Trans What???

     Good morning, Family...  So the latest news on the health horizon is that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to ban TRANS FATS in processed food.  The FDA feels that reducing trans fats in processed food could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease per year.  I remember years ago when the term TRANS FATS became the hot button phrase, people didn't know what it was.  And guess what?  People still don't say, "trans what"?  So let's start with the basics.

      Mayo Clinic states that trans fats are created by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil during the process called hydrogenation.  This process helps make the oil less likely to spoil.  So, when the trans fat is added to food products, it helps them stay fresh longer.  Trans fats help kick up the flavor and extend the shelf life of those chips, cookies, cheese puffs, doughnuts, french fries, cakes, pizzas, etc...  Does anyone remember awhile back--2008 to be exact--when McDonald's decided to stop using oil that contained trans fats?  I do.  You know how I remember?  I was a McDonald's french fry fanatic.  I would buy a small fry (called that the road fry) that I would eat while I was on the road to home, and then I would have the fry that came with the "meal" once I got home.  McDonald's started using the new and improved 'canola oil blend' (which was trans fat free), and those fries never tasted the same.  

     Trans fats help with the taste and freshness of food, but what we get in return is not so good for us.  Trans fats increase the "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and decrease the "good" cholesterol (HDL) which can ultimately lead to heart disease and stroke.  We are allowed to have some trans fats, but not much.  There is even a very small amount of trans fats that are found naturally in beef, lamb, and full-fat dairy products.   The recommended daily intake is 1% of your calorie intake.  If you are on a 2,000 calorie a day diet, you can have about 20 grams of trans fat per day.  How did I figure that?  Well, 1 gram of fat = 9 calories.  So, 1% of your 2,000 calories = 20 calories.  Two grams of fat = 18 calories!  There, you are done for the day.   Where can you find how many trans fat grams are in your food?  Check out the labels on your food packages.  In 2006, the FDA required that trans fat levels be disclosed on package labels.  

     Just think about this.  According to Business & Financial News report, it has been more than 50 years since the U.S. regulations governing food additives were last revised.  Since that time, the number of chemicals in the food supply has risen from less than 2,000 to an estimated 10,000.  Many of those have never been reviewed by the FDA.  Doesn't that make you wonder what the heck is going into your food?  Check this out.  Companies have the option to petition to get their ingredients "affirmed as safe" by the FDA or the companies can "declare them safe" based on their own research.  At that point the FDA has the option to challenge the declarations... Doesn't that make you want to go, hummmmmm???

     All I can say as I think about this is, if the FDA passes the law forbidding trans fats in products, there will be some products that we currently like to eat that will not make the cut, especially if their good taste is due to trans fats.  There will be a lot of us that will have to change they way we eat or at least, what we eat.  But there will be a few more healthy souls walking around the good old USA...   SMOOCHES...
(special thanks to Mayoclinic.com, Reuters.com, and WebMD.com)