Peoria IL Chiropractic Clinic Facts About Trans Fat

Our Peoria IL Chiropractic Clinic wants you to know that when it comes to fat, trans fat is

considered to be the worst type of fat. Unlike other fats, trans fat is made by adding hydrogen to

liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid and less likely to spoil. Using trans fats in foods

increases the shelf life of products.

Like saturated fats, trans fats raise LDL "bad" cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease.

But unlike saturated fats, trans fats lower HDL "good" cholesterol and may do more damage.

Trans fat is used in commercial baked goods such as cookies, cakes, and crackers, muffins, pie

crusts, hamburger buns, as well as many fried foods, such as doughnuts, french fries, chicken

nuggets, and hard taco shells. Trans fat can also be found in snack foods like chips, microwave

popcorn, and candy and in pre-mixed cake mixes, pancake mixes, and chocolate drink mixes.

In 1994 a study at Harvard University reported that people who consumed the highest amounts

of trans fats had twice the heart-attack risk of those who consumed little. "The more we look at

trans fat," says Walter Willett, who worked on the study, "the more we see it is a metabolic

poison." Trans fats are particularly harmful because they lower levels of good cholesterol and

raise levels of bad cholesterol.

According to a recently article published in USA Today, the FDA is moving to phase out trans fat food citing health concerns. The government agency said Thursday it would require food makers to gradually

phase out artificial trans fats.

Peoria IL Chiropractic Facts About Trans Fat

Like saturated fats, trans fats raise your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol and increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. Unlike saturated fats, trans fat lowers your "good" (HDL) cholesterol.

Trans fat is associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

One thing we've learned is that it only takes a tiny amount of trans fat to adversely affect health.

In a study of 120,000 female nurses, researchers found that replacing 2 percent of their calories

with trans fat doubled their risk of heart disease.

For overall good health, our Peoria IL Chiropractic Clinic is encouraged that the FDA’s move to

phase out trans fat will have a positive effect on your health and well-being.