Over the last few years, transfat has gained absolute notoriety as a category of food item that can completely derail one’s health and experts have highly recommended complete elimination of transfat from the daily diet because it is absolutely “bad news” for your heart. FDA has taken a big step that would prevent a lot of heart-attack related deaths by regulating the addition of tranfat to food products. In a remarkable resolution, the World Health Organization (WHO) wants complete elimination of artificial transfat by the year 2023. Transfat is artificially made from vegetable oils by a process called hydrogenation where hydrogen molecules are added to the oil. This is done to increase the shelf life of the oil, to solidy the oil, and make it more appetizing and suitable for frying. Also, transfat is an inexpensive way to add taste to the oil, but this process is extremely harmful to the human body due to the high proportion of LDL (bad cholesterol) which can wreak havoc in the body and puts one at the risk of developing morbid diseases like type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. Transfat food is commonly found in fried food, packaged baked items, even margarine. There’s enough data and studies to support the fact that regular consumption of transfat-containing food can push one towards certain type of cancers like breast and colon cancer. Interestingly, if the total fat content in a food product is below 0.5 gm, then there’s no need to mention “transfat” in the ingredients list! It’s high time when we think twice before ingesting transfat rich food that can not only put your health in grave danger but also stop you from losing weight even though you might slog it out in the gym for hours.
What Does Transfat Do To the Body?
1. Increases bad cholesterol (LDL) and lowers the proportion of HDL which is considered to be good cholesterol.
2. Puts one at an increased risk to develop cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack.
3. Puts one at an increased risk of stroke.
4. Pushes you into the pre-diabetic and eventually into the type 2 diabetes category. Transfat makes body cells insulin resistant and eventually the cells stop responding to the activity of insulin, raising blood sugar levels abnormally and that leads to diabetes.
5. Regular consumption can cause obesity.
6. Increases one’s risk of developing colon cancer.
7. Releases toxic molecules in the body which can clog blood vessels and obstruct blood flow in the arteries.
What Health Problems Can you Develop with Transfat:
1. Diabetes mellitus.
2. Obesity.
3. Colon cancer.
4. Breast cancer.
5. Heart attack.
6. Stroke.
7. Cardiovascular disease.
8. Retina damage.
9. Gallstones.
10. Alzheimer’s disease.
Other names for Transfat present on the Food Label:
Brands sometimes tend to trick the consumer by concealing the transfat content in the food product by giving it a different name. Check the label for these names to completely eliminate transfat from your diet.
1. Partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil.
2. Trans fatty acid.
3. Trans unsaturated fat.
List of 15 Transfat Food you should Avoid to Lose Weight Effectively:
1. French fries.
2. Potato chips.
3. Margarine.
4. Fast food, junk food.
5. Vanaspati oil
6. Frozen pizza.
7. Microwave popcorn.
8. Biscuits.
9. Cakes
10. Packaged icing.
11. Ice creams.
12. Cereals.
13. Burgers.
14. Bread.
15. Non-dairy creamer.
Permitted Dosage of Transfat:
Up to 2 gm per serving of transfat is okayed by the American Heart Association, but if you can, completely eliminate transfat in all form to keep your heart happy.
How To Replace Transfat for Weight Loss?
1. Replace vanaspati ghee with regular butter or ghee.
2. Completely get rid of margarine.
3. Say no to processed food.
4. Use minimum oil for cooking.
5. Replace refined oil with olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil in cooking. It’s also okay to use butter instead of vegetable oil considering that butter is not contaminated with chemicals and is also rich in vitamins E, A, and D.
6. Always read labels and keep back any product that has transfat above 0 gm.
