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April 4, 2007 | Issue 110 |
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Trans-Fat-Free Crisco?! Don't Get Greased, Again!
First Oreo cookies. Then New York City restaurants. Now Crisco.
ASK THE EXPERTS
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The media has a new “bad guy” called trans fats. So in the often overly simplified world of TV sound bites, journalists are now widely reporting on the new “good guys,” which are any foods (including Crisco) or any laws that have wiped out “bad guy” trans fats.
Sure, trans fats are nasty artery-clogging fats. “But there’s much more to the picture,” argues Jeffrey Novick, MS, RD, Director of Nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center® & Spa in Aventura, Florida. “Just removing the trans fat from a food does not necessarily make it a healthy food. Junk food is junk food no matter how you market and sell it.”
Trans fats contain trans fatty acids, which are formed by a process called partial hydrogenation, used by the food industry to solidify and stabilize liquid vegetable oils. It’s how food processors turn oils into margarine, and if they hydrogenate them enough, eventually into Crisco shortening.
“While this process helps extend the shelf life of the oils and, in turn, the processed foods they’re often found in, it can significantly reduce the life expectancy of people who consume them frequently,” warns Dr. Jay Kenney, Nutrition Research Specialist at the Pritikin Longevity Center.
The main sources of trans fats are foods like store-bought cakes, cookies, crackers, pies and breads. They contribute approximately 40% of Americans’ trans fat consumption; margarine, about 17%; fried potatoes, potato chips, corn chips, and popcorn, about 13%; and household shortening, 4%.
Slight improvement
"Removing trans fats from margarine, frying oils, and pastries may be a slight improvement to the food," explains registered dietitian Jeffrey Novick, “but it’s never a good idea to evaluate a product based on any one item. Remember ‘fat-free’ foods that were full of sugar and calories? And low-carb foods that were full of fat and salt? To be truly healthy, a food must pass several criteria, which many of these newly reformulated trans-fat free foods fail miserably at.
“Many of these trans fat-free media stars are in fact heavily processed foods flooded with refined flours, refined sugars, saturated fats, and cholesterol. And they’re often severely deficient in fiber and nutrients. Plus, they’re dense with calories. In other words, all of these foods are junk foods.”
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Copyright 2007 Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa. All rights reserved.
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Pritikin Perspective - Healthy Living Made Easier
Pritikin Perspective is a publication for Alumni of the Pritikin Longevity Center. It is dedicated to helping people make healthy changes in their lives. The articles in this publication should not be considered specific medical advice, as each individual circumstance is different. You are strongly encouraged to seek medical advice before beginning a program of diet and exercise.
Editor/Writer: Eugenia Killoran.
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