Hydrogenation/Trans Fats

By Vittoria D’Angelo

Hydrogenation is the process of adding a hydrogen molecule, with the use of heat and a catalyst, to an unsaturated fat in order to transform it into a saturated fat. The end result is a fat that rather than a liquid you have either a solid or semi-solid fat at room temperature, otherwise known as a trans fat. Trans fats are in several foods like potato chips, burgers, margarine, even cookies, but they have been found to be extremely unhealthy and the cause of several recent laws creating restrictions on their use in restaurants. They are a major contributor to the declining health of millions of people. With an increasing pressure on the food industry to improve the nutrition of their food several companies are trying to come up with a healthy, yet tasteful alternative to use instead of trans fats except many alternatives are turning out to be too expensive for smaller restaurants or ineffective. There are a couple of cities that have completely banned trans fats such as New York and more recently Philadelphia in an effort provide healthier products for their residents.

The reason many companies are being pushed to use other products is that trans fats pose a serious health risk due to the process of which they are created and are a major contributor to the declining health of millions of people. They contribute to several diseases including

Obesity – obesity is increasing at an alarming rate in the United States and leads to several of the below life-threatening diseases
Diabetes
An increased risk of coronary heart disease due to lower levels of HDL (good) and higher levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol.
Liver Dysfunction – since trans fats are synthetically made they are metabolized differently by the liver and interfere with the metabolic process

Trans fats may make your food taste good but with several healthier alternatives available today should food industries still be using hydrogenated fats thereby risking your health and ultimately your life?

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