Nutrition News

The Key to a Healthy Heart!
By Dr. Jeff Bartlett

By now we are all aware that regular exercise is essential to the health of our cardiovascular system. That's one of the reasons that you are so dedicated to your workouts at Curves! It is equally important to be aware of the dietary factors that can impact this vital system. This month we are compelled to share with you the most recent research that has emerged on the dangers of trans fats.

What is so dangerous about trans fats and where are they found? Trans fatty acids are found in all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. But the most common source of trans fat today may be hydrogenated soybean oil. Furthermore, almost every packaged convenience food in the grocery store contains one or more sources of trans fats. For example, they are found in margarine, shortening, cookies, baked goods, breads, pastas, crackers, sauces, spreads, and the list goes on. The food manufacturers use this food additive to increase the shelf life of their products. But what is the cost to our bodies to extend the longevity of our food products? Simply put, trans fats create a substantial amount of free radical damage to our bodies, which generates DNA changes to our cells and can lead to cardiovascular complications, and even cancer.

Of all the fats available, hydrogenated vegetable oil is the worst. These toxic trans fatty acids are fat molecules that have been chemically altered. Normally, vegetable oil is liquid at room temperature, but the goal is to make it more stable and solid at room temperature...so it's hydrogenated. This process forces hydrogen into the oil molecule under conditions of high temperature and pressure. The unfortunate part about this process of artificially hydrogenating fat is that it causes the double-carbon bonds to adopt an unnatural configuration (trans-configuration). These altered fatty acids wreak havoc on our bodies. As mentioned earlier, substantial damage can be done to our cardiovascular system by the onslaught of free radicals. We will say it again--trans fats are far more dangerous than any other fat known. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that trans fatty acids cause at least 30,000 premature deaths in the United States each year.

Because of the dangers of trans fats, many health organizations have pressured the FDA to impose a regulation requiring food manufactures to include the amount of trans fatty acids on package labels. Before taking this step, however, the FDA waited three years for the Institute of Medicine to study the issue. After a detailed review of all the medical research on trans fatty acids, the Institute of Medicine recently released their findings. They announced that no amount of trans fats are safe to consume! This announcement came as a surprise because the Institute of Medicine usually recommends what they consider to be a safe limit of consumption for toxic food additives. In this case, however, they stated that "NO LEVEL IS SAFE!" What does that tell us? That the consumption of trans fats should not just be minimized, but avoided completely.

I decided to do my own investigation with some food items regularly consumed by the American public. I read over a hundred different packages and labels in the grocery store and I was shocked by what I found. Trans fats are present in everything from bread, crackers, chips, french fries, pizzas and peanut butter, to cookies, pies, cake frosting, candy, and even ice cream!

Here are just a few of the culprits that I came across:

• Skippy Peanut Butter (please check your brand)
• Squeeze-A-Cheese and Kraft's Cheese Whiz
• Ritz Crackers
• Margarine
• Old El Paso Taco Kit
• Stoned Wheat Thins
• Kellogg's Cereals (very common in all cereals)
• Orville Redenbacher's
• Basically every cookie and donut available!
• All sorts of chips and crackers (too many to list)

I have a little challenge for you! Please take a few minutes and rummage through your cupboard and refrigerator. I would be willing to bet that you will have at least two packages of food that contain some form of trans fats. Please realize that trans fats can be hidden within the ingredients, so look for terms like vegetable oil, shortening or partially hydrogenated oil.

So the take home message is...Read all of your labels carefully! Avoid products that contain trans fats in any form. Your health depends on it.