Trans fats and coronary heart disease
August 26th 2019
In most ingredient blogs, we've talked about the good things that are in Queal. But we've also got to talk about what we purposefully led out. I'm not talking about the normal fats (we wrote about them here), but trans fats. Let's take a look at what they are, why they are bad, and how you can limit your exposure to them.
What is it?
Trans fats ( or trans fatty acids) are found in two places. The first, and less common, is in the gut of certain animals. Some meats and milk, therefore, contain some trans fats. The second, and more prevalent, place is artificial trans fat (also known as partially hydrogenated oils).
Artificial trans fat is made by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils. This process makes them more solid. This type of fat can be used many times to fry food. They also last a long time and are therefore widely used in many fast foods.
Why do we not use it?
Over the last 30 years have we learned about the bad effects of trans fats. They lower your good (HDL) cholesterol levels, and raise the bad (LDL) levels. This raises the risk of coronary artery disease.
In Queal, we don't fry any part of our ingredients and also don't need to add more fats for flavour or anything like that. The only ingredient that contains animal products is whey powder. This consists of mostly protein and only 5% fats.
Want to learn more about fats and its functions? In this article, our CEO Floris Wolswijk tells you all about it!
How to prevent eating it?
Most of the trans fats that people eat can be found in fast food, snack food, fried food, and baked goods. If it's packaged, and can stay good at room temperature for a long time, and contains a lot of fat, then there is a high chance that it contains trans fats.
The products with the highest amount of trans fats are baking shortenings (up to 33%), margarine (up to 26%), cookies (up to 8%), cake products (up to 10%), and butter (up to 7%).
Trans fats are not essential ingredients for a healthy and wholesome diet. They are therefore recommended to be avoided. So next time you feel like eating something quick, make the right choice.
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