Wait, what is a "trans fat" again?

Trans fats are all over the news lately with food companies dropping them one by one, and even entire city and state governments banning them across the board. But most of the talk has been around commercial products in places like fast food joints and restaurants, so it might be time for a little refresher course on exactly what trans fats are so you can avoid them in places like the grocery store too.

Trans fats are made when liquid oil is chemically processed to become a solid a room temperature -- stick margarine is the most common example. Many stick margarines are full of trans fats, so avoid them in the grocery store if you can. Margarine was originally thought to be healthier than butter, but not only does it raise bad cholesterol but it also lowers good cholesterol (butter doesn't). Good news is that many margarines are available now with little to no trans fats, Benecol and Promise to name a couple examples. And I was surprised to read that the softer the margarine is the less trans fats it probably has. I would have guessed the other way (maybe thinking stiffer margarine was closer to butter in processing?). Just goes to show it never hurts to read about this stuff again!