Daily Health Info

I recently looked at a box of so called healthy cereal and the ingredients listed hydrogenated vegetable oils as an ingedient on the label. I thought …what a contradiction. On a big container of non dairy whipped cream it said in big letters ..zero trans fat per serving but the ingedients list had the word hydrogenated somewhere in there. How can that be when by definition all hydrogenated oils, partial or otherwise, contains trans fats? FDA labelling rules allow the use of zero when a serving size contains less than a half a gram of an ingredient like trans fats which are not good for us. Worse yet is allowing misleading advertising that grabs your attention making you think that a product is free of trans fats when it is clearly not.

Trans fats are a way to turn liquid oils into soft solids like margarine. The process is pretty simple and involves bubbling hydrogen gas through the oils which thickens the oils in the process. Technically what is happening is that a hydrogen atom is being chemically added to the oils which alters the molecular structure and physical properties of the oil.  The terms Cis and Trans in chemistry refers to the shapes of molecules. If you think of your right and left hands, they both have 5 fingers and both are similar but they are both also very different as a left handed glove will not fit a right hand. Artificially produced trans fats are just like this and although they feel, and taste pretty good, our bodies do not metabolize them in the same way as natural fats. Insects and bacteria that cause natural fats to become rancid are not interested in artificial trans fats, hence substitution of things like lard or shortening in things like cup cakes and cookies with trans fats gives them greatly extended shelf lives, especially if left in vending machines for any prolonged period of time. Trans fats are popular for economic reasons, not health reasons.

New York City banned all trans fats from restaurants which makes it interesting to look at the nutritional information on some of the national brand named restaurants web sites. You might see two columns, one for New York City french fries, and another for everyone else. The big difference? You guessed it … trans fats.  Why are we even thinking of allowing any use of trans fats by the FDA? Your guess is a good as mine.

Glutamate, the G in MSG, is widely used to flavor foods, especially processed dry and canned foods. There is also a sodium issue with MSG that is important to people wanting to limit their sodium intake.  Glutamate is just one of many amino acids that form the links of protein molecules.  Basically, whether we like it or not, Glutamate is pretty important because when we eat protein, our bodies break it down into its individual amino acids only to reassemble it back into proteins which we need to grow or repair our own body tissues. Glutamate is not an essential amino acid either which means our bodies make it. So where’s the rub? MSG sensitive people report reactions ranging from simple skin rash to severe depression and life-threatening physical conditions. But MSG is everywhere and even hidden in many foods. If it says hydrolyzed vegetable protein or hydrolyzed yeast on the label, it has lots of Glutamate. It does seem reasonable to avoid excessive Glutamate and just rely on whole foods and our bodies to make all we need to be healthy. Enjoying processed foods in moderation that have MSG should also not cause high anxiety unless you are one of those MSG sensitive people.