Trans fats’ fill-in may not be much healthier
Trans fats’ fill-in may not be much healthier
Chefs, companies turning to artery-clogging saturated fats as replacementWASHINGTON - A major change in the national diet is under way: Heart-damaging trans fat is rapidly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant food, too. But are its replacements really healthier?
It’s a tricky time for consumers, because the answer depends on the food — and some are losing trans fat only to have another artery clogger take its place, that old nemesis saturated fat.
“Right now the public has to be very careful ... if something says ‘trans-fat free,’ what else is in it?” warns Dr. Robert Eckel, past president of the American Heart Association.
Story continues below ↓advertisementTrans fat has become the new fall guy for bad nutrition. Chain restaurants are struggling to get it off the menu after New York City and Philadelphia required restaurants to phase it out by next year. Bills to restrict or ban trans fat in restaurants or school cafeterias have been introduced in at least 20 states.
At grocery stores, the government began forcing food labels to disclose the amount of trans fat in packaged foods last year, and the race was on to see which manufacturers could eliminate it first.
The irony: Americans eat about five times more saturated fat than trans fat. And while gram for gram, trans fat is considered somewhat more harmful than its cousin, too much of either greatly increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other ailments.
Trans fat is created when companies add hydrogen to liquid cooking oils to harden them for baking or for a longer shelf life, turning them into “partially hydrogenated oils.”
Fat options
There is no single substitute. So food chemists and chefs are taste testing their way through different cooking oils and fats — both naturally occurring ones and chemically modified ones — to find replacements that don’t alter each food’s taste or texture.What are the options? There are some heart-healthier oils, called monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils — such as olive, canola or soybean oils. Unlike trans and saturated fats, these liquid oils don’t raise levels of so-called bad cholesterol, or LDL cholesterol.
Frying chicken in canola or soybean oil instead of partially hydrogenated shortening is an easy switch.
But you can’t make, say, a pie crust with olive oil. Industry is finding that the toughest foods to rid of trans fat are baked goods, such as pastries, cookies and pizza crusts.
Substituting animal fats, such as butter or lard, or tropical oils such as palm or coconut oil may keep the taste, but they are really high in saturated fat.
Calculate your fat
And that’s where the concern comes in. Merely substituting saturated fat for the trans doesn’t give the food more bad fat altogether than before, but it doesn’t make it a healthy choice either, Eckel explains.So the heart association is beginning a major campaign to teach consumers about the different fats and how to tell what foods they’re in. (It’s partly funded by a 2005 court settlement in which McDonald’s was accused of being too slow to remove trans fat.)
How much fat is too much? Federal guidelines say between 25 percent and 35 percent of total daily calories should come from fats, but the bad fats should make up only a fraction of that. The heart association says less than 7 percent of total calories should be saturated fat — the average American gets about 11 percent now. Trans fat should be less than 1 percent of calories, half today’s average.
A centerpiece of the heart campaign is a Web-based calculator so consumers don’t have to do that math. It tallies just how many grams of fat people of different ages and exercise habits can fit into a day, with lists of foods that fit the bill.
For some people, a single meal of a cheeseburger and small fries would just exceed the daily limit of bad fats. Others who are taller and more active could fit in two burgers and be OK.
Many companies are searching for trans fat alternatives that are healthier than saturated fats, Borra stresses. Indeed, the heart association brought together food makers, food chemists and health experts to explore all the options last fall, and among those generating interest are different ways to blend liquid and harder fats, in hopes of reducing the artery-clogging portions.
For now, reading the food label — the Nutrition Facts panel on the back of the package, not just the “trans-free” icon on the front — is key, says Michael Jacobson of the consumer advocacy organization Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Naturally, they had to get a quote from Michael Jacobson in there. I think this ties in nicely with Number 6's statement on the HnR "Press Spin" thread about MSM reporters not bothering to do research and taking "official" sources at face value.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
FUCK.
OFF.
AND.
DIE!!!
I am so goddamned sick of being nagged and legislated against. Unless it becomes airborne-contagious, my cholesterol level is none of the government's damned business.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
This reminds me: I wonder if I can get a license plate reading "FOAD" or "FYAD." I saw "OMFG" the other day, so I think it might be possible, and having such a message on my license plate would overcome my distaste for paying extra for government licensing.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Now, now. You've admitted that airborne-contagious diseases justify government involvement, so you're just in denial that everything up to and including putting you on a forced 24-hour blood-cholesterol monitor is just as valid for the government to do.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Only if airborne-contagious viruses shared my respect for property rights. Unfortunately, they do not give "No Trespassing" signs the same respect that I do as a proper* libertarian.
.
.
.
*Unlike some people I could mention
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Trespassing libertarians? I must have missed something on H&R.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Improper improprieties from improperly libertarian libertarians.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Oh, shit, that's funny.
“Q: What do you get when you cross an insomniac, an agnostic, and a dyslexic?
A: Someone who stays up all night wondering if there is a Dog.”
Groucho Marx
I am not young enough to know everything.
— Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Maybe they'll let you have it, maybe they won't, and maybe they will and then change their minds.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
"Frying chicken in canola or soybean oil instead of partially hydrogenated shortening is an easy switch."
My understanding is that soy allergies are fairly common.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Somebody please, anywhere, please explain to me how to make a pie crust that contains neither trans nor saturated fats and still tastes good. Anybody? Any takers? Bueller?
I make my pie crusts with butter and LARD. That's right rendered motherfucking pig fat you mother fuckers. And they're delicious. And all of you nannies can go to hell. I hope you end up in anaphylaxis from a bee sting or die from a sodium deficiency, or get hit by a truck that drives through your living room.
Fuck you very much.
No love, none.
--Tim
--
2C2H5OH(l) + C6H12O6(s)+3H2O(l) = CRAZY DELICIOUS!
Whenever I catch so much as a glimpse of pr0n, I suddenly turn into a sex-crazed barbarian, slashing and clawing my way through whatever and whomever until I find something to put my weiner into. -- Taktix
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
could you elaborate?
also, as to the main point: anyone with half a clue about organic chemistry would know that saturated fats are bad for you. saturated fats and trans fats can lie relatively flat, and stack closely together, allowing them to form layers inside blood vessels. cis-fats have kinks, so they can't easily stack. I have no idea about their taste, though.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
No. A real libertarian would know what I'm talking about without demanding that I altruistically explain myself.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Hee. Yeah, I've also been toying with the idea of getting a 1337-speak or internet slang license plate for a while. Something prefereably offensive. I think it would be pretty funny.
Low fat and fat-free foods can taste relatively good to a lot of things [insert comparisons to cardboard and plastic and other inedible things here]. It all depends on what your tolerance for getting used to it is. I still think the easiest, most immediately effective diet is just limiting fat intake. Years ago when I regulated interstate commerce, most of my favorite munchie foods were low fat or fat free (intentionally). Then again, I was stoned so I was capable of convincing myself of pretty much anything -- even that fat-free cheese tasted good. [shudder]
Anyway, yeah it's none of their damn business.
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A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having. - V
A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having. - V
UNDERPANTS HAWK
DOES NOT DESIRE YOUR TOUCH
I long for the day that a chimp will ghost-ride someone's boomcar into a lake. - tymac
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
You can't make a pie crust without good fats, you won't get the right flakiness and tenderocity. Half the deliciousness of a pie crust comes from the texture, if you fuck with that you might as well not bother. One should not "get used" to food, food is supposed to be a pleasurable experience, dammit.
--
2C2H5OH(l) + C6H12O6(s)+3H2O(l) = CRAZY DELICIOUS!
Whenever I catch so much as a glimpse of pr0n, I suddenly turn into a sex-crazed barbarian, slashing and clawing my way through whatever and whomever until I find something to put my weiner into. -- Taktix
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
I agree with you philosophically speaking.
Practically speaking, you don't have many options when you are a borderline anorexic wannabe ballerina. Or, as is more frequently the case, female.
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A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having. - V
A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having. - V
UNDERPANTS HAWK
DOES NOT DESIRE YOUR TOUCH
I long for the day that a chimp will ghost-ride someone's boomcar into a lake. - tymac
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
At this rate, death resulting from the bad shit in trans fats or the bad shit in crisco, or whatever, is starting to look good.
After you're dead, these assholes can't nag you, and that would be a helluva relief.
Brought to you by Carl's Jr.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Man, that sounds dirty.
EDIT: I'm already imagining a movie about a hot Objectivist librarian (and secretly, a former cat-burglar) who gets pulled in for one more job. She naturally has to work with other libertarian-leaning folks with checkered paths - and often loose morals.
(But should it be a B movie or a straight-to-Skinemax awkwardly soft-core movie?)
(And why am I wondering whether the heroine's love interest should be a crazy Georgist?)
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
I always figured that if the difference between trans fats, saturated fats, and unsaturated fats is *that* big a deal for you, you probably eat too damn much fat. I'm not a nutritionist, though, so what do I know?
--
"Put the boots to him, medium style."
"Many people are unaware the term "collateral damage" was adopted by the military because the previous euphemism, oopsies, didn't sound professional enough." -- J sub D
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
because it would be wonderful!
having hung out with crazy georgists (not to be confused with georgians) i can attest to the excellence.
"I made a conscious decision that if I had the chance to denounce America to Persians to end the pain I wouldn't. That makes me a better man then those British sailors." Grand Chalupa
"Yeah, but my character would be all swav and deboner." - Warren
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
I have personally decided I don't give two shits about fat anymore, be it on my ass or in my diet. Life's too short and trans-fatty Tofutti vegan cheesecake is way, way too good.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
even that fat-free cheese tasted good. [shudder]
I once tried a sample of a vegan pizza with "cheese" on it at a health food store that a friend worked at. I literally had to run out of the store and spit it up.
I can honestly say that that was the only time in my life when I spit out food, including childhood from around 3 on.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Quoted for truth. Seriously, if you cut back on your total fat content it shouldn't really be an issue. Of course, I have no intention on cutting back on my fat content, I still save bacon grease for frying my eggs and I reduce a pound of butter to Ghee about once a month. But if things like that bother you, yeah, just cut back.
"Still, though, being fat isn't some kind of moral failing. Unless you're fat from, like, eating the people you murder...then it's probably a moral failing of one sort or another." -- Timothy
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
dude reading your post bothered me. ugh.
why would anyone clarify that much butter? (unless you're mass producing bhang, in which case can i come over?)
"I made a conscious decision that if I had the chance to denounce America to Persians to end the pain I wouldn't. That makes me a better man then those British sailors." Grand Chalupa
"Yeah, but my character would be all swav and deboner." - Warren
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Four sticks of butter in a month isn't that much.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
I imagine that much of the pound is skimmed off. Plus, it keeps for a pretty long time.
They do a similar thing in Ethiopian cooking. That's where I have run into it. Yummy stuff.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
I'd never heard of Ghee before and just looked it up in Wikipedia. Neat.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Golly ghee!
"My intellect is gigantic, monstrous, terrifying."
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Somehow this seems to have an air of Gunnels about it?
Never underestimate the stupidity of intelligent people!!
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Yeah, I suppose a linky might have been in order. Sorry 'bout that. Butter is about 20% water so I use ghee like I would olive oil when making a roux. Also, because you strain the solids out of it (after achieving the nutty goodness) it has a much higher burn point than plain butter.
I go through probably two pounds of butter a month, one as ghee and one as butter. My wife insists on margarine(well, Brummel and Brown) for her bread, says something about it tasting better but I know she lies.
Butter is the real-ultimate satfat.
"I mean, I didn't spend six million years evolving to become the highest form of life on the planet just so I could spend my time running." --- JD"Still, though, being fat isn't some kind of moral failing. Unless you're fat from, like, eating the people you murder...then it's probably a moral failing of one sort or another." -- Timothy
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Yeah, I felt the same way. But I didn't say so, because I like Biologist too much to insult him like that.
Shame on you, Fyodor. I suggest you read a book of manners before you embarrass yourself further.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Molière won't help this situation!
--
2C2H5OH(l) + C6H12O6(s)+3H2O(l) = CRAZY DELICIOUS!
Whenever I catch so much as a glimpse of pr0n, I suddenly turn into a sex-crazed barbarian, slashing and clawing my way through whatever and whomever until I find something to put my weiner into. -- Taktix
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
I said book of manners, not comedy of manners, which you would know were you not such a complete ignoramus. I suggest you acquire a Humanities degree ere thy dolt-addled buffoonery suffocate thee.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Because a comedy could never be presented in a book? You, madam, are a pedant!
--
2C2H5OH(l) + C6H12O6(s)+3H2O(l) = CRAZY DELICIOUS!
Whenever I catch so much as a glimpse of pr0n, I suddenly turn into a sex-crazed barbarian, slashing and clawing my way through whatever and whomever until I find something to put my weiner into. -- Taktix
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
*shrugs*
Having what you'd likely call "book larnin' " and knowing how to apply it to everyday life doesn't make one a pedant, Timothy; it makes one educated, which you would know if you were yourself. You were thinking "Moliere is somebody I should read if I need to learn about proper etiquette in a chat forum."
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
I think a book of manners would help me know what to do AFTER I embarrass myself!! :-)
Anyway, Jen, you got it down!
Never underestimate the stupidity of intelligent people!!
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Thanks, Fyodor! No hard feelings to all, I hope?
Scary thing is, I started out channeling Classic Mona with the whole real-libertarian bit. Things just morphed out of control.
Spooky.
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
You off your meds there lass?
Seriously, though, glad you picked up on the comedy of manners thing, that was where I was aiming :-)
--
2C2H5OH(l) + C6H12O6(s)+3H2O(l) = CRAZY DELICIOUS!
Whenever I catch so much as a glimpse of pr0n, I suddenly turn into a sex-crazed barbarian, slashing and clawing my way through whatever and whomever until I find something to put my weiner into. -- Taktix
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
hmmm. When fyodor said there was an "air of Gunnels" about the comment, I thought he was referring to Jennifer's reply to my query, not my query to Jennifer's comment
Oh, well, I've already admitted to being an impure libertarian. My decoder ring is in the mail
Re: Oh sweet Jeezy Creezy!!
Thus demonstrating your abysmal ignorance regarding--oh, fuck it. I'm in too fine a mood to do a credible Gunnels impression today.