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Bye, Bye, Trans Fat, But ...Hello, Palm Oil?!

Bye, Bye, Trans Fat, But ...Hello, Palm Oil?!

Responding to the Food and Drug Administration’s order to disclose the amount of unhealthy trans fats on food labels by January 2006, food companies are racing to get rid of trans fats in their products. There are now, for example, "trans-fat-free" Oreos, Fritos, and Cocoa Puffs.



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That’s the good news. The bad news: Some companies are replacing trans fats with palm oils and other high-in-saturated-fat tropical oils that are almost as heart-damaging as trans fats. Kraft, for instance, is using palm oil for the filling in its three trans-fat-free Oreo cookie varieties, reported The New York Times in February.

Yes, Trans Fats Are the Worst Kind Of Fat

Trans fats are man-made fats that were originally liquid oils but through hydrogenation (adding hydrogen to vegetable oils) become solid. In ingredient lists, foods with trans fats are usually listed as having "partially hydrogenated vegetable oils" like soybean, cottonseed, or canola. Numerous studies are now finding that trans fats not only raise LDL bad cholesterol but also lower HDL good cholesterol, prompting scientists nationwide to deride them as the worst kind of fat.

But Palm Oil Is a Horrible Alternative

But replacing them with palm oil and other tropical oils like coconut oil and palm kernel oil? "This is nuts!" exclaims Jeff Novick, MS, RD, LV/N, Director of Nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Aventura, Florida. "All these tropical oils are highly saturated fats. Like butter, cheese, and meat, tropical oils raise LDL cholesterol and clog arteries with plaque, increasing your risk of a heart attack."

"In fact, tropical oils can have more cholesterol-raising saturated fat than even butter," emphasizes Jeff. Coconut oil is 92% saturated, making it more saturated than butter, beef tallow, or even lard. Palm oil, though it contain less saturated fat (50%), is full of a type of saturated fat, palmitic acid, which appears to be most conducive to heart disease.

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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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