The Transgression of Trans Fats
Ingredient Investigator Extraordinaire:
The Long Awaited FDA Ban on Trans Fats!
Hello, my friends! I hope you are treating life well, and I hope that it is reciprocating! If you have not heard the good news yet, I am here to spread it! It looks as though the FDA is officially going to ban trans fats and remove them from their infamous (and ultimately flawed) GRAS list. The GRAS list stands for Generally Regarded as Safe, and if a food or substance is found on this list, they are fair game for the food industry.
This is AWESOME news, and I applaud the FDA for finally putting the clamp down on this hideous form of fat. Government health officials estimate that 20,000 heart attacks will be thwarted, and 7,000 deaths annually will be prevented as a result of the ban. About freakin’ time, wouldn’t you say!?
What is Trans Fat?
Most people have heard of trans fat, but what they don’t know is how it is chemically produced. Trans fats are made by taking an unsaturated fat (primarily form plant based fat sources) and chemically modifying them to a saturated fat. This done by treating vegetable oil (unsaturated) with hydrogen gas to make it more solid (saturated). It should be noted that there are also natural sources of trans fat that exist in meat and dairy products. It is still debated among health authorities whether one or the other is more detrimental to human health. It would be my recommendation to avoid both until there is a general consensus among health experts.
Why Trans Fat?
We have known for a LONG time that trans fat is disastrous to human health. So why has it taken so long for the FDA seek out a ban? The answer is highly complicated, but I will try to make it simple. It takes a LOT of evidence for the FDA to take a food substance off of its GRAS list for the simple fact that it is hard to get ON the GRAS list in the first place. This requires that the food/additive/preservative undergo “scientific procedures” to prove the safety of the food/chemical/ additive.
I am not one to say that the FDA is a conspiracy or anything remotely close, but I do have to question why so many substances like aspartame, which is a known carcinogen, remain on the list. I believe trans fat has stayed on the GRAS list because it is cheaper to use in foods than its more natural counterpart: saturated fat.
Isn’t it funny how all of the crappy and harmful ingredients, such as artificial sweeteners, trans fats, and high fructose corn syrup stay on the list because they are cheaper to use in food production. Go ahead: Follow the money, and you will find out exactly why it stays on the list for so long! If you don’t think that “big food” has any impact on health disasters staying on the list for as long as they do, you my friend (with all due respect) have your head in the sand!
The Health Consequences of Trans Fat!
We all know about “good cholesterol” aka HDL cholesterol, and the “bad cholesterol” aka LDL cholesterol. Which one would you guess is inflated by the ingestion of trans fat? Exactly! This is why it has undeniably been linked to heart disease, clogged arteries, and high blood pressure. This is the gorilla in the room that is completely unavoidable, but what about the less heard of consequences? Listed below are some of the speculated health effects that are under scrutiny:
-Alzheimer’s disease
-Cancer
-Diabetes
-Obesity
-Liver Dysfunction
-Infertility in women
-Major depressive disorder
-Irritability and/or depression
Yikes! I am can officially say that I am OUT of this little game, and I am glad that the FDA is, too! I must add this: If you eat naturally and clean, you don’t have to rely on the government to bail you out of clogged arteries and heart disease! Food for thought!
Life is good!
God Bless!
Griff
