Same-Fats: The Decline Of Trans-Fat

Having high cholesterol and high blood pressure because of fast food can make someone more susceptible to atherosclerosis or even heart disease. The blocked arteries and leading to the heart, will continue to get worse if someone has diabetes, obesity, and lives a sedentary lifestyle.This disease is the number one killer and causes half of all mortalities in the U.S and developed countries. All in all, fast food is a definite cause to Coronary Artery Disease.

Polyunsaturated fats are found in fish and vegetable oils and are an essential nutrient which reduces the risk for coronary heart disease (Shulman, 2010, pg. 51).  The unhealthy fats are the trans fatty acids, saturated and unsaturated, such as butter, cheese and animal fat, should be completely removed from diets.  Saturated trans fats contribute to an increased low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, increase inflammation and heart disease. Unsaturated trans fats also contribute to higher LDL cholesterol and lower the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels (Shulman, 2010, pg. 52).  A fast paced society has lead to and increased consumption of prepackaged food is because it is a convenient option when people are in a time restraint and for people who are stressed (C.L. Rocks, personal communication, October 11, 2011). A way to overcome this is to spend some time planning meals for a week and by arranging healthy snacks, such as preparing raw vegetables ahead of time, to make it easier to eat healthy when in a time restraint. Trans fatty foods containing hydrogenated vegetable oil, foods such as chips or cookies, typically are high calorie foods and are lacking in essential nutrients (Brandt, 2011, pg 158). Cravings increase over time because people turn to them so often it develops into a habit. These unhealthy habits could unfortunately result in a person gaining weight (C.L. Rocks, personal communication, October 11,

Consuming fast food is also associated with poor health outcomes, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.5

There are people that go and eat fast food 5 out of 7 days a week because they either can’t afford to eat at home, don’t have time to eat at home, or are just too lazy to make dinner from healthier choices. These fast foods are cheaper and faster to make than traditional foods you can get from the grocery store, yet their fat and sodium and sugar content is extremely high compared to those traditional foods. These foods are processed and lose a lot of the nutrients that our bodies need to be healthy and have increases in the nutrients that we are getting too much of such as being “loaded with added sugar… or its evil twin, High Fructose Corn Syrup..” These people consuming these fatty foods even know of what they are doing to their bodies but continue to consume these foods. Although this might not be completely their fault, with these foods being cheaper and more cost

Fast food causes Coronary Artery Disease. Nancy Clarks indicates “Fast food contains high amounts of cholesterol and salt, two nutrients that contribute to cardiovascular health problems” (parag. 2). Fast food is known to be unhealthy, it is high in fat, sodium, and cholesterol which can cause Atherosclerosis and lead to Heart Disease. The U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention claim there is a direct link between sodium and high blood pressure. Fast food is high in sodium

The process of creating trans fat originated from the 1890s in France when chemist Paul Sabatier discovered that metal catalysts could precipitate hydrogenic reactions. This led to German chemist Wilhelm Normanns’ 1901 experimentation with hydrogenation catalysts that successfully led to the hydrogenation of liquid fat which produced semi solid fat that is now known as trans-fat. This process was adopted by many food manufacturers because of its ability to stabilize the shelf life of products it is in. With the production and use of trans fat comes some serious health risks. In the 1950s it was found that there is a clear connection between the intake of saturated fats and heart disease. After this was found there was some opposing studies that proved fats were healthy. By the 1980s it was established that a high intake of saturated fat led to a higher risk for heart problems. Because of this trans fats were used to replace saturated fats, but it was later found that trans fat held a higher risk for heart problems than saturated fats did (“Trans Fat”). Once people discovered this, a demand for healthy alternatives began and is still prevalent today.

Eating food that is high in saturated fats causes clogging of the arteries and arteries are used to transport blood from the heart to other tissues and organs in the body. However, if the arteries are being clogged there is no way of getting blood to the body, as well as taking oxygen and nutrients to every cell of the body due to the lack of nutrients in fast-food. Clogging of the arteries affects the heart causing heart attacks. Not only fast-foods cause clogging of the arteries according to The American Heart Association, "Eating a "Western" diet with lots of processed or fried foods can raise blood levels of "oxidized" cholesterol -- a particularly damaging form of cholesterol -- and could increase heart attack risk" (Fast Food Clogging Arteries). As The American Heart Association notes the "Western" diet, which is a diet that consists of fats, is pertinent to those who are obese because consuming a high amount of fats daily does not necessarily mean consumption of fast-food but not knowing what is about to be consumed can result in high risk of a heart attack. Fast-foods cause clogging of the arteries because hamburgers and fries contain oxidized fat (Bad Fat). Because oxidized fats are in fast-food, that increases the chances of an obese person who does not already have cholesterol and diabetes to be diseased and they are even at

Restaurants are an important source of daily food intake for New York City residents. An estimated one third of daily consumption comes from foods purchased from restaurants. Assuring healthy dining options is a public health concern. The public health concern this health policy aims to address is the presence of trans fat in foods served in restaurants. The presence of trans fat in foods creates a dangerous and yet preventable health risk to restaurant goers (2).

A Guide to Fats and Oils: Again with information on what is good and what to avoid.

Fat was viewed as the original epitome of evil when it came to health issues. However, as of recently, the tides may have changed and redirected towards sugar. The American diet has been reducing fat but sugar-related issues like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease has continued to plague Americans. Some scientists put the blame on sugar and the increasing sugar content in all the foods that are being consumed. Still, it is hard to prove this and studies are tackling the issue. However, studies and journals are being published to analyze the difference in health when we replace sugar with starch and the possible patterns that will be revealed.

The availability of these restaurants and the willingness to consume food from them is allowing our bodies to ingest one major ingredient that is poorly absorbed in our bodies, and that is trans fats. Trans fats, properly known as trans fatty acids are an unsaturated fatty acid found in some vegetable oils (Merrium-Webster, 2015). These trans fatty acids are found in fast food, biscuits, cakes, frozen pizza, and microwave popcorn among many other commonly consumed foods. Fast food restaurants use these trans fatty acids with other oils to deep fry food that allows food to “taste good” or be more desirable. These trans fats are thought to generate a higher amount of stomach and abdominal fat and are also known to raise LDL cholesterol and cause additional health problems (Astrup, Dyerberg, Selleck, & Stender, 2008). Another leading cause of poor nutrition in the United States is portion size. Portion sizes vary all over the world and even from our homes to the restaurant. The bigger the portion size the more people feel like they have to eat. This feeling causes them to eat more than they need to be fulfilled and more calories consumed than needed for the body to run. Generally if people don’t eat all of their food they feel like they are being wasteful and they continue to eat even after they are full (Astrup, Dyerberg, Selleck, & Stender, 2008). One major problem with this is the amount of food being consumed. People have to be able to know

Trans-fat was created in industrial laboratories and hydrogen is added to vegetable oil, which makes it solid at room temperature. This causes processed foods to survive longer than natural food as it spoils quicker than a food that has trans-fat in it. Cakes, cookies, frosting, popcorn, French fries, doughnuts, Cisco and margarine are all trans-fat and foods Americans eat constantly everyday. All these foods are what raises our LDL and lowers our HDL, which also causes diabetes.

Unhealthy eating habits have become an epidemic in the United States. Restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger King only encourage said eating habits. The amount of grease and fat in numerous foods are clearly culprits for the growing health issue. It is far more convenient to travel the short distance to the drive-thru than to buy food, then trek home and cook

This case study discusses the popularity of food fads and the growing concept of providing customers with healthier food choices by banning Trans Fat foods in restaurants. Trans Fats are processed altered oils that include hydrogenated products which businesses use to extend a product’s shelf life. Such fats can clog arteries and be very harmful to one’s health when consumed on a daily basis. This analysis will describe the causes of why this Trans Fat free notion has been on the rise and how such an implementation can create challenging

Kaplan from the New York Times says, “Trans fat are made by adding hydrogen to liquid oil, which turns it into a solid, like margarine or Crisco.” It also doesn’t cost very much, which is why food manufacturers use it so much. Trans fats come from animal products like milk and meat. The FDA says that it’s synthesized in the guts of grazing animals. Although trans fats are a natural component it increases risk of various bad health conditions like; coronary heart disease, angina, and heart attacks. They’ve even been labeled as, “the most harmful fat of all” by the CSPI, a nonprofit advocacy group that petitioned for the FDA to require labeling it (Kaplan). Trans fats can affect your health if you consume too