspersons or people requiring constant nutrition– though I still think it preferable to eat snacks periodically than suck on cockroach milk crystals. The superfood angle is posited on developing genetically-modified yeast to duplicate these crystals in commercial quantities – if successful it may become a rich source of nutrition if other types of food become unavailable in the future. However, there is no detailed research to confirm impact of these proteins after human ingestion, so calling cockroach milk a superfood now is fanciful unfounded hype.

Trans-fats (again)

The WHO has announced a major initiative to eliminate trans-fats from human diets globally by 2023. It is about time, as trans-fats may be the cause of up to 10 million deaths around the world annually. Most developed countries have already instigated bans or restrictions on the use of trans-fats in food production by now, so the WHO drive is mainly targeted at poorer countries. Eliminating trans-fats globally by 2023 is a very tall order, especially as trans-fats are regularly used to preserve and extend the life of common cooking oils in many tropical countries. If you want to know why trans-fats are so problematic, please read the two-part series “A fat lot of good”.

Obese cancers

A recent presentation at the European Congress on Obesity in Vienna stated that obesity is now linked to 12 forms of cancers, up five from the seven associated cancers 10 years ago listed by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF). They are cancers of the liver, ovary, prostate, stomach, mouth and throat, bowel, breast, gall bladder, kidney, oesophagus, pancreas and womb.

Also sobering is the WCRF estimation that obesity will overtake smoking as the biggest cause of cancer in several developed countries within two decades. Excessive consumption of processed meats, junk foods, red meat, sugar, combined with sedentary lifestyles and/or alcohol is likely to lead to obesity and an enhanced risk of cancer. The confirmed link between junk food and cancer is noted in this article on processed food.

As to why obesity is linked to cancers, only a few items are summarised here due to subject complexity. For example, excess adipose (fat) tissue perturbs the balance and expression of sex hormones, and also insulin and IGF1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor 1) – these imbalances are likely to provoke cell damage/mutation. Additionally, obesity causes production of fat-derived cell-signalling proteins/hormones known as adipokines, particularly Interleukin 6 (IL-6) and Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF), both associated with chronic inflammation, subsequent immune system abnormalities and tissue damage. Obesity also messes with leptin, a hormone linked in several puzzling ways to cancers in various organs. And so on.

Then there is the confirmed link between obesity and diabetes, a disease also known to aggravate the onset of cancers. As such, the only tangible social benefit of an obese population is to enhance the wealth of the food industry, probably followed by medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies. This sounds harsh, but facts sometimes are.

The rest of the month’s observations follow in the next part.

https://www.star2.com/food/2018/06/24/curious-cook-observations-about-food-in-france-part-1

Saturated, but necessary

Sunday March 2, 2014

BY TAN SHIOW CHIN

Around one-third to half of our fat intake comes from the cooking oil used to cook our foods. – Filepic

Saturated fat is often seen as public enemy number one in the war against cholesterol, but it may be less fearsome than it seems.

COMMON knowledge says that eating saturated fat raises your cholesterol levels. And as we also know, high cholesterol levels are a risk factor for coronary artery disease and stroke.

However, not all saturated fats are created equal.

International Medical University nutrition and dietetics associate professor Dr Tony Ng Kock Wai says that people need to get the record straight about saturated fats.

Fats, he explains, are made up of a glycerol backbone and three fatty acids, which are the components that actually cause concern.

“The fatty acids that raise serum cholesterol are limited to four types. The saturated fatty acid types are lauric acid, myristic acid and palmitic acid.

“So, these three saturated fatty acids raise cholesterol; all the other saturated fatty acids do not.”

In fact, Assoc Prof Ng says that if we were to take away all saturated fats from our diet, and only consumed a diet of proteins, carbohydrates, polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats, we would get sick in a matter of weeks.

“Why? Because we are victims to oxidative stress.

“Unsaturated fats are susceptible to attack by reactive oxygen species. The antioxidants in our body tend to counter this effect, but the bad always wins.

“So, in the end, we grow old, we die of old age, we have chronic diseases. Therefore, we need saturated fats to be in there to balance things. Too much of anything is never good,” he explains.

And then there is the fourth type of fatty acid that raises our cholesterol – trans-fat. This, according to Assoc Prof Ng, is the worst type of fat to have in the diet.

“They are not saturated, but they have the trans configuration. They are really bad because they raise blood lipid levels and they raise lipoprotein(a), which is a risk factor (for cardiovascular disease),” he says.

Trans-fat is deemed so harmful that the United States Food and Drug Administration is moving towards banning the use of partially-hydrogenated vegetable cooking oils, which are the main source of trans-fat in our diets.

Fat fear

The fear of saturated fats started in the early 1950s when American physiologist Dr Ancel Keys reported the results of what came to be known as the Seven Countries Study.

According to Assoc Prof Ng, Dr Keys’ study purportedly showed that the intake of saturated fats was directly related to serum cholesterol levels, and thus, to the increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

“And then came this phobia of saturated fats and cholesterol, and this lasted one generation – 50 years or more,” he says.

“But in fact, we do not have to fear saturated fats or dietary cholesterol.”

He points to a meta-analysis of 21 studies done by Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, California, United States, researcher Dr Patty W. Siri-Tarino and colleagues, looking at the association between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular disease.

According to Assoc Prof Ng, palm oil actually has a neutral effect on serum cholesterol. – YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2010, the comparative study found no association between dietary saturated fat and increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

”Saturated fat intake, in fact, lowered the risk of stroke by some 19%,” says Assoc Prof Ng, adding this is a powerful paper as it is a summary of several clinical trials.

He points out that while saturated fats do raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad”) cholesterol, they also raise the high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or “good”) cholesterol.

Conversely, polyunsaturated fats do decrease LDL-cholesterol, but they also decrease HDL-cholesterol.

The key, he says, is to keep to the recommended dietary guidelines of keeping fat consumption to less than 10% of your total daily calorie intake.

“The message is, we do not need to fear dietary cholesterol unless we’re having a very high dietary intake, meaning more than 400mg per day.

“We have to remember that the main source of body cholesterol comes from our liver.

“Our liver manufactures 1,000mg of cholesterol a day, and we need cholesterol or we will die,” he says, adding that cholesterol is essential to many bodily functions.

The effects of palm oil

The main source of fats in our diet comes from the oils we use to cook.

“It forms one-third to half of our dietary fat,” says Assoc Prof Ng. “So, choose your cooking oil wisely, I would say.”

The nutritionist, who spoke on Palm Oil as a Major Fat in the Diet: Nutritional and Health Issues at the 2013 MPOB International Palm Oil Congress in November, shares that palm oil is actually the most stable of the cooking oils available.

This means that it can withstand the very high temperatures of deep frying for longer periods of time, compared to unsaturated vegetable oils, which degrade more easily under similar conditions.

Many people fear to use palm oil, as it contains one of the highest saturated fat content among vegetable oils.

However, Assoc Prof Ng points out that research has shown that palm oil does not exhibit quite the cholesterol-raising effects expected from its high saturated fat content.

In a study in Maastricht, the Netherlands, 40 healthy male volunteers were fed a controlled diet where their usual sources of saturated fat – typically animal fats and partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils – were replaced with palm oil.

The 1992 paper published in the British Journal of Nutrition reported that the participants showed no change in their total cholesterol or LDL-cholesterol levels during the trial.

However, their HDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 levels had increased, while their apolipoprotein B levels had decreased, providing a protective effect against coronary artery disease.

Meanwhile, a 1997 Chinese study comparing the effects of four diets, enriched with palm oil, soyabean oil, peanut oil and lard respectively, in 120 healthy males, found that the palm oil-enriched diet showed the most decrease in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels.

The same study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, also compared diets enriched with palm oil and peanut oil, in participants with high cholesterol levels.

Those consuming the palm oil-enriched diet showed significant reduction in their total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels, while no changes were seen in the peanut oil-enriched diet, which approximated the volunteers’ usual intake.

This, Assoc Prof Ng concludes, indicates that palm oil is neutral, i.e. it does not raise cholesterol levels, in healthy humans.

Research has suggested that the reason behind this might be the specific distribution of palmitic acid in the palm oil molecule.

Over 90% of the palmitic acid chains sit in position one and three on the molecule’s glycerol backbone, with only 9% occupying the middle position.

“This unique positioning apparently prevents cholesterol raising in the blood, and this has been demonstrated in rabbits,” he says.

The theory behind this is that pancreatic lipase, which is the main enzyme that helps us digest fats, preferentially cuts off the fatty acid chains at positions one and three.

These palmitic acid chains then form calcium compounds and are excreted in the faeces, resulting in their being less well-absorbed, compared to other fatty acids.

However, the story changes when it comes to overweight, and otherwise, unhealthy people.

In such people, the LDL-cholesterol receptors on their cells, which help capture and clear LDL-cholesterol from the bloodstream, become less active, causing an increase in blood LDL-cholesterol levels.

Another factor, he adds, is genetic. People with a certain type of gene, coding for their apolipoprotein E, are prone to having higher levels of blood LDL-cholesterol.

Such people need to be more wary over the overall fat, as well as saturated fat, content of their diets.

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Health/2014/03/02/Saturated-but-necessary/

Top Things That Do Nothing to Help Your Heart

 Originally published on Tuesday, October 16th, 2012
Heart Attack and Stroke, HEART HEALTH by Dr. Mintzer for Bel Marra Health

 

Almost all of us would love the opportunity to live longer and proper cardiac care can help us to do just that. Unfortunately, when it comes to cardiac care and preventing a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke, there are a lot of myths. So before you go swearing off eggs for the rest of your life or downing a bottle of wine in order to ‘protect your heart,’ you may want to consider the following.


Cardiac Care Myth 1: An Aspirin a Day Will Keep the Heart Doctor Away

Aspirin therapy can be beneficial to certain high risk individuals because it helps to prevent potentially fatal blood clots from forming and blocking the arteries. As such, if you have a history of stroke or heart attack, your doctor may weigh the costs and benefits and advise you to take an aspirin on a daily basis. However, if you are taking a daily aspirin as a self-prescribed method of cardiac care, your aspirin regime can cause much more damage than good. Researchers reviewed data from 9 large scale studies, and found that not only did aspirin not reduce death risk; it actually increased the risk for potentially life threatening bleeding in the majority of individuals. Bottom line, unless your doctor tells you otherwise, you should avoid the long-term continual use of aspirin.

Cardiac Care Myth # 2: A Bottle of Wine Will Keep the Heart Working Fine

Many studies have found that moderate alcohol consumption (no more than a serving or two per day depending on body size) can help to lower atherosclerosis and heart attack risk. What many people fail to take away from these studies is the ‘serving or two a day’ part which is the most important part when it comes to lowering bad cholesterol levels and heart attack risk. In other words, if you think that you can forgo alcohol during the week and then down a bottle of wine, or worse a bottle of vodka at weeks end, you are gravely misinformed. Drinking too much alcohol all at once not only damages your liver, it also causes the unhealthy LDL cholesterol levels to rise and consequently increases your risk for heart attack and stroke.

Cardiac Care Myth #3: Cholesterols Will Clog Your Artery Walls

Cholesterol containing whole foods such as egg yolks, liver and butter have been given an unnecessarily bad rep and many people have been told to avoid them if they want to prevent clogging up their arteries. However, recent research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that egg yolks have no influence on heart attack or stroke risk. What’s more, egg yolks are chocked full of nutrients and may even help you to live longer and healthier by reducing your risk for cancer, controlling your weight and preserving your eyesight. Cholesterol is essential for the health of your hair, skin and nails and more importantly perhaps, it is required for healthy brain function and a sense of mental wellbeing. As with most good things, you can overdo it however, and moderation is key.

Cardiac Care Myth #4: Fat is Your Heart’s Nemesis

Fats are essential to life. They provide your body with energy, balance your blood sugar levels, help maintain brain health and are vital to the production of numerous hormones. In fact, many studies have found that refined carbohydrates found in white bread, white rice and sugar products are the true enemy of the heart. This does not mean that fatty foods are a free-for-all and if you want to maintain a healthy heart and live longer, you should avoid trans- fats which are found in baked, fried and many highly processed foods. You should also avoid cooking with vegetable oils because the high temperatures cause the oils to oxidize and become rancid, and rancid oils are bad for the body. The key to consuming fats without sacrificing the health of your heart is emphasizing healthy fats, such as olive oil, coconut oil, flaxseeds, walnuts and cold-water fish.

http://www.belmarrahealth.com/heart-health/top-things-that-do-nothing-to-help-your-heart/

Powdered coffee 'creamer' isn't food ...

Powdered coffee 'creamer' isn't food, it's processed chemicals





Sunday, May 06, 2012 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Every day, millions of Americans add powdered coffee "creamer" products to their morning cups of joe because they falsely believe that these substances are somehow healthier than real cream. But little do they know that most coffee creamer products contain no actual cream, or food for that matter, as they are really nothing more than a crafty blend of toxic chemicals.

When powdered coffee creamers first came onto the scene back in the 1950s, they actually contained real dehydrated cream and sugar, which made them a convenient, non-perishable source of cream for coffee. Over time, however, manufacturers began to phase out the cream, and replace it with things like processed vegetables oils, stabilizers, chemical sweeteners, and other additives that were less expensive and that more easily dissolved in coffee.

Today, the average canister of so-called "creamer" substitute contains not a trace of actual food, at least not food in the technical sense of the word. Take the Coffee-Mate brand of coffee creamer, for instance. The original powder flavor contains corn syrup solids, hydrogenated vegetable oils, and a handful of stabilizing, emulsifying, and flavoring chemicals (http://www.coffee-mate.com).

Not only is there no "cream" of any kind in Coffee-Mate's Original Powder, but there are also no natural food ingredients whatsoever. This is why some countries actually require that powdered coffee additives be called "whiteners" rather than "creamers," since they do not actually contain any real cream.

Corn syrup solids and hydrogenated oils are highly-toxic 'non-foods'

Though both are derived from real food, corn syrup solids and hydrogenated oils are not technically foods themselves. To produce corn syrup solids, corn kernels are first transformed into corn starch, which is then chemically treated with hydrochloric acid, a highly-corrosive, industrial chemical solution that is also used to make plastic materials. The resulting liquid goo is then processed again and dried to form dried crystals -- delicious, eh?

And hydrogenated oils are produced using a similar chemical process that involves subjecting already heated, pressurized, and highly processed oils to various chemical catalysts and metals such as nickel and platinum that change its density and molecular structure. The final product is the definition of a trans-fat, which are linked to causing heart disease and death (http://www.naturalnews.com/027445_fat_fats_trans.html).

Then, there are ingredients like sodium caseinate, a milk derivative; mono- and diglycerides; sodium aluminosilicate; and artificial flavor, all of which are non-foods as well. Sodium caseinate, for instance, is derived from a milk protein known as casein using a chemical extrusion process. The chemical alteration is so significant that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not even consider the final product to be a dairy product.

And sodium aluminosilicate is an anti-caking, flow agent chemical additive produced specifically for use in processed food items, laundry detergents, and other dry, powdered products. Like its name implies, sodium aluminosilicate contains toxic aluminum, which is linked to organ and tissue damage, bone disorders, gastrointestinal problems, Alzheimer's disease, cell damage, and other problems (http://www.angelfire.com).

If dairy is problematic for your dietary needs but you still want to add creamer to your coffee, it is important to always read ingredient labels and carefully avoid all powdered creamer products that contain artificial ingredients.

Some great non-dairy alternatives to conventional creamer products include liquid coconut creamers like those made by So Delicious (http://www.sodeliciousdairyfree.com), for instance. Fresh coconut cream or milk (http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com) and homemade almond milk (http://georgiapellegrini.com/2012/03/07/recipes/homemade-almond-milk/), are several other useful options as well.

Sources for this article include:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-dairy_creamer

http://www.naturalnews.com/035784_coffee_creamer_hydrogenated_oils_HFCS.html

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly on Fats - MUST READ

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly on Fats

Posted by Alica on March 28, 2012

Good Fats

Fat is an important aspect of a healthy diet. When eaten correctly fat provides our bodies with the building blocks for cell membranes and many important hormones. It is essential in order for our bodies to absorb fat soluble vitamins from foods, such as vitamin A, D, E, and K.

 

Saturated Fats

 

Saturated fats are found in foods such as meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, and tropical oils such as, coconut and palm oil. A fatty acid is considered to be saturated when all the available carbon bonds have been occupied by a hydrogen atom. This configuration makes saturated fats highly stable and less likely to become rancid, even during cooking. Saturated fats are found to be solid or semi-solid at room temperature.

 

Our bodies need saturated fat, hence the reason why our bodies can make it from carbohydrates. Saturated fats make up around half of the membrane structure in our cells, giving the cells the stiffness and integrity that they need to function properly. They are also important for bone and immune health, on top of many other benefits.

 

Polyunsaturated Fats

 

Polyunsaturated fat is found primarily in vegetable oils such as in soy, sesame, sunflower, safflower, corn, cottonseed, or in peanuts, seeds, nuts and margarine. Not all polyunsaturated fats are healthy. Fats found in margarine, hydrogenated vegetable oils, processed foods, bakery goods and fried foods can be hazardous to your health.

 

Polyunsaturated fats lack four or more hydrogen atoms, which are replaced by two or more pairs of double bonds. The double bonds cause bends in the structure of the fat, making them hard to pack together, resulting in a liquid even when refrigerated. These oils are highly reactive so they should never be used in cooking and should stay refrigerated.

 

The most common polyunsaturated fats found in the diet is linoleic acid, which contains two double bonds and is called an Omega-6 fatty acid and linolenic acid which contains three double bonds and is called an Omega-3 fatty acid. Both Omega-6 and Omega-3 are considered “essential” since our bodies can not make them and they must be obtained from our diet. Many health care professionals will recommend a 4:1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3, but if you are trying to follow in your primal ancestors’ footsteps stick to the 1:1 ratio.

 

Omega-3 fatty acids are very protective to the heart and are a necessary component to any healthy diet. The three forms of Omega-3: ALA (found in flax) and EPA and DHA (found in fish) aide in reducing inflammation, are important for brain function, thin the blood, as well as a host of other health promoting properties (depression anyone?). The best sources of Omega-3’s are: Fish, fish oil, flaxseed, flaxseed oil and chia seeds.

 

Omega-6 fatty acids are found in most polyunsaturated oil sources: Safflower oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, walnut oil, canola oil. The best sources are: Sesame oil, walnut oil, grapeseed oil, almond oil.

 

The real problem with polyunsaturated fats is that they are unstable and are easily oxidized. This can promote the production of free radicals and inflammation. If you eat a dietextremely high in polyunsaturated fats, you can load yourself with free radicals. Heating these fats accelerates the formation of free radicals.

 

 

Monounsaturated Fats

 

These are the Omega-9 fatty acids. They are not essential fats. The most common monounsaturated fatty acid in our diet is oleic acid, which is the main component of olive oil, and is found in the almonds, macadamia nuts, avocadoes, cashews, and pecans. Monounsaturated fats lack two hydrogen atoms, which have been replaced by a double bond with two carbon atoms. This double bond causes a bend in the structure of the fat therefore they do not pack together as easily making most liquid at room temperature.

 

Monounsaturated oils have varying degrees of stability when it comes cooking. Oils such as olive oil should not be used at high temperatures as they are not as heat stable and will become rancid quickly, leading to trans fat and free radical damage. Olive oil is best used drizzled on salads and vegetables after they have been cooked. Whereas macadamia nut oil and lard is an acceptable choice as it has a higher smoke point.

 

 

Helpful hints:

• Purchase oils in dark containers so that the harsh lights from the store will not cause the oil to go rancid before you purchase it
• Refrigerate excess oils, such as olive oil. Only keep a small amount out so that it can be available for use
• Best Cooking Oil: (most heat stable) Coconut oil, lard, and butter

 

Bad Fats

 

Bad fats can create a high amount of oxidative or free radical damage to the cells of our body. They do not contain the healthful chemical structure of the good fats and our body has a difficult time processing, recognizing, and assimilating them. They get stored in our fatty tissue and create problems for the metabolism of fats by the liver, which can lead to inflammation, diabetes, obesity, immune system dysfunction, or even atherosclerosis 

 

These fats include:

All hydrogenated oils and trans fats: Canola oil, most safflower oils, corn oils, peanut oils.

Margarine: All margarines

Fried foods, especially deep fried foods!

Pura Vida!

Alica Ryan, NTP

 

http://www.puravidanutrition.org/2012/03/good-bad-and-ugly-on-fats.html

The Top Three Foods To Avoid at All Costs (Video)

Uploaded by DrRitamarie on Feb 15, 2011

Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo identifies 3 common foods from a typical standard diet that contribute to disease in your body.

Magarine (0:32), Soft Drinks (5:29), White bread (7:30)

For help with nutrition and finding better food alternatives to heal your body, visit:
http://www.drritamarie.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuJVs0e-BTk&feature=related

Fast Food And Margarine Marginalize Your IQ, Shrink Your Brain

Easy Health Options Staff | Apr 25, 2012 | Comments 1

As you age, your brain may shrink. This shrinkage is linked to reductions in your thinking abilities and mental powers as well as being a sign of an increased risk of Alzheimer’s.

To lower your chances of this disquieting brain development, shun margarine and fast food, and fill your diet with fish, fruits and vegetables. Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland have found that when your diet is high in the omega-3 fatty acids in fish as well as vitamins C, D, E and B, your brain stays healthier as you age. In contrast, people whose meals frequently contain the trans fats in fast food, baked goods, processed food and margarine are more likely to have shrunken brains and poor scores on thinking tests.

The study involved 104 people with an average age of 87 and very few risk factors for memory and thinking problems. Blood tests were used to determine the levels of various nutrients present in the blood of each participant. All of the participants also took tests of their memory and thinking skills. A total of 42 of the participants had MRI scans to measure their brain volume.

http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/fast-food-and-margarine-marginalize-your-iq-shrink-your-brain/

Debunking The Cholesterol Myth

Dr. Michael Cutler | Apr 16, 2012 | Comments 11

It’s time to finally quit believing the cholesterol-heart disease theory. Although doctors and their patients embrace the idea that cholesterol needs correction and is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease, there’s no reason to believe it. Cholesterol actually contributes to balanced hormones and a healthy sex life.

Cholesterol Does Not Cause Atherosclerosis

Unfortunately, the cholesterol-heart disease hypothesis is still the major dogma of modern medicine today. This is the theory that abnormally high cholesterol levels cause atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and heart disease. The theory has been touted simply for large financial gains and believed by the masses. It originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s due to political pressure in the medical industry to find a cause for coronary artery disease (CAD), which was becoming the No. 1 killer of Americans. The mild correlation made between high cholesterol and CAD in middle-aged men was enough to form the basis of a public campaign.

The problem is that no one ever proved causation, but only a correlation. Scientifically speaking, you could have argued that CAD causes high cholesterol. But that would have been equally wrong.

Neglected Report

You probably never heard about the 1964 report by the famous heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, in Houston. He and his colleagues studied 1,700 surgical patients only to find no correlation between their blood cholesterol levels and the extent of CAD. This was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. [1] This is consistent with the fact that about 50 percent of people hospitalized for heart attacks or undergoing CABG (coronary artery by-bass graft) surgery have normal cholesterol levels.

Furthermore, in 1992, Dr. William P. Castelli, former director of the Framingham Study, reported a similar discovery: “…in Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol…We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least, and were the most physically active.” [2] This is the exact opposite of what people are being told. This does not mean that high consumption of animal meat is going to lower your heart disease risk, because animal meat in high amounts triggers inflammatory processes, while consuming fresh fruits and vegetables and raw foods lowers inflammation.

Powerful Myth

Yet the commercial effect of the cholesterol myth grew tremendously. Low-cholesterol foods, testing for blood cholesterol and the multibillion-dollar cholesterol-lowering drug industry became very profitable even without scientific proof of causation. Unfortunately, doctors still prescribe statin drugs to lower cholesterol when there are much better and safer ways to lower CAD risk.

Recently, I attended a seminar by Mark Houston, M.D., M.S., F.A.C.P., F.A.H.A. He teaches the courses on the functional and metabolic management of hypertension, CAD and dyslipidemia for the fellowship training of the American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine (AAAAM). The latest scientific literature clearly shows that knowing your HDL and LDL cholesterol blood levels provides no real information about cardiovascular risk. Indeed, cholesterol is involved in heart health; but the chronic inflammation, immune dysfunction and oxidative stress of the vascular system are the real culprits. Chronic infections and the consumption of inflammatory foods (such as refined sugars and processed grains) are the two main inflammatory triggers for atherosclerosis.

Only the newer, expanded lipid profile and highly sensitive C-reactive protein levels can really give you a measure of cardiovascular disease risk. The expanded profile measures the LDL particle size and number, the HDL particle size and number, and other lipoprotein subclasses — all measures of inflammation.

Therefore, LDL cholesterol is bad only if it is modified to an oxidized form. That begs the question: How do cholesterol-lowering (statin) drugs lower heart disease risk? Well, it turns out that their effectiveness is due to their anti-inflammatory effects and not cholesterol-lowering effects. Here are some classic scientific studies that help demonstrate this.

Significant Reductions

In The Heart Protection Study [3] reported in the Lancet in 2011, researchers followed 20,536 patients treated with the statin drug simvastatin. They found a significant reduction in heart attacks independent of the baseline blood level of C-reactive protein and in those who already had a low LDL cholesterol level.

A whole set of studies from peer-reviewed journals [4] [5] [6] show that consuming one to seven eggs per week (lots of cholesterol) does not increase the risk of dying from CVD or stroke in men or women. Better yet, there was a trend for men with higher egg consumption to have even a lower rate of stroke. In people with pre-existing obesity, diabetes or insulin resistance, there were a higher number of CAD deaths than normal in comparison with the total population.

A 2009 scientific article [7] published in Current Atherosclerosis Reports from the Framingham Heart Study, the Lipid Research Clinics Study and Male Health Professionals Study all showed that dietary cholesterol has little to no effect on the risk for CAD. However, eating foods with lots of trans-fatty acids (hydrogenated oils) significantly increases the risk for CAD; substitution of saturated fat with refined carbohydrates increases CAD; and very low saturated fat actually increases the risk for hemorrhagic stroke.

Negligible Impact

Earlier in 2001, the British Medical Journal reported a systemic review [8] of 27 randomized clinical controlled trials with a total of 3,902 people who reduced or modified their dietary fat intake for longer than two years, looking at the effect this had on deaths from CAD. The effect was almost negligible: mortality reduced a mere 2 percent!

Now, consider the fact that cholesterol conveys health benefits. In the new specialty of anti-aging and hormone-balancing medicine, we know that low cholesterol in the diet is largely to blame for insufficient production of steroid hormones. See the accompanying metabolic pathway chart. The hormones in red are the ones we measure and replace with supplementation to reverse a large number of illness signs and symptoms.



Source: Michael Cutler’s notes from Fellowship training by AAAAM


You must have sufficient cholesterol in your diet to make sufficient amounts of these critically important hormones: progesterone, aldosterone, cortisol, DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), testosterone and the estrogens. As you can see, they all are manufactured from cholesterol, which you must get from your diet. I‘ll further discuss these hormones and hormone balancing in my next article.

To your best health,
Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

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[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14172263

[2] http://www.survivediabetes.com/Essay/On%20the%20possibility%20of%20a%20nut.html

[3] http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)62174-5/abstract

[4] http://www.springerlink.com/content/y0864165p27515w5/

[5] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10479227

[6] http://www.bmj.com/content/300/6727/771

[7] http://pubget.com/paper/19852882

[8] http://www.bmj.com/content/322/7289/757.full

http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/debunking-the-cholesterol-myth/

Why are trans fats still legal in the UK?

 
Dying for a burger? Why are trans fats still legal in the UK?

The trans fats in junk food are responsible for the deaths of around 7,000 people a year in the UK – and teenagers are most at risk. Elsewhere, these toxic substances are banned. So why are they still legal in this country?

Investigation by Clare Dwyer Hogg

Saturday 10 September 2011

When the comedian Micky Flanagan reels out his gag about craving chicken from a local takeaway, he always gets a laugh. Desperate for food, he has to run the gauntlet of teenagers outside. "Teenagers love chicken," he says, imitating the hunched-up shoulders, hands in pockets, hood-pulled-low look so beloved of that age group. He does the mandatory teenage walk across the stage, a kind of stiff-legged bounce. They're the "chicken children", he says. "They come at you from the side." His observational humour is spot-on: takeaways have some sort of gravitational pull for a lot of teens as they spurt up, always starving. And if the food is cheap? All the better.


Cheap and greasy aside, it should be a reasonable assumption that the convenience food and snacks British teenagers might be inclined to eat – while not exactly coming top of the healthy eating list – won't contain any substances that are actually toxic. If you're raising your children in Denmark, for instance, or Switzerland, or even New York City, with its plethora of delis and fast-food outlets, you could be pretty sure that this was true: the law says so. But if they're eating food in the UK, it's best not to assume so. Within many shop-bought pastries, cakes, doughnuts, crisps, processed meats, soups, frozen food, biscuits, chocolate bars, breakfast cereals and takeaway food, exists an ingredient that the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared toxic in 2009. It's hydrogenated vegetable oil, otherwise known as trans fat, and it doesn't even have to appear clearly on ingredients labels. Have a look, and you might find it called 'shortening', or 'hydrogenated fats', maybe 'hydrogenated vegetable oils' (HVOs), perhaps 'partially hydrogenated vegetable oils' (PHVOs), or... not mentioned at all.

Whatever they choose to call it (there's no regulated terminology) it's one of the food industry's handiest industrial ingredients. The process of hydrogenation, in use since about 1900, works miracles: it hardens up liquid oil, making it last much longer, so that it increases shelf-life; it's significantly cheaper than using butter or non-industrialised ingredients; and it willingly transforms according to what a particular food might need – it can make a doughnut glaze more velvety, increase the bulk of a pastry, or add bite to something crunchy. But when it's ingested, our bodies don't know what to do with it. It's toxic, so it clogs up arteries, raises 'bad' cholesterol, and reduces 'good' cholesterol. Its nutritional values are zero. Experts have compared it to eating candle wax or melted Tupperware.

Which is why trans fats have been banned in Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Sweden, Austria, New York City, Seattle, and the state of California. But not in the UK. Here, last year, the NHS watchdog NICE published recommendations that the Government completely eliminate industrialised trans fats from processed food and takeaways. Paul Lincoln, Guidance Developer and Chief Executive of the National Heart Forum, who was on the board, said at the time that, among other things, the recommendations were to "help to promote and protect the health of children and young people, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. We have the public health evidence on how to virtually eliminate these conditions [heart disease and stroke], so it's vital to take action now to save lives." He was making a link between the presence of trans fats in certain types of food and how socio-economics had a real bearing on who would be eating those foods.

That idea holds, if the shops that were first to ban trans fats are anything to go by. Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, and the Co-operative are now completely free of trans fats in their own brands, and were so long before the Government initiative. They're undeniably upmarket. And because there isn't an outright ban across the country, it makes sense to conclude that it depends where you shop whether your everyday food will contain trans fats or not.

But that's if you know what they are. Even if you do know, label-reading takes a certain type of dedication. Teenagers are as capable of reading a label as the rest of us, but if most adults don't know what trans fats are, it's fair to say that teenagers just might be thinking about other things. In the light of last month's findings that about 40 per cent of us will be obese by 2030, Lincoln's hopes have an even darker shadow cast over them. The teenagers today are the adults of tomorrow. The NICE report predicted that of the 150,000 cardiovascular disease deaths this year, 40,000 could be preventable, with a combination of eliminating industrial trans fats, and lowering salt and saturated fat intake. That would save the NHS over £1bn. But the recommendations weren't greeted happily by the food industry, represented by the Food and Drink Federation. When the report was published, spokesman Julian Hunt told the BBC, "We're surprised that NICE has found the time and the money to develop guidance that seems to be out of touch with the reality of what has been happening for many years". He explained that big business was already dropping the trans fat levels to below the levels that the WHO recommended. He was referring to the upmost levels of 2 per cent (trans fats do occur in some foods naturally in small amounts) that the food industry were seeking to comply with.

The president of the Royal College of Physicians, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, responded equally strongly to support the NICE findings, saying the recommendations would cost "the public purse little to nothing" and that "profits of private firms ought not to take precedence when compared with the health of the more than four million people at risk in this country". Regardless, instead of an outright ban, the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley launched, on 15 March this year, the Public Health Responsibility Deal, under which signatories sign a voluntary pledge to remove artificial trans fats by the end of the year. Asda, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Tesco, Unilever and United Biscuits are some of 73 businesses who have agreed to do so.

The forerunner to this, a draft health manifesto written by a group Lansley drew together called the Public Health Commission, had already involved private business in the consultation process. Led by David Lewis, chairman of Unilever UK, it was a mix of health professionals and big business, including Tesco, Asda and Diageo. This led to conspiracy theories, and one accusation printed in Private Eye magazine in July 2010, suggesting that until 2009, when he was still in opposition, Andrew Lansley was receiving £134 an hour for his services to an advertising agency that represented Walkers crisps, Pizza Hut, Mars and others. "According to the register of members' interests," Private Eye wrote, "the then opposition health spokesman supplemented his parliamentary salary earning around a £1,000 a month from a London 'Digital Marketing Agency' called Profero for 'attending board meetings and advising on strategy and vision'."

Andrew Lansley was not available for interview for this article, but on his role for Profero, an aide said "all these interests were declared before the general election" and Lansley was "not in any client facing role, but was a non-executive director". A spokesperson from the Department of Health answered questions over e-mail about the Public Health Commission. Like the Food and Drink Federation, they pointed to "dramatic reductions in trans fats levels in foods... by UK businesses", and justified a voluntary approach as "more proportionate" than an outright ban. They noted, "intakes of trans fats are well within recommended levels", referring to research that says average intakes for adults and children across the UK (0.8 per cent) are around half the maximum average recommended by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.

But many health professionals are not happy with the voluntary nature of the deal. Simon Capewell, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool, was on the NICE body that recommended a ban, and has a problem with using average intakes as a justification. There are pockets of ethnic minorities, young people and those in deprived areas, he says, who will be consistently eating food with higher levels of trans fats. Their intake, when lumped in with the whole country, may produce an average that is apparently low, but that doesn't mean it's representative of what's happening on the ground. "Mr Lansley and the Department of Health have shifted the focus to supermarkets and the big-hitters," he says. "But at the other end, small outlets for fast food, takeaways, kebabs, fry-ups? Heaven knows what's happening. When you measure trans fat, sometimes it's low and sometimes it's high... The Government's current approach is not to measure it at all, but instead pretend it's not happening."

The problem with the little takeaways and local chicken shops is that often the oil they use to fry their food contains trans fats. And the more the oil is heated and reheated, the more trans fats increase. By definition, the more sloppy the practices of the particular café, the higher the content of trans fats. Are these the places that teenagers are likely to shop, or will they choose Waitrose and M&S down the road? "Young folk think they'll live forever," says Capewell. "They have limited money and limited information from government; junk food is cheap and convenient. This is also increasing the inequality between rich and poor."

By contrast, in Iceland, Denmark and Sweden, among others, it doesn't matter where you choose to get snacks or fast food: a very low limit in the amount of trans fats that are legally allowed in cooking oil – less than 2 per cent – means the amount that any one person ingests is trivial. In fact, data shows that in Demark, consumption of trans fats has dropped to around zero. Back in the UK, in a British Medical Journal (BMJ) editorial last year, Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, researching at Harvard University, suggested that industrial trans fats are killing about 7,000 Britons a year. "There's amazing government complacency in the UK," Capewell says. "[Trans fat intake is] down to 1 per cent on average, yet it's still killing 5,000-7,000 people a year... The link between smoking and lung cancer was discovered in 1952, but tobacco advertising was not banned until 2004. The industry had a 50-year successful run of ... voluntary agreements. Does Mr Lansley want to repeat that for his friends in the food industry?" Dr Mozaffarian, speaking to me over e-mail, agreed: "Voluntary efforts can help but do not work nearly as well as direct limits," he writes. "The influence of industry lobbying is the only plausible reason not to institute a ban. There is no reason to have industrially-produced trans fats in the food supply."

Health professionals seem in no doubt that trans fats are bad news. Dr Pelham Barton, writing in the BMJ on 28 July, believes that "a strategy to reduce consumption of industrial TFAs [trans fats] by even 1 per cent of total energy intake would be predicted to prevent 11,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths annually in England alone". Barton was concerned, too, at the effects these toxic substances are having on young people. He called for a national policy to "protect all susceptible populations including children and socio-economically disadvantaged sub-groups". This is just one voice among many.

One notable pioneer in the field is Doctor Alex Richardson at Oxford University. A senior research fellow, and founder director of the charity, Food and Behaviour Research, she's interested not just in what happens to the body when trans fat are ingested, but their effects on the brain. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to teenagers, and those with attention-deficit problems. Given that 60 per cent of the brain's dry mass is fat, she says, what type of fat we eat matters. "The problem is the industrialisation of food, when food is turned into a commodity," Richardson says. "Good foods make bad commodities; good commodities make bad foods."

She describes partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils as "twisting, warping, making the molecule the wrong shape". And the shapes of molecules are, she says, hugely important. "It's like a key that needs to fit a lock, and trans fats are literally twisted, warped versions of natural polyunsaturates... That makes them bad." She cites research last year into how trans fats react with some drugs, which showed that in combination with repeated amphetamine use, trans fats exacerbate the well-known psychotic effects. "This is a common street drug, and we also give amphetamines to ADHD children, albeit at much lower doses," she says, referring to medications like Ritalin. "This study showed that trans fats can increase the physical brain damage and manic behaviour associated with amphetamine abuse." She points to other research, outlined in a paper this year, which shows that in students with a remarkably low average intake of trans fats (just 0.4 per cent of calories), their risk of depression over six years of follow-up was directly linked to their trans fats intake in a dose-dependent manner. "There was a 50 per cent increase in depression in the highest consumers of these toxic substances versus the lowest," Dr Richardson says. "How can this and the abundant evidence of physical health problems continue to be ignored, when there's literally no benefit to trans fats, apart from to the food industry profits?"

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/dying-for-a-burger-why-are-trans-fats-still-legal-in-the-uk-2351306.html

Experience the Many Benefits of Coconut Oil

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Uploaded by mercola on Sep 16, 2007

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/current.aspx Internationally renowned natural health physician and Mercola.com founder Dr. Joseph Mercola points out that coconut oil is truly the healthiest oil you can consume because it is rich in lauric acid, which is known for being antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal, and contains no trans fat.
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Coconut Oil As Skin Moisturizer?



Uploaded by mercola on Jan 20, 2007

http://www.mercola.com/ Internationally renowned natural health physician Dr. Joseph Mercola explains that many products have soy oil and other potentially toxic elements in them and coconut oil is a great alternative.

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The 22 Worst Foods for Trans Fat

Trans fat is dangerous

By Amanda MacMillan

Trans fat can make food taste good, last longer on grocery-store shelves, and more hazardous for your heart.

"Trans fats raise your bad cholesterol just like saturated fats, but they also increase inflammation and lower the good cholesterol that protects us against heart disease," says Andrea Giancoli, RD, MPH, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, in Hermosa Beach, Calif.

The good news? Many food manufacturers and fast-food chains have removed or reduced trans fat. But it still lurks in many foods—here are 22 to watch.

 FRENCH FRIES

Trans fat is made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil.

Many restaurant chains have stopped frying food in hydrogenated oils, and recent research found that five in particular—McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Jack in the Box, and Dairy Queen—had significantly reduced trans-fat levels in french fries.

But others have been slow to embrace the trend: A large Cajun fries from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, for example, still contains 3.5 grams of trans fat.

Anything fried or battered

Nutritional information might be harder to find for independent restaurants and local eateries than the big chains, says Giancoli, so it's smart to assume that anything fried or battered may have trans fat.

"You can certainly ask about the oil that the food is fried in," she says. "But even if they say vegetable oil, it could still be hydrogenated."

Your best bet, she adds, is generally to limit consumption of fried foods, which aren't the best for you, trans fat or not.

  

Pie and piecrust

Baked products are notorious for containing trans fat, but many major restaurant chains (such as McDonald's and Burger King) have removed hydrogenated oils from their apple pies.

You can still find the trans-fat varieties in your grocery store, however: Many varieties of Marie Callender’s frozen fruit and cream pies have between 2 and 4.5 grams of trans fat per serving.

As for piecrust, Pillsbury Pet-Ritz Frozen Deep Dish All Vegetable piecrust contains 1.5 grams of trans fat per serving. Look for one without hydrogenated oils in the ingredients list.

 

Margarine sticks

Not so long ago, margarine was marketed as a healthier alternative to butter because it's made from vegetable oil instead of dairy or animal products. But for the margarine to maintain its solid form, many brands (especially stick varieties) depend on hydrogenated oils and are high in trans fat and/or saturated fat.

Steer clear of Shedd’s Spread Country Crock Spreadable Sticks (2 grams trans fat per serving), Blue Bonnet Regular Sticks (1.5 grams per serving), Land O'Lakes margarine sticks (2.5 grams per serving), and Fleischmann's original stick margarine (1.5 grams per serving), and instead opt for whipped, reduced-fat, or fat-free soft spreads. Get more tips here: Butter vs. Margarine: How to Choose.

Shortening

Crisco has come a long way in terms of trans fat—so far, in fact, that according to the label, the popular shortening now contains 0 grams. But a closer look at the ingredients list shows that partially hydrogenated oils are still there.

Companies are allowed to round down and put “0 grams” on the nutrition label if their product has less than .5 grams of trans fat per serving. But if you do a lot of baking—or a lot of eating once the cookies come out of the oven—those trace amounts can add up to unhealthy levels.

Cake mixes and frostings

Even if you find a cake or muffin mix that's trans fat-free, you could still see the telltale word "shortening" on many ingredients lists, which means there are trace amounts.

Plus, you still need to worry about how you're going to top your creation. Duncan Hines's frostings contain 1.5 grams per serving, while Betty Crocker's contain up to 2 grams. (Betty Crocker's homestyle fluffy white frosting mix, however, is trans fat-free.)

Pancakes and waffles

Pancake and waffle mixes, too, often contain hydrogenated oils.

Bisquick's original pancake mix still contains 1.5 grams trans fat per serving, so opt for the newer (and trans-fat free) Bisquick Complete, Gluten Free, or Heart Smart formulas.

Fried chicken

Although you are less likely to find trans fat in frozen fried chicken, including Banquet and Walmart brands, there are still some offenders out there: Kid Cuisine All American Fried Chicken meal—a children's product—has 1 gram of trans fat.

Dining out at a restaurant? The same rules that apply to french fries apply to fried chicken (and fried fish, for that matter), says Giancoli. Unless you know an establishment does not fry in hydrogenated oils, assume that it does—or ask for clarification.

Ice cream

Certain flavors of Häagen-Dazs ice cream—including pineapple-coconut, cherry-vanilla, caramel cone, green tea, and even plain old vanilla—contain 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. But if you read the ingredients list, the telltale listing of partially hydrogenated oils is missing.

That is probably because there are naturally occurring trans fats in fat-containing dairy products, says Giancoli. However, it is not clear if these naturally occurring trans fats are as bad for you as the trans fats in processed food. They're high in calories, however, so you should still watch your intake.

Nondairy creamers

For coffee lovers, nondairy creamers can become an integral part of your morning. Over time, however, they can also add a considerable amount of trans fat to your diet. Take Coffee-Mate products, for example: Each serving contains 0 grams trans fat, yet, for most flavors (even the fat-free and low-fat varieties), partially hydrogenated oils are the second or third ingredient listed.

"At breakfast when you're making coffee, you're not usually thinking about nutrition or reading labels," says Giancoli. "The amounts can really sneak up on you if you drink a lot of coffee."

Microwave popcorn

Popcorn in itself is a healthy snack, and a serving of whole grains to boot. But when you pour on the gooey toppings, there's no telling what you're really adding.

Case in point: Orville Redenbacher's microwave popcorn. The Pour Over Movie Theater butter flavor contains 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, and the Pour Over Caramel flavor contains 1.5 grams.

Pop Secret is even worse: The butter and extra-butter flavors each contain 5 grams of trans fat per serving—about 15 grams per bag!

Ground beef

Just as with dairy products, beef can also contain natural trans fat. So although the big chains have worked hard to remove hydrogenated oils from their fried foods, most restaurant burgers still contain significant levels of trans fat.

You'll also find trans fat in many frozen burgers, beef sausages, beef hot dogs, and ground beef.

"Most of us should be reducing our consumption of animal products anyway, so it's a good idea to limit these products and choose plant-based foods instead," says Giancoli.

Cookies

Oreos phased out trans fat in 2006 after Kraft Foods was sued by the Campaign to Ban Partially Hydrogenated Oils. (The lawsuit was dismissed.) Chips Ahoy!, Nilla Wafers, and Girl Scout cookies also now fall below 0.5 grams per serving, although some still contain partially hydrogenated oils.

Check other store-bought cookies and cookie dough: Carr's ginger-lemon creme cookies contain 2 grams of trans fat per serving and Pillsbury's Ready To Bake cookies contain up to 2.5 grams of trans fat per serving. "Anything that can sit on a shelf or in a package for a while needs to be stabilized, which often means it's hydrogenated," Giancoli says.

BISCUITS AND SWEETROLLS

Many chains—Burger King, McDonald's, and Popeyes—now offer biscuits with 0 grams of trans fat per serving. Although most Cinnabon locations are trans fat–free (including all locations in California and New York), it still creeps into the products at some. Krispy Kreme's large cinnamon and pecan rolls still have 1 gram each.

And check the grocery-store type. Pillsbury's refrigerated Grands! Homestyle Butter Tastin' and Grands! Homestyle Buttermilk contain 3 grams each. The brand's caramel and Cinnabon cinnamon rolls with icing contain 1 and 2 grams of trans fat per serving, respectively, and many of the varieties that list 0 grams still contain hydrogenated oil.

Breakfast sandwiches

Doughnuts are often the poster-child food for trans fat, but in 2007, Dunkin' Donuts reformulated their menu so most items now contain 0 grams per serving (or at least fall below 0.5 grams).

Unfortunately that's not always true for breakfast sandwiches served on biscuits, such as Burger King's, some of which contain 1 gram of trans fat. And at the grocery store, steer clear of Jimmy Dean packaged sandwiches, which have up to 3 grams of trans fat each.

Frozen or creamy beverages

Krispy Kreme has also reduced trans fats in their doughnuts to below 0.5 grams per serving, but there's still a surprising non-doughnut source of trans fat on their menu—the worst item on our list, in fact.

A 20-ounce Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Arctic Avalanche contains a whopping 9 grams of trans fat. Across the board, many of the restaurant shakes and creamy drinks we looked at contained a gram or two (hot chocolate beverages too), but nothing came close to this over-the-top blend of soft-serve ice cream and cookie dough mix-ins.

Meat sticks

You're packing more than just protein when you snap into a Slim Jim: The Giant size Dare and Monster versions of this jerky strip contain 1 and either 1.5 or 2 grams of trans fat, respectively. (The original, smaller snack sticks also contain trans fat, which occurs naturally in beef, in smaller amounts.)

Instead of processed meat sticks, aim to eat more plant-based snacks such as fruit or raw vegetables. And get most of your protein from heart-healthy fish, poultry, lentils, soybeans, and nuts.

CRACKERS

Nabisco's Premium Saltines, Stoned Wheat Thins, and Ritz have trans-fat levels below 0.5 grams per serving, but some varieties contain partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil in their ingredients lists. If you eat more than a few crackers, even this small amount will add up.

To be sure you're buying crackers that contain no trans fat, Giancoli suggests reading the ingredients list before even looking at the nutrition label. Choose snacks that avoid hydrogenated oils altogether, such as Stacy's Pita Chips or Annie's Bunnies.

Frozen dinners

"Read labels carefully when you're in the frozen-foods section," says Giancoli. They are likely to contain trans fat not just to make the foods more stable but also to give them a fattier feel in your mouth, she adds.

Frozen dinners and microwave meals are some of the biggest problems. Marie Callender's country fried beef, grilled chicken bake, tortellini Romano, and fettuccini alfredo dinners, for example, all contain at least 0.5 grams of trans fat each. 

 

Asian crunchy noodles

La Choy's ready-to-eat chow mein and rice noodles can provide a tasty crunch in salads or stir-fries, but they also deliver 1.5 grams of trans fat per 1/2-cup serving. (For a similar but heart-healthy crunch, try slivered almonds instead.)

Hydrogenated oils can also lurk in packages of ramen noodles and microwave soup

 

Canned chili

Several varieties of Wolf Brand canned chili—with and without beans—contain between 1 and 1.5 grams of trans fat per serving.

A better bet is the company's trans-fat free turkey chili, which also has fewer calories and less saturated fat. (Or make your own with one of these healthy chili recipes!)

Packaged pudding

Snack Pack's Dessert Twists Caramel Cream Pudding may be "made with real nonfat milk," but it's far from a health food. The caramel cream flavor contains 1 gram of trans fat, and all flavors pack between 8% and 10% of your daily allowance for saturated fat.

The brand's other flavors all claim no trans fat on their nutrition labels, but it's a good idea to read the ingredients list of any pudding or creamy dessert to rule out low levels of hydrogenated oils flying under the radar.

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20533295,00.html
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