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The Governor of California is at it again: leading America to a healthier life style. He is putting forward legislation to ban the trans fats used in cooking at the local fast food restaurants in the State and it looks like other Californian politicians will approve the ban. On Tuesday Los Angeles officials approved a ban in a 32 square mile area of south L.A.
What are Trans Fats?
The majority of trans fats are man-made and are the result of adding hydrogen to unsaturated fats (good fats - Beeble) creating a more saturated fat (bad fat – Beeble) he unfortunate by-product of this process is the trans fat which has not been completely hydrogenated and is detrimental to our health. This man-made fat allows for a higher melting point which means they are solid at room temperature so less refrigeration is needed and this is used to give food produce a longer shelf life. When used for deep frying it can be reused time and time again, much more so than conventional oils (mmmm that sounds lovely – Beeble). That said they have developed other oils now that can outlast these. Maybe in fifty years time we will know what damage these have done to us.
We don’t need them
Trans fats, unlike other fats, are not essential for us and are not required by our bodies for any purpose. In fact the only purpose they seem to be good for is to increase the risk of coronary heart disease by increasing our levels of LDL’s and reducing our levels of HDL’s. The result is arteries with a lot more junk in them lying in weight to give you a nasty surprise.
The Good News
The good news is that a lot of the largest fast food restaurants are so keen on this new fat fighting health kick that they will already be in line with the legislation before it even comes into effect. Great news: this could hopefully mean that after 100 years of trans fat digestion we could eventually see the end of trans fats and maybe even a drop in heart related diseases.
The Bad News
Whilst Trans fats are widely considered the worst fats for your health, saturated fats are also very bad and can lead to all the same heart diseases. Fast food outlets will tell you that they only use unsaturated fats in their cooking but guess what? By heating oil you are in fact starting your own chemical experiment where the unsaturated fat becomes saturated. So whilst the trans fats will be removed the food will still contain saturated fats which, if you eat a lot of these foods, can lead to that all too likely heart attack.
The lesson
Frying food or having any foods that involve being cooked in heated oil is bad for you. This is a great move by Arnold but unfortunately it sounds like it has more weight than it really does. If you really want to look after your heart avoid all foods that have been fried and you will be more likely to live a long healthy life. It is all right to treat yourself now and again but I would consider a treat as being once a month and not a weekly fast food visit.
Summary
Any move that helps us to eat more healthily is good, however, by banning one bad cooking technique only to have it replaced by an almost equally bad cooking technique is slow progress. We can’t help improve the health of the general public without having healthy tasty alternatives.
Be healthy, eat sensibly and have fun.
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July 30th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I like your article content (especially the very creative title!)
September 4th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Could you please tell me where I can verify the comment “By heating oil you are in fact starting your own chemical experiment where the unsaturated fat becomes saturated?” Thank you so much. I remember hearing this many years ago in a chemistry class, but when I try to share this information with friends, I am always challenged to “prove it”. Thanks again.