Originally published February 13 2006
A healthy lifestyle begins with the close reading of food labels
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Newsobserver.com takes on the troubling issue of trans fat content in food products and reading food labels can save your health.
Something that can help us all eat better is arriving in grocery stores: information about the trans fat content of packaged foods.
In a report issued by the Institute of Medicine, experts found that even small amounts of trans fat were associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease.
Enlarge Font Decrease Font More Lifestyles Crock full of gourmet food We're all Smiths Starlu's sweet squash casserole No such thing as too much onion Japanese sip essence of sweet potato The New Season There is no safe level of intake of trans fat, the report said.
Trans fat is created when vegetable oil is put through a process called hydrogenation, changing the chemical configuration of the oil, making it thicker in consistency.
Partially hydrogenated oils improve the texture and shelf life of cookies, cakes, pies, pastries, snack foods and thousands of other products.
They're also used in restaurants for cooking french fries, chicken nuggets and other deep-fried foods.
But even with label information, you may not find it possible to avoid trans fats all the time.
Recommendations consider not only what's best for health but also what's practical.
Researchers who wrote the IOM report thought it would be unrealistic to tell Americans to eat zero trans fats.
They feared people who tried to avoid them completely might so restrict their diets that they would cause shortages of other nutrients.
that trans fat consumption be as low as possible while consuming a nutritionally adequate diet."
Because just like trans fat, the IOM also concluded there is no safe level of intake of saturated fat.
However, a long-standing recommendation for saturated fat intake sets the limit at not more than 10 percent of total calories.
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