Many health care providers believe that trans fat is the worst type of fat people consume
Many health care providers believe that trans fat is the worst type of fat people consume. Different from other types of dietary fats, trans fatty acids increase the level of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and decrease the level of beneficial cholesterol. A diet rich in trans fatty acids increases the risk of heart disease, so it has become the leading cause of death for both men and women. Here are some information about trans fatty acids and how to avoid these unhealthy fatty acids in your daily diet. Let's get to know each other.
What are trans fatty acids?
Some meat and dairy products contain a small amount of natural trans fatty acids, but most trans fatty acids are produced through industrial processes. This process will add hydrogen to vegetable oil, which will promote the transformation of oil into solid form at room temperature. This partially hydrogenated oil is unlikely to deteriorate, so it can make the shelf life of food longer. Some restaurants use partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in fried foods because these oils are not changed as often as other oils.
Trans fatty acids in food
Trans fats are usually found in various foods.
(1) baked goods; Most cakes, biscuits and pies contain ghee, which usually comes from partially hydrogenated oil. The prepared icing is another source of trans fatty acids. (2) snacks; Potatoes, corn and cornflakes usually contain trans fatty acids. However, although popcorn is a healthy snack, many packaged or microwave popcorn are flavored with trans fatty acids. (3) fried food; Fried foods usually contain trans fatty acids, which are usually derived from oils used in cooking. These foods include French fries, doughnuts and fried chicken. (4) refrigerator dough; Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls usually contain trans fatty acids, as do frozen pizzas. (5) cream and butter; Coffee cream and margarine without dairy products may also contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Read food labels
In the United States, if a portion of food contains less than 0.5 g of trans fat, the food label can be read as 0 g of trans fat, and this hidden trans fatty acid will increase rapidly, especially if you eat several portions of food with trans fatty acid less than 0.5 g.
When you check the content of trans fats in food labels, you also need to check the content level of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil in the food ingredient list, which indicates that food contains some trans fatty acids. Even if the level is lower than 0.5g, the intake of various foods containing a small amount of trans fatty acids may increase the total intake of trans fatty acids, thus affecting health.
How low should it be?
Trans fatty acids, especially the artificial types found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, seem to have no known health benefits to human health, so experts suggest reducing the intake of trans fatty acids as much as possible. With the approval of FDA, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil will no longer be generally regarded as safe, and will gradually stop being used in food production in the next few years. However, we can still find natural trans fats in some foods.
How are trans fatty acids harmful to health?
Many epidemiological investigations or animal experiments have studied various possible hazards of trans fats, among which the impact on cardiovascular health is the strongest and widely accepted.
The regulations of trans fats by WHO and national authorities are also based on their effects on cardiovascular health. For example, WHO recommends that the daily calories from trans fats should not exceed 65,438+0% of the total calories of food (roughly equivalent to 2 grams). China uses this indicator for evaluation, and countries such as Britain and France use 2% as the recommendation standard. What needs to be pointed out in particular is that this is not a "safety standard" but only a "guiding opinion". It doesn't mean that more than this amount is "harmful" and less than this amount is "safe", but "the risk it brings is acceptable" Our goal should also be "the lower the better".
However, the relationship between intake and coronary heart disease risk is different in different studies. The most risky conclusion is that the ratio of trans fat calories to total food calories "will double the incidence of coronary heart disease for every 2 percentage points increase". Other studies have shown that the risk is much smaller than this. Moreover, "doubling the risk" is a relative proportion, and the specific risk depends on the actual occurrence rate, such as from 0. 1% to 0.2%, which is much lower than doubling 1% to 2%.
As for the correlation between trans fats and diseases affecting early growth and development, type II diabetes, hypertension and cancer, there is no clear evidence to prove it.
What should we eat?
However, foods that do not contain trans fatty acids may be harmful to health. Food manufacturers may have replaced other unhealthy ingredients, such as coconut, palm kernel and palm oil, which also contain a lot of saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids can increase the level of total cholesterol in the body. In a healthy diet, 20% to 35% of calories come from fat every day, but saturated fatty acids usually account for less than 65,438+00%.
Monounsaturated fatty acids in olive oil, mustard oil and peanut oil may be healthier than saturated fatty acids. Nuts, fish and other foods contain unsaturated fatty acids. Foods containing -3 fatty acids may be a good food choice for healthy fats.