The American Heart Association recommends a dietary pattern that keeps intake of trans fats and saturated fats as low as possible (with less than 10 percent of daily calories coming from trans fats and saturated fats combined). Both of these are associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Trans fat is worse than saturated fat since it raises the bad cholesterol (LDL) and also lowers the good cholesterol (HDL) – saturated fat only raises the bad cholesterol.
As of January 1, 2006, the Nutrition Facts Labels on packaged food products were required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to list how many grams of trans fatty acid (trans fat) are contained within one serving of the product. The heart healthy recommendation involves eating a diet without trans fat. It is important to note that food labels are allowed to put 0 grams of trans fat if the product contains less than .5 grams of trans fat per serving. So you could purchase a food that you thought had zero grams of trans fat, but still could be getting them in your diet. To make sure you are not getting trans fat, look at the ingredient list. Be on watch for hydrogenated oils or partially hydrogenated oils and this will tell you if the product has trans fats.
Trans fats are a specific type of fat formed when liquid oils are chemically processed into solid fats, like shortening and hard margarine (see label below). They are typically found in baked goods, microwave popcorn, peanut butter, and other processed foods. Choose products listed as trans fat free and buy all natural peanut butter (see label below) to avoid trans fat.
Also, trans fats and saturated fats can be lurking in places that do not require labeling, like restaurants and cafeterias. There continues to be a push to work on expanding consumer access to this nutrition information in all of these locations so consumers can make healthy decisions when eating out.
Next week I will discuss what to look for in the diet to improve heart health.
Rebecca
