What are trans fats and how do they affect my body?
Calgarians who resolved to choose healthy meals more often in 2008 have a little less to worry about when dining out. On Jan. 1, 2008 their city became the first in Canada to regulate the use of artery-clogging trans fats in restaurants. How are Calgarians adapting to this change?
“For the most part, people are embracing it,” says Calgary-based dietitian Kim Young. “There have been some challenges in implementing the strategy as trans fats have a purpose in developing satisfactory products.” But Young notes that people in the food industry recognize that trans fat is a health issue and they're working on improving their products.
How trans fat and saturated fat affects your body
Trans fats account for 3,000 to 5,000 Canadian deaths a year, estimates the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and are five to six times more deadly on a gram-per-gram basis than saturated fats.
While saturated fat raises blood levels of bad cholesterol, it also raises the blood level of good cholesterol.
Trans fat, on the other hand, raises bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol. “It has absolutely no redeeming qualities,” says Sally Brown, CEO of the Foundation and co-chair of the national Trans Fat Task Force. “And it probably never should have been invented in the first place.”
What are trans fats?
Under municipal regulation, Calgary restaurant staff can no longer cook with fats and oils that contain more than two per cent trans fats. Formed during the refining of liquid vegetable oils, trans fats are created when manufacturers turn liquid oil into a semi-solid form like shortening or margarine, a process called partial hydrogenation.
Trans fats have long been a popular choice in the food industry because they cost less, produce a richer texture and provide a longer shelf life than other oils.
With about 40 per cent of Canadians eating outside the home on a regular basis, the trans fat ban is a good start for healthier eating habits but Calgarians and fellow Canadians must still take their health into their own hands.
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