trans fat rant
The other day I learned about why 'trans' fat occurs and what the name refers to.
For a long time I pictured something sleazy going on...like a married man sneaking off in middle of the night to put on a wig and lipstick for a night out on the town---but with fat, of course.
I understand margarine can be a great way to be 'fake butter' but they take a healthy plant oil, add a bunch of hydrogen atoms until it becomes practically 'saturated fat.' And this also changes the molecular structure of the fat, causing the hydrogen to be in 'trans' or kitty corner alignment instead of directly neighboring.
Unfortunately, that yummy (well overrated to me..) margarine is going to contribute to clogging arteries if you spread it on every bran muffin, toast, or eat it by the stick with sugar. ( Aye dios mio, who does that and why?)
So I feel butter about the whole 'trans' fat definition. I no longer feel like calling the sleeping wife of trans fat. I feel like trans fat's the overobsessed plastic surgery type.
I want to let'm know, you're perfect the way you are--stay a vegetable oil! Don't let all the tabloids, KFCs, and Country crocks make you feel you inferior! I will dip my bread in you.
So I feel butter about the whole 'trans' fat definition. I no longer feel like calling the sleeping wife of trans fat. I feel like trans fat's the overobsessed plastic surgery type.
Did you mean to put "butter" or "better"?
And are you saying you're ok with mr. trans fat? I guess it's fine if in moderation, right? Isn't everything?!
So I feel butter about the whole 'trans' fat definition. I no longer feel like calling the sleeping wife of trans fat. I feel like trans fat's the overobsessed plastic surgery type.
Did you mean to put "butter" or "better"?
And are you saying you're ok with mr. trans fat? I guess it's fine if in moderation, right? Isn't everything?!
Trans fats are worse than fats that occur naturally (saturated) they are not as easy to metabolize.
So I would say that moderation isn't enough. It's like eating pretend food, not only are you not getting the good fats that you need, you are ingesting something fake that is hard to metabolize.
Think about it this way... processed foods lose nutrition. Trans fat is just a way of (over)processing fat. Therefore losing any nutritional value it had. Yep, fats have nutritional value.
Yes, I understand the process of hydrogenation doesn't sound so terrible. You're just adding extra hydrogen in, right?
...
Saturated fat - is call "saturated" because it's carbon atom is bonded to the max amount of hydrogen atoms possible (the carbon atom is "saturated" with hydrogen)
Unsaturated fat - is not saturated by hydrogen atoms. It will only have one hydrogen atom and because of it's empty space (where the second hydrogen would have gone) it double bonds with other carbon atoms. This is what gives each the structure is has (solid or liquid at different temps)
Trans fat - is an unsaturated fat that has hydrogen atoms forced into it's empty spaces, but it doesn't become saturated the whole molecule literally twists as a result. It is not known why transfat is bad for your health biochemically speaking. But many results and behaviors have been noted. For example, Trans fat, like saturated fat raises your levels of LDL (bad chol.), but it ALSO makes HDL (good chol.) levels go down! Saturated fat doesn't lower HDL. A low ratio is what you want and trans fat specifically increases the ratio all by itself!
Just because it's still a "fat" and we've ONLY added a hydrogen atom or two, doesn't mean it's OK.
Salt= sodium chloride
We can eat salt, that doesn't mean that it's OK to eat sodium OR chlorine.
"I can't believe it's not *natural*!" How do they expect us to swallow this crap??? (The sad thing is that butter is less bad for you than hydrogentated margarine...)
I hate how they can turn lovely vegetable oils into evil hydrogenated stuff.
I wish more people cared about what they put into their bodies (like I do). If only more people knew about what trans fat does to you - then we might be able to boycott it. But so many people don't give a damn. :'(
Well all I know is, I saw a documentary in which they went down into the sewers of London and demonstrated how partially hydrogenated veg oils which are poured away from takeaway food shops, forms a hard, thick crust on top of the other sludge. And not even the sewer rats will eat it.
I don't think I care to eat something a sewer rat would reject. ???
I don't think I care to eat something a sewer rat would reject. ???
true, true!
I don't like margarine. I enjoy a piece of bread with a little bit of olive oil once in a while, or SESAME OIL if I make cold noodles!! But I don't cook with butter, margarine, or oil.
Why do we have to process EVERYTHING in america? Why white bread? white sugar? enriched white flour tortillas? high fructose corn syrup? enhanced chicken breasts? And why on earth does it trickle into almost everyfood one eats? It's tiring to have to spend the time checking labels---things should just be natural whether vegetarian, vegan, or chalk full of meat. We shouldn't need to hydrogenate, bleach, strip of minerals, or be bombarded with hidden sugars whether we're eating a cracker or a birthday cake.
Ugh, time for school :(
I don't like margarine. I enjoy a piece of bread with a little bit of olive oil once in a while, or SESAME OIL if I make cold noodles!! But I don't cook with butter, margarine, or oil.
Why do we have to process EVERYTHING in america? Why white bread? white sugar? enriched white flour tortillas? high fructose corn syrup? enhanced chicken breasts? And why on earth does it trickle into almost everyfood one eats? It's tiring to have to spend the time checking labels---things should just be natural whether vegetarian, vegan, or chalk full of meat. We shouldn't need to hydrogenate, bleach, strip of minerals, or be bombarded with hidden sugars whether we're eating a cracker or a birthday cake.
Ugh, time for school :(
I concur. Our government is keeping it's people sick and fat. Bleh.
I hate transfats!!! AHHH! But even worse than things that have transfats on the label, are the things that are labeled "Transfat free," when they are really not! Companies can say "transfat free" if there is less than .5 g per serving. They often do this by adjusting the serving size. Someone who reads labels all the time (crazy vegans... :D) will notice this, b/c of the "partially hydrogenated..." in the ingredient list, but the average person who just reads the nutrition label won't know! They think they are making a healthier choice, when really, they are just misinformed. THAT PISSES ME OFF!! >:(
To solve this dilemma, two words:
EARTH BALANCE
:D ;D :D ;D :D
To solve this dilemma, two words:
EARTH BALANCE
Gee I wish I could get Earth Balance in NZ; it sounds spiffy. The only non-hydrogenated margarine I can find in the stores is a weird concoction of sunflower, safflower and flaxseed oils which tastes w-e-i-r-d. I don't know if I'll get used to the flavour... for now I'm just using as little as possible on my toast, and alternating with brushing on cold-pressed sunflower oil. This margarine is also freakin' expensive. :-\
Is it too much to ask to have a margarine made of nice organic mild-tasting oils (sunflower, olive etc.)? I don't want to spread my toast with bizarre health food products. :P
Smart Balance is also good and shows up more in conventional grocery stores. And any margarine that Whole Foods carries will not have hydrogenated oils.
The one thing that bugs me about some vegan cookbooks - especially those that have a lot of baked goods in them - is that dumb Crisco ingredient. I mean, part of the reason I went vegan was for health. I'm not about to add Crisco into the works just because I can't use butter for pie crust.
I, too, don't understand why everything is so overprocessed here. Natural = good. What part of that knowledge are people missing out on?
if you are going to get smart balance it has to be light. the normal one isn't vegan.
beanthai - I think we have so much processed food because it is cheaper to produce and (ta-da) the we (American people) have accepted it! The American people have taken it to their hearts(literally) and into their stomachs. All the food you see before you - we have readily accepted and purchased and consumed. That's why there is so much processed food. Also, that's why there is so much heart disease, diabetes and obesity. When we stop accepting food like this, it will stop being produced. It's terrible, but we have to wait until it is outlawed to stop eating it.
Earth Balance is awesome... my favorite butter substitute. Are you sure processed food is cheaper Laurier? I mean, they have to put some effort into altering it in the first place, and this has to cost money, but I do see that whole grain and unbleached, and unbromated flours are cheaper, but probably because they use higher quality grains rather than genetically engineered, government subsidized garbage grains.
Camillus, I'm thinking about things like macaroni and cheese from a box. Sometimes you can get a box for 50 cents. Ramen noodles, meatstuff in a can (? just the thought makes me shiver), hot dogs on sale are pretty inexpensive. You can buy apples at $1.69 a pound and maybe get 2 or 3 or you can buy 3 boxes of mac and cheese. Statistics show that in lower-income neighborhoods foods like this sell better. A single, working mom with 3 kids can get a lot of mileage out of a few boxes of mac and cheese. I have a friend who, when I shop with her, says things like - This mac and cheese ought to be good for the kids because it has calcium. I try to explain it also has lots of sugar, salt and empty calories and the calcium really lies in the milk you mix the bright orange cheese with. You can buy a can of chili-mac (I think that's what it is called) that you can put over Wonderbread, for the price of a head of lettuce in my neighborhood. That's what I mean when I say bad food costs less. Hmmmm, I think you can still get a whole "meal" at McDonald's for under $5.00.
Oh, yea, I have noticed that too. The more crap there is in something, the cheaper it is. A box or organic, all natural mac and cheese is 3 times as much as the Kraft kind. A bag of all natural, organic, veggie chips is 3 times as much as greasy, trans fat laden, potato chips.
Then there are places like the dollar store, selling processed junk for a buck.
It's ridiculous. The healthier, natural alternative is always so much more expensive. Partly, this is because more workers are needed for the natural stuff, i.e. pesticides aren't used so more man power is needed to maintain the crop. But, the other issue is that processed food has dominanted the market. Anytime a lot of people want something, prices will be cheap. More people choose processed food. So, natural, organic companies have to sell at a higher price in order to sustain a profit and remain in business. Plus, processed food is basically the same crop (corn) put together in a variety of ways. Corn is cheap to grow, cheap to buy, and infinite in possibilities.
Yes, processed food is cheaper to purchase, but not cheaper to produce. I wasn't trying to contradict you, I was just trying to point that the reasons these foods are cheaper all come out of our pocketbook anyway, whether by health problems, or because government subsidies are using our tax dollars.
so this is sort of off-topic but still related...I was just wondering if anyone knows about the saturated fat content in Luna bars...obviously we've all heard to stay away from sat. fat, but yet it's in bars that are supposed to be all natural and good for you...what do you guys think about this? Cuz there are like 3 grams of sat fat in these "health bars"...
Yes Camillus, I wholeheartedly agree with you. We pay a very steep price for the processed food in terms of tax dollars, health-related issues, our children are heavier and more sedentary - You are right-Theoretically speaking, processed food is expensive to us all, even those who don't eat it.
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