These fats are created when manufacturers place liquid oils through a process called "hydrogenation". By adding hydrogen atoms, oils are converted into solid fats with extended useful life so that they can be promptly used in commercial baked goods, margarines, snacks and fast foods.
At a time, experts believed that trans fats were healthier than saturated fats such as butter or lard. In recent years, however, researchers have found that these man-made fats are linked to many serious health problems.
- A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2006 estimated that up to 228,000 coronary events of heart disease could be avoided by reducing or eliminating trans fats of the American diet. Another study of nearly 20,000 women published in the American newspaper of Epidemiology in 2008 reported that women with the highest blood traffic levels have double the risk of breast cancer compared to women with lower levels.
- And another study of Harvard researchers published in cancer epidemiology biomarkers
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A trans fat alternative to be considered is simply to return to the use of saturated animals fat - such as butter and lard - but in small quantities.
"I really think it would be a great idea to have a taste of baked goods as if you intended to prove, and at the same time encourage people to eat much less of these foods, which I think is the really important message In all this, "says Miriam Pappa-Klein, MS, RD, clinical nutrition manager at Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx, NY
While this will not solve the problem of shelf life - butter and lard can transform rancid relatively quickly - it says it can solve the taste and texture problem immediately and give us more reason to enjoy what we eat, but in Minor quantities. As good as this, it is also a solution that leaves some very worried nutritionists.
"Returning to saturated fats is not the answer," says Dietista Samantha Heller, MS, RD, a clinical nutritionist of Fairfield, Conn. "I think we've gone like a nation that we will not eat a little. If we could, we probably would not be having this problem with trans fats now - or are facing an obesity epidemic, particularly in children."
Nutritionist Canvas Sandon agrees: "I think it's worth looking for something different from saturated fat. But I think we have to step carefully about this new ground to ensure that we do not make the same mistakes we made with trans fat" says Sandon , a nutritionist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
The trans fat alternative involves the creation of an entirely new vegetable oil - or by reorganizing molecules to form a new oil, or by means of several plants to create a new oil.
Kellogg's is a company moving in that direction, using genetically designed soybeans to create a low trans fat, but high-flavored product and convenience.
But nutritionists are cautious of the concept. After all, Heller's notes, we developed the hydrogenation process to make trans fats because the researchers thought these fats would be healthier, but they were not.
"Arriving with a substitute for trans fat is a bit like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. And we only hope the rabbit is healthy," says WebMD.
In fact, a study carried out by the French agricultural society and published in the American newspaper of Clinical Nutrition in 2008 suggests that the negative of the effects of trans fat can be largely the result of the hydrogenation process - and that trans fats found Of course they do not carry almost the same level of health risks.
In addition, the organic trade association reports the renewed interest in oil that comes from the fruit of the palm of the hand - not the seed, which makes the palm kernel oil. Fruit oil, they say, it is only 50% saturated fat; The rest is 40% polyunsaturated and 10% monounsaturated. In fact, some studies show that fat in palm oil (known as palmitic acid) can actually help reduce cholesterol in the blood.Some food manufacturers are turning to tropical oils, but again, many nutritionists are cautious. Says Heller: "any product that reduces trans fat is good, but when trans fats are replaced by saturated fats, it is not necessarily a healthy alternative.
Check the Facts Nutrition panel for the best snapshot of what is contained in the product and choose products with the smallest amount of saturated fat.
All three nutritionists say that the actual future of our snack industry can rest in this fourth option: mixing petroleum products currently acceptable in formulations that produce the benefits of partially hydrogenated oils - life shelf, texture and taste - expose us less risks.
This already seems to be the trend towards several advanced thinking companies. Crisco, the long-standing manufacturer of fats used on baked and frying, now offers a trans shortening traffic made of a combination of sunflower, soy and cotton oil. There are also multiple brands of non-fat margarines and other products on the shelves today.
Among the first fast food restaurants to move towards the use of healthier fats was Wendy's, which changed to a mix of nonhydrogenated corn and soybean oil in 2006. The switch dramatically dismissed Some of their most popular foods. Case in question: Adult size potatoes went from 7 grams of trans fat to 0.5 grams - and the child size portion fell to zero. Your fried chicken now contains zero grams of trans fat and 20% less of saturated fat.
McDonald's is the latest to jump on the Bandwagon without fat trans-fat, recently announcing the creation of a breeding canola and soybean oil to be used in cooking its famous chips. And, they say, it's a product that reduces trans fat without increasing saturated fat - or changing the taste of many consumers. Still, what appears to be good in the laboratory - or the test kitchen table - may not necessarily work well for the food snacks industry. The reason: now the cost of these mixtures is high, which can mean higher prices in the supermarket hallway.
Of equal concern: Do we have enough vegetables to produce the oil for these mixtures? For some estimates, it can take up to six years to turn enough of a new plant culture to provide the food industry with what needs to create mixed oils for packaged food and fast food.
While the food industry looks for the best trans fat alternatives, what can consumers do?
First, read the nutritional label carefully. Products claim that they have 0 fat trans can be high in saturated fat - or simply too high in calories.Secondly, understand that you are probably still eating small amounts of trans fats, even if the package says trans fats. According to the new FDA guidelines, a product can have up to almost 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving and still carry the "0" label of fat trans.
"This may not look too much, but can add," says Heller.
According to American Heart Association, we must all limit our trans fat intake to less than 1% of our total daily calories. So if you eat 2,000 calories per day that works for about 20 trans fat calories - less than 2 grams per day.
Since some whole foods - such as dairy and meat - they naturally contain trans fats, the only way to stand under that limit of 2 grams per day is to buy snacks, baked, margarine and fast food, with absolutely no fats, diets say.
But do not forget saturated fat. Evaluate the total fat content, including the amount of fat saturating. Choose foods that have the least amount of saturated fat and use healthy oils such as canola oil.
for truly free snacks of trans fats, you may want to experience the same solution as the grandmother used: make your own.
For those willing to put in time and effort, baking their own cakes and biscuits from scratch can be the way to go. The trick: Combine a healthy liquid fat - such as gap oil, walnut oil or vegetable spread-oil - with a fruit puree as apple and plums for bulk and texture. For healthier fries, choose a trans fat-free oil like canola oil - and cut your chips from a whole fresh potato.
Make sure you "count the calories and eat in moderation," reminds us Heller. Just because an oil is unsaturated, or a homemade cookie does not mean that you will not gain weight.
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