What foods are trans fatty acids found in?

Numerous epidemiological studies have shown that trans fatty acids increase the risk of chronic disease and are especially harmful to cardiovascular health

How scary are trans fatty acids? Why invent such a harmful food? Are products that claim to be "trans fat free" credible? How to avoid consuming too much trans fatty acids? This article will answer some of these questions for you

Not all trans fatty acids are processed

The full name of trans fatty acid is "trans unsaturated fatty acid", which is the abbreviation of a large class of unsaturated fatty acids containing trans double bonds

There was a media report that "inland baby milk powder contains trans fatty acids".

In fact, according to the source trans fatty acids can be divided into two categories: natural and processed

In addition, it is the source of processing, mainly the hydrogenation and refining process of vegetable oil.

What foods can be called "zero trans fatty acids"?

Vegetable oil hydrogenation technology has been in commercial use more than a century ago, initially as a "shortening" to replace "unhealthy" lard

Interestingly, the pros and cons of trans fatty acids have not been clarified for a period of time, but it is gradually discovered that excessive intake of saturated fats is harmful to the human body, and can replace "unhealthy" lard, tallow, and play the same role.

But over time, some people gradually discovered that its "dark side" - contains a certain amount of trans fatty acids

Nowadays, “zero trans fatty acid” foods can be found in supermarkets at will.

At the same time, if the content of trans fatty acids is not indicated on the packaging bag, it does not mean that the product does not contain trans fatty acids, because according to the general rules of nutrition labeling of prepackaged foods, if the product package is small, it cannot meet the content of the nutrition label, such as the total surface area of ​​the package ≤ Prepackaged foods with a maximum surface area of ​​100 square centimeters or a maximum surface area of ​​≤20 square centimeters may not be labeled with nutrition labels if they meet other corresponding requirements

It can be avoided by promoting a "low-fat diet"

So, how can you reduce your trans fat intake in your life?

First of all, because China's cooking habits are different from those of Western countries, refined vegetable oil is the most important source of trans fatty acids for Chinese people, and the amount of vegetable oil in cooking should be appropriately controlled

Secondly, processed foods containing hydrogenated vegetable oil, such as wafer biscuits, butter bread, pies, sandwich biscuits and other foods have relatively high trans fatty acid content and should not be eaten too much

Finally, it should be pointed out that trans fatty acids are only one risk factor that we need to pay attention to in our diet.

(The author is a nutritionist at Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine)