Trans Fat


Trans Fat
Welcome to The Best Natural Foods Topics of Interest Section. This page provides an overview of the topic of trans fat. You can find more detailed information about trans fat and other important dietary topics in our new book, The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today.

The transition to a healthy, whole foods diet becomes easier when you distinguish the quality foods in your diet (including healthy snack food) and learn the specific information that can help you make small, yet significant changes to your diet.  For instance, discover the benefit of omega 3 eggs, learn what to look for in a healthy smoothie recipe, and learn how to cook quinoa in quinoa recipes. Incorporate healthier foods into your diet such as Organic Valley organic milk, flax seed oil, free range chicken, and nutritional yeast. Also, target the foods that need to be completely replaced from your diet such as the unhealthy foods that contain trans fat, like fast-food french fries.

Food manufacturers began widespread use of a process called hydrogenation in the 1950’s with the goal of replacing butter with a solid spread made from liquid vegetable oil. The hydrogenation process changes the chemical structure of a fat which changes its melting point thereby transforming liquid corn oil into hard-stick margarine. Hydrogenated oils have a much longer shelf life than liquid oils. All of this may sound good, but trans fat is not a “native” species, meaning they it is not recognized by the body. When eaten as a regular part of the diet trans fat causes the malfunction of cellular processes.  Evidence correlates intake of trans fat with heart disease, diabetes, inflammatory diseases, and possibly cancer.

I strongly urge you to avoid foods containing hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, such as hard-stick margarine, as much as possible. Commercially prepared foods are the primary source of trans fat today. The biggest culprits are: pastries, pie crusts, cookies, crackers, snack chips, french fries, fried chicken, and biscuits. Consider how often you eat these commercially produced foods and devise a plan to avoid or replace them. For example, one easy way to avoid trans fat is to buy healthier snack chips, like Kettle tortilla chips.

We all know that tortilla chips are not usually regarded as a healthy snack food. Why then would I have chosen them among the best natural foods in the market? The reason is a practical one: Most of us do eat snack chips as a regular part of our diet. I believe snack foods do not have to be bad for us. Sure, I’d rather see my clients choose almond butter and an apple as a snack, but most often they don’t. Fortunately there are several nutritionally superior chips on the market today, like those made by Kettle Foods.   

Look for snack foods that are made with organic ingredients and better-quality oils. Kettle Foods make chips that deliver the same flavor (or better) than most chips, and they do so using wholesome ingredients. Eating chips in moderation… well, that part is up to us. To learn more about how to choose quality chips, as well as what to look for when buying natural sodas, order a copy of The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today.
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