Have you heard of the latest replacement for trans fats? They are called “interesterified fats.”
Trans fats were created in the laboratory to replace naturally occurring saturated fats that were often found in lard. For baked goods, fried foods and snack foods, trans fats offered flakiness, crispiness and longer shelf lives. On ingredient lists, they are called “partially hydrogenated oils.” It was discovered over 2 decades ago that trans fats were more harmful to heart health than naturally occurring saturated fats. At the time however, the amount of trans fats in the American diet was so small that no alarm was set off regarding public health risks.
Fast forward 20 years and trans fats are found in so large a proportion of our food supply that it triggered a public health outcry. The USDA has required all food manufacturers to include the amounts of trans fats in their foods on the nutritional labels. New York City has even banned trans fats from foods prepared in restaurants, and many other cities are looking to follow suit. So food manufacturers must find an appropriate substitute quickly.
Very early studies of interestified fats, found as “fully hydrogenated oils” on food package list of ingredients, showed that when fed for just one meal, no effect on lipid levels was observed. Last week, the results of a 4-week research study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism showed that interesterified fats may be even worse for your health than trans fats. After 4 weeks of a diet containing 12% of total calories as interesterified fat, bad cholesterols levels increased, good cholesterol levels decreased, fasting blood glucose levels rose, and insulin response decreased. The interesterified fats were even worse than the responses to the trans fats, and absolutely worse compared to saturated fats.
What should you do? Nothing. Don’t change a thing. Keep following The Good Mood Diet plan. Keep your focus on all those great natural fats that you need to eat in your diet: avocados, olives, nuts, seeds, olive oil, canola oil, and all the great nut and seed oils that give your diet variety and zing! If you want a little butter every once in awhile, enjoy it. Savor it. Stick with fats from nature, rather than those created in a test tube, and you’ll be sure to stay healthy and in a good mood!
Yours in a Good Mood,
Susan