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Posted on Oct 20th 2006 12:24PM by Debra McDuffeeFiled Under: Healthy Habits, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Reviews & Products, Nutrition & Supplements
We've all heard about them -- foods containing trans fats -- and how unhealthy they are for us, especially for our hearts. But do we all know that even some foods that say they have no trans fats really do? It isn't enough to read the nutrition facts, says this WebMD article, you need to read the ingredients and steer clear of anything with hydrogenated fats in it.
Sound simple enough? On a good day, we can probably remember to do that with new foods. But how many of us would go back and check the old standbys in our pantries? A hint? Check your peanut butter, margarine, crackers and other snack foods first.
WebMD goes on to provide a handy list of the top ten trans fat foods. The list gives some helpful tips, too, like stick margarines are usually worse than soft margarines, and to dip bread in olive oil instead of using any margarine at all.While knowing the foods with trans fats is helpful (they list brands too), I am not sure that I agree with all of the substitutions they recommend. While trading out trans fats by avoiding store-bought frosting, they suggest replacing with jelly or powdered sugar. Seems to me replacing trans fats with refined sugar is like a Canadian (or Alaskan, or upstate New Yorker -- insert snowy location here) trading in her rear-wheel drive sports car for a motorcycle.
Regardless, the bottom line is that avoiding trans fats is good for our health, and every little step we can take helps.
Sound simple enough? On a good day, we can probably remember to do that with new foods. But how many of us would go back and check the old standbys in our pantries? A hint? Check your peanut butter, margarine, crackers and other snack foods first.
WebMD goes on to provide a handy list of the top ten trans fat foods. The list gives some helpful tips, too, like stick margarines are usually worse than soft margarines, and to dip bread in olive oil instead of using any margarine at all.While knowing the foods with trans fats is helpful (they list brands too), I am not sure that I agree with all of the substitutions they recommend. While trading out trans fats by avoiding store-bought frosting, they suggest replacing with jelly or powdered sugar. Seems to me replacing trans fats with refined sugar is like a Canadian (or Alaskan, or upstate New Yorker -- insert snowy location here) trading in her rear-wheel drive sports car for a motorcycle.
Regardless, the bottom line is that avoiding trans fats is good for our health, and every little step we can take helps.
