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If you're trying to lose weight, or just trying to eat healthy, you need to steer clear of trans fats. Why? They add useless calories, build bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol. Unfortunately, some of your favorite restaurants -- from KFC to Bob Evans -- are using sneaky loopholes to work against you. The food industry knows that trans fats are unpopular, but partially hydrogenated oil (the stuff that trans fat dreams are made of) is cheap, so restaurants have gone to great lengths to skirt FDA regulations. Because the FDA allows the food industry to list any product with less than 0.5 grams of the dangerous lipid as having "zero trans fats," restaurants and packaged food producers can deceive consumers about serving trans fat-free food. Find out which sneaky establishments you need to be aware of to stay trans fat free.

After the "fat-free" frenzy of years past, it's no wonder that some people are scared off of eating any fats. But look around... did the fat-free trend solve the obesity problem? Nope... not at all. That's because food manufacturers raced to label their foods as "fat-free" in big, bold letters on the front of the packages, but they failed to mention other unhealthy ingredients such as high sugar or high sodium or unpronounceable chemicals that really have no place in our diet whatsoever.

The truth is we need fat in our diets. (Not as much as most people consume, of course, but we do need it.) Our bodies can generate a certain amount, but the rest must be consumed. The trick is eating foods prepared with the good fats. That's right... I said good fats. A recent survey revealed that more than half of Americans have no idea that there are some fats you should be including in your diet. To help people better differentiate between good and not-so-good fats, the American Heart Association has launched Face the Fats.

There are four types of fats: saturated fats, trans-fats, monounsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats. While all four varieties have the same number of calories (9 calories per gram of fat), they have different effects on health. Saturated and trans-fats are the culprits to avoid -- they can raise your "bad" cholesterol (LDL). But monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are beneficial for health when consumed in small amounts; they help reduce cholesterol levels and provide essential fatty acids (omega 3 and omega 6) that your body needs but can't generate on its own.

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Friendly's, famous for it's burgers and ice cream sundaes, is planning on switching its 500 restaurants over to trans-fat free oil by fall. The restaurant chain has been working on eliminating the trans-fat laden oils for over a year. Since New York banned the use of trans-fatty acids in restaurants, chains such as McDonald's and Uno Chicago Grill have been making the switch to non trans-fat oils. Friendly's is finally jumping on the bandwagon and switching to a slightly friendlier oil.

While a switch away from trans-fats is an undeniably positive step, it's important to remember that just because a product doesn't contain trans-fat it doesn't mean it's healthy or low-fat. To learn more about trans fats and how they affect the body, click here.

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