Two 'Foods' You Should NEVER Ever Eat: Trans Fats and Interesterified Fats

For women with heart disease, eating too many artery-clogging trans fats, or the lesser-known interesterified fats, may increase their risk of dying suddenly from cardiac arrest.

Trans fats, found largely in commercially prepared baked and fried foods, have become notorious in recent years because they not only raise "bad" LDL cholesterol, but also lower levels of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol.  High trans-fat intake has been linked to coronary heart disease, in which fatty plaques build up in the heart arteries, sometimes leading to a heart attack.

In a new study published in the American Heart Journal, researchers found that among nearly 87,000 U.S. women followed for 26 years, trans fat intake was linked to an increased risk of sudden cardiac death among women who had underlying coronary heart disease. In this group, women who ate the most trans fats were three times more likely to die of cardiac arrest.

Tans fats are formed when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil during food processing in order to make it solidify. This process, known as hydrogenation, makes fats less likely to spoil, so foods stay fresh longer, have a longer shelf life and also have a less greasy feel.

Interesterified fats are oils that have been chemically altered. They are hydrogenated and then rearranged on a molecular level. Although technically not the same as partially hydrogenated oils, the unnatural manipulation of lipid molecules in interesterified fats raises similar health concerns to those caused by trans fats.

Typically, what’s good for food manufacturers’ profits is not so good for your body, and could quite literally kill you. Among women with underlying coronary heart disease, eating trans fats increased the risk of sudden cardiac arrest three-fold!

Even if you don’t have heart disease, you need to avoid these fats like the plague

Healthy Fat Tips to Live By

Sadly, if you’re like most Americans, your diet consists predominantly of processed food. And eating processed foods, especially those with a long shelf life, means you’re consuming interesterified fats, trans fats, or some other type of man-made ingredient that your body was not designed to metabolize.

If you want to avoid dangerous fats of all kinds, your best bet is to eliminate processed foods from your diet. From there, use these tips to make sure you’re eating the right fats for your health:

•Use organic butter (preferably made from raw milk) instead of margarines and vegetable oil spreads. Butter is a healthy whole food that has received an unwarranted bad rap.

•Use coconut oil for cooking. It is far superior to any other cooking oil and is loaded with health benefits.

•Following Dr. Mercola's nutrition plan will automatically reduce your modified fat intake, as it will teach you to focus on healthy whole foods instead of processed junk food.

•To round out your healthy fat intake, be sure to eat raw fats, such as those from avocados, raw dairy products, and olive oil, and also take a high-quality source of animal-based omega-3 fat, such as krill oil.


Sources:

Reuters December 2, 2009

American Heart Journal November 2009; 158(5):761-7

Dr. Mercola: Two Foods You Should Never Eat, Dec. 2, 2009

MORE ON TRANS-FATS and INTERSTERIFIED FATS

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