Trans fatty acids, or simply "trans fats," are considered by many doctors to be the absolute worst thing you can put into your body. Trans fat is bad for your cardiovascular heath. Trans fatty acids lower your HDL, or "good," cholesterol while increasing your LDL, or "bad," cholesterol. While it may be impossible to completely avoid trans fat, you should know which foods and which types of food are sources of trans fatty acids.
Margarine
Once considered a healthful alternative to butter because it is lower in calories, stick margarine is extremely high in trans fatty acids. Butter is slightly better in terms of trans fat but hardly desirable because it contains large amounts of saturated fat. Olive oil, canola oil and grapeseed are all better options to cook in. The Harvard School of Public Health says that soft-tub margarine has little to no trans fat.
Commercial Desserts
Commercial desserts and commercial baked goods are the biggest source of trans fat for Americans, according to the Virginia Cooperative Extension and Virginia Tech University. Store-bought cookies, cakes, doughnuts and anything with frosting made from vegetable shortening will have an extremely high amount of trans fat. Snack foods such as crackers also tend to be high in trans fat. The Harvard School of Public Health suggests that you assume all commercially prepared baked foods or snack foods contain trans fat unless specified otherwise.
Fast Food
Fast-food chains are notorious for deep frying their food in vegetable oil that is high in trans fatty acids. Hamburgers, fried chicken, fish sandwiches, french fries and any other food that is deep fried at a fast-food restaurant usually has high amounts of trans fatty acids. While many of the more popular fast-food chains have started cooking without trans fat, many other places still do. You will have to check the nutritional information at each individual place to determine for sure. Trans fat is certainly not limited to fast-food chains, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Vegetable oil with trans fat is a mainstay in many restaurants.
Foods With Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil
Any foods that include partially hydrogenated vegetable oil as an ingredient have trans fat. A look at the ingredients list will tell you if the oil is in the food. The University of Maryland Medical Center suggests that you look for terms such as "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" soybean, canola, cottonseed or vegetable oil. If any of these terms are among the first three or four ingredients, it usually means that there is a lot of trans fat in the food product.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Trans Fat is Double Trouble for Your Heart Health
- Virginia Cooperative Extension: Trans Fats and the Food Label
- Harvard School of Public Health: Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, In with the Good
- Harvard School of Public Health: Shining the Spotlight on Trans Fats
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Tips to Spot Hydrogenated Fat/Trans Fat in Foods
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