Trans-fats: Healthy Or Unhealthy?

What exactly are “Trans fats”? Are they all bad and unhealthy?

Fats come in two forms: Saturated (solid at room temperature) and Un-saturated (liquid at room temperature). Un-saturated oils are found in most vegetable products and oils. An exception is a group of tropical oils like coconut or palm kernel oil which are highly saturated. Saturated fat (solid at room temperature) traditionally comes from rudiment animals: i.e.- lard from pork, the fat found around your steak, and of course butter.

Through Mass Media black propaganda, the public has been told that the traditional oils, “Saturated fats,” are bad for you and that you should switch to Un-saturated oils like Soy, corn, Canola (Rape Seed) and cotton seed oils. These oils are cheap industrial oils which give very little energy to the consumer, that contain large quantities of solvents from their processing.

Trans fats are created by the food industry by taking cheap, low nutrition oils, such as corn, soy and Canola, and adding hydrogen to the oil to enhance the products’ shelf life and turn a liquid fat into a solid fat. These cheap and partially hydrogenated fats have replaced the natural solid fats and liquid oils in many areas, most notably in fast food, snack food, fried food, and baked goods.

Partially hydrogenated oils have been used for many reasons: to increase a product’s shelf life and to decrease the need for refrigeration. As a matter of fact, many of these hydrogenated foods such as cupcakes and doughnuts can be stored in a plastic container for years without decay.

Trans fats increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and inhibit bodily fat loss. This may also cause muscle loss as Trans fats interfere with the absorption of amino acids, which are essential for muscle growth.

Many of the random compounds created when oils are hydrogenated are called “Trans fatty acids”. These are unnatural compounds that are known to be detrimental to health. Rather than give you a scientific breakdown of their molecular structures, I will share with you a story that illustrates that something is awfully wrong with these hydrogenated fats.

I had a friend who kept beautiful store-bought frosted cupcakes in his briefcase for 5 years without refrigeration. Even after all that time, the cupcakes looked like they did when he had first bought them. What does this tell us? That the microorganisms did not consider hydrogenated oils as a food source, hence the cupcakes did not rot. This gives you a whole new viewpoint on “better shelf life”!

Americans had 3% rate of heart disease around the turn of the 20th Century while eating tons of poly-saturated oils (bacon grease, lard, tallow, butter). However, with the advent of cheap vegetable oils turned into partially saturated oils by hydrogenation, we have seen a sky rocketing clogging of the arteries. In spite of the statistics, doctors tell you not to eat poly-saturated oils, which are actually the good oils and they recommend the poly-Unsaturated oils, which are generally your industrial, super cheap oils (soy, Canola, corn and cottonseed oil). Of course, the animal fats that people ate around the turn of the 20th century were free of preservatives and were raw from animals that were grass-fed or pastured. These are truly the healthiest fats one should consume. You can read “Why Grass-fed is Best” by Jo Robinson for more information.

I hope this clarifies the confusion about Trans fats and hydrogenated oils. The moral of the story is, go back and eat the good old fats of yesterday and stay clear of the polyunsaturated oils. Olive oil is polyunsaturated and while it is still healthy oil to eat, it is a low energy giving oil in comparison to any of the other naturally occurring saturated fats.