Trans Fats, Foods High In Them And Their Dangers

Trans fatty acids (TFA) commonly called trans fats, are fats present in small amounts in a considerable wide range of foods. There are a lot of concerns on the adverse effect they have on the health of human begins. It is however, quite not straightforward to know which foods contain trans fats. 

There are artificial and natural trans fats. This means that some trans fats occur naturally in foods but in small amounts. Naturally-occurring trans fats are found in small amounts in dairy products such as example cheese and cream but often in amounts that are not significantly harmful to the body.

Artificial trans fats are produced when vegetable oils are hydrogenated. This is the process that produces margarine and increased awareness on the dangers of TFAs has prompted manufacturers of margarine to improve processing methods to reduce level of trans fats.

Dangers of Trans Fats And How To Know Which Food Has It

Trans fats raise the blood cholesterol levels, especially the levels of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol. They also reduce the level of the good cholesterol in the blood. These adverse effects of trans fats in the blood can increase the risk of coronary heart disease.

If you fry food a lot or buy fried foods, you are exposed to trans fats. Trans fats are usually produced when ordinary vegetable oils are heated to fry foods at very high temperatures. Using the oil over and over again increases the level of trans fats and that is why we advised using frying oil many times in this post.

Also, margarines that contain hydrogenated vegetable oil as an ingredient will normally contain some trans fats. So, if you want to know if hydrogenated fats are present in a particular food, here is what you need to do to check.

Take a look at the ingredient list on the food label and check if hydrogenated fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils are present. Since there are no regulatory requirement that manufacturers must declare the presence of trans fats in their foods, it will not be present on the food package or label.

Here are some foods you should watch out for trans fats in them – animal fat, microwave popcorn, crackers, biscuits, creamy frozen drinks, deep-fried foods, shortenings and margarines.