The poison in our food supply that most people are STILL eating every day

Most people are literally eating poison every day without giving it a second thought. Eating this substance can make you fat and even small amounts (2% of total energy intake) are consistently linked to coronary heart disease. The research also confirms that it will increase visceral fat, contribute to insulin resistance, increase risk of type 2 diabetes, adversely affect cholesterol levels, trigger systemic inflammation, disrupt glucose-insulin homeostasis and adversely affect almost every cell in your body, including hepatocytes, adipocytes, macrophages and endothelial cells.

What substance could be so harmful that it causes all of these health problems and yet is so prevalent in our food supply that most people are eating dangerous amounts every single day? This unnatural food additive is known as Trans fatty acids (TFAs).

TFAs come mostly from the industrial hydrogenation or partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils, which alters the natural cis configuration of the oils to the trans configuration. Trans fats are not found in nature, with the exception of some ruminant-derived TFAs which are found in certain dairy products (usually contributing less than 0.5%of total caloric intake).

TFAs have been studied for decades, but were largely ignored until the past several years. Since 2006, TFAs have thankfully received a decent amount of publicity when they were in the news regarding new food labeling laws and the banning of their use in restaurants in some states.

TFAs are not new news, but there have been new studies published in the past year on the dangers of TFAs. Four recent studies indicated 24, 20, 27 and 32% higher risk of myocardial infarction (MI) or CHD death for every 2% energy of TFA consumption isocalorically replacing carbohydrate, SFA, cis monounsaturated fatty acids and cis polyunsaturated fatty acids, respectively.

TFA intake in the United States still averages 2-3% of total energy intake, 4% in some developing countries where fast food is being introduced and as high as 8-10% in certain subgroups (who eat large amounts of baked goods, fried foods, pastries, doughnuts, etc). The government recommended maximum is 1% of total energy intake (2 grams!). Some experts say there is NO safe level of TFA intake.

Some states have enacted legislation banning the use of TFAs in restaurants. It was big news New York. As of 2008, 11 cities and counties have adopted regulations to restrict TFA use in restaurants. However, industrial TFA use is still widespread and lots of people are still scarfing them down every day.

If Trans fats are so dangerous, why is their use so widespread? Nutrition author Udo Erasmus put it this way: TFAs are a food manufacturers dream: an unspoilable substance that lasts forever. TFAs are cheap and for countless food products, they can prolong shelf life, allow easy transport, provide solidity at room temperature, and increase suitability for commercial frying.

Although most people have heard of TFAs, perhaps scariest of all is the level of ignorance and inaction about TFAs to this day.

A study published in the Journal of The American Dietetic Association found that in 2007, 73% of Americans knew that they increased risk of heart disease, compared to 63% in 2006. That's the good news.

The bad news is that this increased awareness has not been enough to translate into behavior change. "Knowledge about food sources of fats remains low" says Robert Eckel, professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado.

According to the ADA, as of 2007, 79% of Americans could not name 3 foods that contain trans fats. 46% of Americans could not name any sources of trans fats on their own.

Public health messages have been raising awareness, but they haven't been enough. TFAs are bad for you. Ok, so now what? What you really need are some simple behavior guidelines and a list of foods to eat very infrequently if you eat them at all.

Here are some good places for you to start.

4 Ways to Avoid Trans Fatty Acids

1. Read ingredients lists. The primary source of TFAs is partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. In particular, soybean, sunflower, cottonseed and palm oils are frequently hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. Your first step then, is to read food labels on any packaged products and look at the ingredients list. If it contains hydrogenated oils, it contains TFAs.

2. Watch for label loopholes. WARNING: Food companies are lying to you on their product labels to make you think their foods are TFA-free. The front of their package may say ZERO grams of trans fats, and yet there is hydrogenated oil listed in the ingredients. How could that be? There is a label loophole where the government allows companies to claim zero trans fats if there is less than a half a gram per serving. So the food companies sneakily manipulate their serving sizes until the servings are so small that the TFA content falls below the per serving limit.

3. Eat mostly foods that do not have a label. At the risk of stating the obvious, if you don't eat anything that comes in a box or package with a label, then you won't ever consume manmade TFAs. If your diet consists primarily of fruits, fibrous vegetables, root vegetables, beans, legumes, brown rice, unprocessed whole grains, nuts, seeds, eggs, fish and lean meats, you're home free.

4. Avoid foods that contain TFAs most of the time. TFAs are commonly found in baked goods (bakery), fried foods and packaged convenience foods, especially:

cookies*, crackers*, biscuits*, pastries* pies* doughnuts* packaged frozen foods (breaded chicken, breaded fish, etc) corn chips, potato chips, packaged popcorn, some breads, frostings, french fries (fried potatoes), taco shells, margarine, shortening and some salad dressings.

* major food sources for American adults

In 2002 when I published my first book, I warned my readers of the dangers of trans fatty acids. I was not the only one either. Years ahead of the 2006 law requiring trans fats to be listed on food labels and the 2007-2008 restaurant TFA bans, numerous health professionals were already warning people to stay away from TFAs.

Not enough people listened, and no doubt, skyrocketing rates of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease can be largely linked to these artificial fake food additives. In the US alone, there are 1,700,000 new cases of diabetes, 233,600 diabetes-related deaths, 600,000 myocardial infarctions and 451,300 coronary heart disease-related deaths every year.

A campaign for better education, lifestyle change and even legislation is worth supporting. As researchers from Harvard said, "A comprehensive strategy to eliminate the use of industrial TFA in both developed and developing countries, including education, food labeling, and policy and legislative initiatives, would likely prevent tens of thousands of CHD events worldwide each year."

For a healthy and balanced lifestyle, and for better long-term compliance, I'm rarely in favor of labeling any foods as totally "forbidden" or to use words as strong as "poison" in describing them. But if there are any exceptions, trans fats are one of them.

If you are unable or unwilling to eliminate TFAs from your diet completely, then you would be wise for the sake of your health and your family's health, to keep TFAs to a bare minimum and definitely avoid eating any of the TFA-laden foods listed above on a daily basis. Be on guard however, because history tells us that when one harmful food additive is banned, it is often replaced with another, which is sometimes even worse.