Did you know that vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat soluble? That means that they NEED fat to be able to absorb into your body. Did you know that vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption? Did you know that fat helps your body digest carbs? Did you know that in order to make food "low fat" or "fat free" they up the sugar, salt, and chemicals? It isn't even food anymore by the time it is done. It is something as foreign to your body as plastic and your body can not use it to nourish you.
Did you know that monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can lower cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease? How is that bad? I just don't understand your logic. Fat does not make you fat. And even if you are fat, so what. Screw it all. Be healthy! Fat helps keep your skin and eyes healthy as well as your brain. The brain is 60% lipids! Those are things I care about.
So what does all of this mean? 'Saturated fat' means fat where the molecule cannot fit any more hydrogen atoms on. 'Mono-unsaturated' means the fat molecule has room for one more hydrogen atom, 'polyunsaturate' means it has room for more than one. Hydrogenated fat isn't technically a saturated fat, so it looks OK on the label. But it is actually vegetable oil blasted with hydrogen so that it behaves like saturated fat and most of the time is chemically bonded with sugar. Basically it stays solid at room temperatures so that the product doesn't "seem" oily to the consumer.
So what does all of this mean? 'Saturated fat' means fat where the molecule cannot fit any more hydrogen atoms on. 'Mono-unsaturated' means the fat molecule has room for one more hydrogen atom, 'polyunsaturate' means it has room for more than one. Hydrogenated fat isn't technically a saturated fat, so it looks OK on the label. But it is actually vegetable oil blasted with hydrogen so that it behaves like saturated fat and most of the time is chemically bonded with sugar. Basically it stays solid at room temperatures so that the product doesn't "seem" oily to the consumer.
So what, it is just vegetable oil, right? Lets take a look at how its made.....
1. Vegetable oil is mixed thoroughly with fine particles of nickel or copper.
2. It is then heated to a very high temperature (about 200 degrees celsius) and held at that heat for 6 hours.
3. Meanwhile, hydrogen gas is pumped through the mixture at high pressure, and then the excited hydrogen atoms penetrate the vegetable oil molecules and chemically change them into 'transfats' ('trans fatty acids'). These are new, complex substances that are not found in nature, except at low levels in some animal fats.
4. The mixture is then cooled down to form tiny hard plastic-like beads. These hard beads are known as 'hydrogenated oil'.
The beads of hydrogenated oil are mixed with liquid vegetable oil and heated up again to a high temperature. when this mixture cools you have margarine. Margarine made like this can contain 'trans-fats' at levels up to 40%.
1. Vegetable oil is mixed thoroughly with fine particles of nickel or copper.
2. It is then heated to a very high temperature (about 200 degrees celsius) and held at that heat for 6 hours.
3. Meanwhile, hydrogen gas is pumped through the mixture at high pressure, and then the excited hydrogen atoms penetrate the vegetable oil molecules and chemically change them into 'transfats' ('trans fatty acids'). These are new, complex substances that are not found in nature, except at low levels in some animal fats.
4. The mixture is then cooled down to form tiny hard plastic-like beads. These hard beads are known as 'hydrogenated oil'.
The beads of hydrogenated oil are mixed with liquid vegetable oil and heated up again to a high temperature. when this mixture cools you have margarine. Margarine made like this can contain 'trans-fats' at levels up to 40%.
Here is the kicker - Foods can call themselves "trans-fat free" even if they contain up to half a gram of trans fats per serving. Look on the ingredients list. If a food contains partially hydrogenated oils, it contains trans fats.
I am going to leave it alone at that. I wasnt even planning on preaching that much, but oh well. Some other day I will cover other fun facts having to do with MSG, Food Dyes, Artificial Sweeteners, and why you should never eat table salt!
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