Even though there has been a lot of press about how trans-fats are bad for you, there are no official recommended limits as so how much you can eat. The FDA's guidelines are something along the lines of a warning that "the less consumed... the better" - but less than what? Is 2 grams that hazardous? 5 grams?
The American Heart Association just released guidelines proposing a specific limit for the amount of trans-fats that you should eat: less than 1% of the total calories consumed in a day. A single fat gram has 9 calories, so for a person on a 2000 calorie/day diet, this guide would suggest eating no more than 2 grams of trans fat per day. The recommendation was made after a panel of doctors and specialists reviewed more than 90 studies relating to the issue
Bearing this new standard in mind, it is important to note that the FDA says that a product with .5 or fewer grams of trans fats can still claim to have 0g per serving - so read the list of ingredients to find out if food is really trans-fat free. And extra half-gram per serving of trans-fat in a favorite treat can add up quickly.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-21-2006 @ 1:08PM
Cat said...
I blog about healthy food all the time and DISAGREE with the AHA, I think we should avoid ALL trans fat. Just a tiny amount is detrimental to your health. Why risk it when it's so easy to avoid? And who is funding the AHA??? Big Food.
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6-21-2006 @ 4:37PM
cybele said...
While I agree - I'm trying my best to avoid all trans fats I can, here's an interesting study that was just published:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060619133024.htm
Basically two sets of monkeys were given identical diets, except on had trans fats make up 8% of their calories. The trans fat monkeys gained weight - even though both sets of monkeys had identical caloric intakes. Strange.
I'd be curious to see if they can run another study and tell us what the threshold for gaining belly fat via trans fats would be.
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