Avoiding Trans Fats is Harder Than You Think!

Oh Yeah, YOU Hold the Trans Fat!



As a professional in the Health & Wellness field I receive quite a few daily e-newsletters. I like SmartPeople's newsletter. I don't always agree with what they have to say, but generally the info is spot on.

Today I came across one that got my attention and got me irritated with it's suggestion. Yes, it seemed so simple, but in reality it is a very difficult thing to do.

Trans Fats. A controversial fat. A man-made product that replaces natural fat in a variety of "shelf-ready" food products. Trans Fats are on the market for 3 reasons. 1. cheaper 2. stable shelf life in processed foods (foods stay "fresh" longer where as natural fats go bad in shorter time) 3. first presumed healthier when it came to our blood lipid profiles.

Oh these trans fats had a bright future when first introduced some 30 years ago. Today you can't find a packaged food product without some level of trans fat included.

Same holds true with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Man made food products primarily designed to increase shelf life of foods. Presumable to feed our growing populations.

Both are killing us. No not immediately. And really it might be difficult to prove in court that these products are to blame for lives lost prematurely. And you could argue that these products have actually helped feed our poor hungry nation.

Having been in the health field for 25+ years I have even promoted the use of these products, reduce cholesterol levels by eating margarine for one. Choose whole wheat versions of foods, now even my beloved Wheaties" has no sugar added, but are artificially sweetened with HFCS! AARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

Right now my only advice for folks who are really trying to improve their health nutritionally is: Eat Locally Grown, Choose Whole and where ever feasible Organically Grown foods. I can't consciously advice otherwise.

To do so takes effort. time and forces learning how to cook instead of "heating up" what we put together out of the box. That in reality is a BIG adjustment. At least for me it is. I never learned how to really cook. I'm learning, but it's a process.

When I read the advice such as the one below, which is good advice, I get a little angry. The advice is sound, but it's not thaty simple or that realistic. Just read the lables and avoid foods that have these ingredients listed on the label it suggests. Well, try it out. See if you can find yourself some macaroni & cheese that you can fix in 5 minutes. You pretty much have to make the dish from scratch to do it.

Tell that to a time pressed single mom on a limited budget! Tell that to a college student or a senior citizen who needs to decide between bus fare to their classes,medications and food.

The advice is sound. The advice from SmartPeople is correct. But it gives it to you like it's easy to just switch. It's not.

But that doesn't mean the journey toward healthy eating should be abondoned. Not at all. One just needs to realize that it will take a bit more, well a lot more effort, than a "sound bite".

The fact that a Harvard study found (keep in mind it's ONE study too) that just a 2% increase in Trans Fats increases one's risk of heart disease (yes, our most chronic illness) by a whopping 93%! That's HUGE. That's worrisome. That's cause to address the problem at the root - with our food industry.

Hold the Trans Fat

by SmartPeople.com
What do bread, crackers, cereal, macaroni and cheese, frozen pizza, doughnuts, and cookies have in common? Besides being at the top of the list of many kids' favorite foods, they are all possible sources of trans fats. Trans fats are oils that, through a process called hydrogenation, have been chemically altered from their original liquid states into solid shortening. The process extends the shelf life of the oil and improves the texture of the food to which the oil is added. Many manufacturers add it to their products for these reasons.

However, when you add those foods to your grocery cart, you're increasing your risk of heart disease (and your kid's too), because trans fats are artery-clogging professionals. They carry cholesterol to the arteries, drop it off, and go looking for more. A Harvard Medical School study of 80,000 women found that a 2% increase in trans fat consumption increased a woman's risk of heart disease by 93%.

But you can still have your cake, eat it, and have a healthy heart, too. Just avoid products that list "partially hydrogenated" vegetable oil or shortening as an ingredient.

Sports True Lessons Live on Long After the Game is Done

I have said it before and I'll say it again. There is a lot more to sports than winning a particular game on a specific day. A point often lost to parents, players and coaches these days.

If coached well, the players learn humility, courage, tenacity, confidence, teamwork, dedication and loyalty, during the years of playing sports. All attributes that come over time with practice, guidance and patience. All attributes that come from failing, then getting back up again. All attributes that come when an individual finally learns, to borrow from the film "Miracle", that the "name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back of the jersey", that the team is a band of people they need to rise up for and with.

These are the attributes that can carry a person through life's good times and bad. The lessons learned on the playing field develop the leader who will later go on to great accomplishments in life, family, community, business, charity or whatever.

That's if the lessons learned early on actaully shape the person in a positive direction.

I cringe when I watch players approach any sport with the "ah, who cares, it's only a game" attitude. It saddens me that the lesson is lost on them. They give up if they can't get the immediate win. They give up on the game. Think that doesn't become a habit?

I'm dissappointed when I observe a coach twisting the rules to win a game on a trick play (although there is a lesson in that as well - be prepared for the unexpected). So instead of training hard, dedicating yourself and time to perfecting a skill one learns to manipulate and...well, to put it bluntly...cheat. That's what they bring to life in the future. I'm angry at the loss of the true lesson in sport. Think that doesn't become a habit?

If a coach or parent is thoughtful they can see past the immediate gratifaction and teach the lessons that make truly GREAT leaders, GREAT people. They take the time to develop the player from the inside out. That doesn't happen in one game, one season, one year. That develops over time.

And we as a society are not patient enough to allow the lesson to unfold. We as a society have lost the true lesson. "Can't see the forest for the trees." We see only the short-term profits at whatever the longterm cost.

The truly great see both.

Take a listen to one of todays leaders who brings home my point...

Standing Your Ground - not to be intimidated...

I've been involved with competitive sports all my life. My father was an outstanding athlete in High School in 3 sports and is still considered to be the best Center (football) to come out of Salesianum (DE) today. I had no choice but to love sports, it was in my blood.

Sports, if allowed to do so, can provide valuable life lessons to the participant that they can take with them into the rest of their lives. They can also, when taught, encouraged and coached to win at all costs lose the life lessons which are positive. As I always say, "it's a razors-edge", the line of integrity.

Playing sports once again, at the age of 53, I find the lessons as prevalent now as they were when I was in high school and college. I'm only more aware of their value to me personally and to my children.

Standing My Ground is another example of those lessons from sports.

http://www.myspace.com/sherrillaquinn/blog/541071490