The One Ingredient That's Worse Than Sugar

The One to Avoid Between Now and 2018 The ingredient: Partially hydrogenated oils, otherwise known as trans fats What you should know: These types of trans fats are so bad for you that in 2015 the Food and Drug Administration gave food manufacturers and restaurants three years to phase out PHOs. Why? They’re known to raise levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of the good ones (HDL). That increases your risk for cardiovascular disease. Lots of big chains like McDonald’s, Wendy’s and KFC have already gotten rid of them, as have many food companies, says Lisa Lefferts, MSPH, a senior scientist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food-advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., but you can still find them in some microwave popcorns, frostings, margarines and frozen entrees. A word to stay wise: If a food’s packaging says “no trans fats,” you can rest assured that there really aren’t any in there, says Lefferts. If the nutrition label says zero grams trans fat, however, that doesn’t mean the product is trans-fat free–as long as the product has less than .5 grams per serving, the nutrition label can say zero. A half-gram may not sound like a lot, but if you’re eating more than one serving of said food, or regularly nosh on several foods with this trans-fat situation, that could put you over the American Heart Association’s recommendation of 2 grams of trans fats or less per day. (There are ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news