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| Photo (centre): Teodora Vlaicu/Stock.Xchng |
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| By Ng Hooi Lin |
| Nutritionist, Singapore Heart Foundation |
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| 请点击：反式脂肪伤“心” |
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| All of us have heard that trans fat is a bad fat. But, what actually is trans fat? Most trans fat in the diet is formed during the process of hydrogenation of vegetable oils. Hydrogenation is an industrial process in which liquid oil is converted into solid fat. |
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| “Why are we turning unsaturated fat into trans fat?”, you ask. |
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| Let’s use cookies as an example. If cookies were made using liquid vegetable oils, consumers won’t be too pleased when they open a box of cookies that has been on the shelf for long period of time as the cookies would not have a crispy texture and may even have turned rancid. To prevent this from happening, food manufacturers add hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils. This process allows the cookies to have longer shelf life and gives them crispy texture. |
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| Unfortunately, the hydrogenation process turns a small fraction of oils into trans fat. It was only in the 1990s that researchers began identifying the harmful effects of trans fats on the body. |
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| What harm does trans fat do to us? |
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| Trans fat is now considered the worst kind of fat for the heart. Why? It has the same harmful characteristics as saturated fat, which raises bad cholesterol levels. At the same time, trans fat also reduces good cholesterol. Good cholesterol helps to protect against heart disease. Trans fat increases your risk of getting heart disease even more than saturated fat. |
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| What food contains trans fat? |
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| Trans fat is also present naturally in small amounts in beef, mutton, lamb and full-fat dairy products. However, this trans fat is not the same as the trans fat produced as a by-product of hydrogenation. There is no scientific evidence to show that trans fat found naturally in food is harmful. As such, there is no reason to completely get rid of food with natural trans fat from the diet. The trans fats that we are concerned about are those found in hard margarine, pastries, commercially deep-fried food, cookies, biscuits and so on. |
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| How can you tell if a product has trans fat in it? You can spot trans fat by reading the ingredient list. If you see the words “partially hydrogenated oils” or “vegetable shortening” on the ingredient list, then the product most likely contains trans fat. This is when you can make a conscious effort to place the product back on the shelf and choose a healthier alternative. Don’t forget that you are responsible for the quality of food you put in your mouth! |
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| Is food free of trans fat healthy? |
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| Not really! Some food manufacturers label their biscuits “trans fat free”. Now, let’s pause and ponder: What are the ingredients required in baking biscuits? Well, you need flour, sugar and fat! Where does the fat come from? Go through the ingredient list carefully and you will find other fats in the products such as butter or palm oil. Butter contains both saturated fat and cholesterol. Palm oils or palm kernel oils are free of trans fat but contain a higher proportion of saturated fat than other unsaturated vegetable oils, which is also not heart-friendly. |
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| The bottom line is this: we should maintain a well-balanced diet and consume high fat food in moderation as a diet low in total fat, saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. |
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| Related Articles |
| F-A-T: Eat less, not fat free |
| Saturated Fat: Low, Lower, Lowest! |
| Get your fats right: Unsaturated Fat |
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| Back to Nutrition Tips |
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