What are Trans Fats?
One of the hottest topics in the world of health and nutrition over the last several years has been trans fats. What most people know at this point is that trans fats are generally unhealthy, and they should be restricted in any diet. However, it’s important to have a more specific understanding of what they are, where they occur and they mean for your health.
Trans fats are fats with a specific structure in which hydrogen atoms are attached on diagonal opposite sides of the double carbon bond found in the molecule. What this means is that they are more rigid and straight, or in other words they are much closer to being saturated than unsaturated. It is the shape of saturated fats which give them their solid form. Because they are rigid and stackable, they can take on a solid form, while the loose shape of unsaturated fatty acids cannot be neatly piled up.
The transformed shape of trans fats in nature very rarely occurs, and instead is primarily synthesized by a process known as hydrogenation. In hydrogenation, an unsaturated fatty acid has hydrogen atoms added to it, making the fat more saturated. The specific degree can be controlled, which is why you see the term partially hydrogenated on the ingredient list of many food products.
Trans fats were produced to provide a more stable and affordable form of fat to be used in a variety of products. However, we now know that trans fats carry many negative health effects with them. Trans fats essentially act the same way in your body as do natural saturated fats, but they could be even worse.
Both trans and saturated fats raise the bad cholesterol levels in your bloodstream, which are the LDL cholesterol molecules. They also carry other negative consequences as a result such as the increased risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke and more. However, trans fats pack an extra punch as they not only raise bad cholesterol, they also systematically lower good, or HDL, cholesterol.
As a result, it is recommended that you include no trans fats in your diet whatsoever. Many states and cities are even passing health codes to ban the sale of any foods that contain added trans fats. Keep a close eye on your food labels and avoid any foods that contain trans fats, and watch out for buzz words like “partially hydrogenated” on food labels.
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