What is it?  Trans fats are partially hydrogenated oils.  They are created in an industrial process by adding hydrogen to liquid oils.  Manufacturers use trans fat to make foods last longer, and it is easy and inexpensive to use.  There are some naturally occurring trans fat in some animal products, but the majority of trans fats comes from hydrogenation.

Why is it bad?  Trans fats are the worst fats.  They can raise your bad (LDL) cholesterol and decrease your good (HDL) cholesterol.  Eating trans fats increases your risk for heart disease and stroke.

Recommended levels of trans fat.  According to the Dietary Guidelines, you should keep your intake of trans fats as low as possible.  The American Heart Association recommends that less than 1% of your calories come from trans fat.  So if you need 2,000 calories / day, then no more than 20 calories should be from trans fat.  That is less than 2 grams of trans fat / day.

All of these products have “partially hydrogenated oil” in their ingredient list, but only the margarine shows that it has trans fat on the nutrition label.

How do I know if it’s in a product?  Trans fat is on the nutrition label.  The catch is that if there is less than 0.5 grams/ serving then you will only see 0 grams on the label.  This becomes a big deal when you consume more than one serving and end up eating 2-3 grams of trans fat.  To make sure you are not eating any trans fat, you must look at the ingredient list.  If partially hydrogenated is listed, then you know it has trans fat.

Common Culprits.  Biscuits, pancake mixes, margarine, icing, cake mixes, frozen baked goods, donuts, fried foods, cookies, candy, chips, and crackers.

A few years ago, the media did a really good job getting the information about trans fats to the public.  A lot of companies voluntarily cut back or eliminated trans fats.  This has helped.  The only way to know if a product has trans fat is to read the label.  So protect your family’s hearts and read the labels!

Take a look in your pantry / refrigerator.  What product did you discover has trans fat?