Trans Fat and Other Bad Ingredients

There are some ingredients in food that are bad for our health:

1. Partially hydrogenated oil
2. Trans fat. Partially hydrogenated oil is another word for this unhealthy fat.

If you see partially hydrogenated oil or hydrogenated oil on an ingredient list for a food, it has trans fat in it. Don’t be fooled by the “0 grams trans fat” claims on the front of the package. If you see partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated oil on the list, it’s in there.

Trans fats increase our bad cholesterol (LDL) and decrease our good cholesterol (HDL). This can cause major problems in our arteries because they get sticky and clogged. Clogged arteries lead to heart attacks and stroke.

So, why are these in our food? These fats can make packaged foods last longer. You’d be surprised how many foods have hidden trans fats in them. Unfortunately, until we take action and demand that the food companies use more healthy fats in our food, we’ll have to choose wisely. There is a great article on trans fats from the University of Maryland Medical Center. If you’d like to learn more go to: http://www.umm.edu/features/transfats.htm.

What about sugar? The Corn Refiners Association has been running clever ads about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Americans are catching on that this fake sugar may be bad for our health! It’s true that HFCS has almost the same chemistry as table sugar, but it’s made from corn that is chemically altered! It’s absolutely not natural. Although the jury is out as to whether or not it causes obesity, most of the foods that contain it aren’t the healthiest for us anyways. It’s also bad for the environment!

In general, we want to steer clear of foods that contain any “fake” ingredients. Our body has a hard time knowing how to digest:

o   a food dye

o   made-up flavor

o   sweetener.

These scientific creations can cause all sorts of problems for us and our children. To learn more about unnatural ingredients you can review Better School Food’s Unhealthy Ingredient List.