0g Trans Fat
Right, so trans fats are the latest bad thing for you, and are now listed on the 'nutritional information' of food products sold in the U.S. Trans fatty acid comes from partially hydrogenated oils -- basically oil that has been turned into Crisco by the addition of hydrogen. Partially hydrogenated oils greatly increase the shelf life of food products, but they have a longer shelf life inside your body, too... not a good thing.
So you can avoid trans fat by looking for foods that list '0g Trans Fat' on the package, right? Don't be so sure... according to FDA regulations, anything less than .5 grams per serving can be labeled as 0 grams per serving, or trans fat free. If a product has very small serving sizes listed, you could very well get 1 to 2 grams of trans fat with a realistic portion -- not a good thing.
For the past few years, my morning ritual has been several cups of French pressed coffee, mixed with generous portions of French Vanilla creamer. I switched to Nestle's 'Coffee Mate' brand when they started putting '0g trans fat' on the label, only to find 'partially hydrogenated soybean oil' listed as the third ingredient (behind water and sugar).
So, in an effort to cut back on my sugar and trans fat intake (and to lose a little weight), I am quitting... cold turkey. No more coffee and creamer (except maybe on the weekends). So far I'm not really liking this coffee-less existence (my head is kind of in a fog), but I'm hoping that it will go away in a few days... we'll see.
Comments
Remember to avoid doughnuts, too. They're supposedly one of the worst. Did you see that the AMA says there is NO safe level of trans fat intake? Enough to scare me off the Krispy Kremes!
Posted by: Kris | May 19, 2006 6:24 PM
Why dont you just drink your coffee with half n half or cream or milk? It would reduce the haze.
Posted by: mrs darling | May 19, 2006 6:55 PM
Kris- We are pretty much trying to completely eliminate trans fats from our diet. We have even switched from Jif peanut butter to Costo's Kirkland Organic peanut butter -- and we like it just as well. It can be very difficult to avoid those pesky trans fats...
Tammy- I have thought of that, but I would need sugar in there, too -- but at least that would eliminate the trans fats. I may just try that -- the haze isn't much fun...
Posted by: Jeff | May 19, 2006 7:01 PM