Trans Fat's - aka partially and full hydrogenated oils are man made, synthetic oils. They are in nearly every processed food we buy at the store, or in nearly every fast food chain and most restaurants serve a large variety of foods with these fats as well. Because the FDA does not directly have regulations instated that required the companies that use these products to conduct in-depth controlled experiments on these fats, it can be difficulty to find the correct information about this matter.
Hydrogenated Oils or "Trans Fats" are made from taking natural oils and giving them a high temperature "hydrogen bath. This process combines the hydrogen molecules to the structure of the fat cells, therefore, creating partially of fully hydrogenated oils.
What is so bad about a hydrogenated fat molecule? It's tough for scientists to say exactly what happens when these synthetic fats attach to your body, however, there is some disturbing information about these fats. When consuming natural fats, you body takes 18 days to metabolize half of them, however, when you consume trans fats, your body takes 51 days to metabolize half of them. So in a nutshell, if you have a bucket of french fries from an average fast food joint nearly 1 1/2 months ago, odds are this contained trans fats. That would mean that half of the trans fat from those fries is still buried inside your fat storage. Half???
That's pretty disturbing if you ask me.
Now I know some people may think that since they don't eat fast food, they are A-OK. Just to go a little further in-depth on this subject, I will mention a few things about what Scientists have been finding about Trans Fats, what the FDA's regulations are, etc.
First of all, Nearly every bag of chips, processed cookies, candy bars, many cereals, any non stir peanut butter(including some stir brands as well) donut's, processed goods, etc. uses some type of Trans Fat. There are two reasons why any product would have this ingredient. #1 Trans Fat's taste good & #2 Trans Fats improve the shelf life on most products for even years longer than normal fats in some cases, in-turn, more profit for the companies selling them.
Before I knew this much about trans fats, I use to look on the package for the nutritional facts. On the back I would see, 'Trans Fat" 0 grams. It wasn't until recently that I learned that the FDA does not require a distributor to label it has any amount of trans fat, as long as it is not greater than .5 grams per serving. That means that any company can get away with putting .49 grams of this deadly poison in our food without a peep. The only way you would truly know if your food has trans fat or not in it is by thoroughly reading the ingredients and knowing what you're looking for when you read them.
For anyone reading this, if you are confused about the problem with .49 grams of trans fat, I will try and lighten it up for you. The average american make consume many products a day "unknowingly" with nearly .5 grams of this stuff per serving. A larger serving, more trans fat... Researchers have found that the "average american" consumes 6 grams of trans fat per day, or 5-10 lbs. or trans fat per year. Researchers have also found that no amount of trans fat is un-harmful to your body, and americans should eat no trans fat at all, or at bare minimum, no more than 2 grams per day. 5-10 lbs. of trans fat that per year that takes 51 days to metabolize sounds pretty scary to me..
Trans Fat's, by nature, completely disrupt the natural fat storing process within our bodies. The definition of a Poison is just that, a substance that we take that disrupts our bodies natural function. Why are we allowed to ingest poison? No need to ask why (money of course). It is better to educate yourself so you can make better decisions and live a longer healthier life.
Keep in mind there are other bad products, hfcs, msg, large quantities of sugar etc. It's important for each individual to do whatever the can to educate themselves.
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