"saturated fat" news and stories

With trans fats in the spotlight most of the time, it is easy to overlook saturated fats, which have long been the nemesis of the health-conscious. They have been linked to atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease and are found in butter, ghee, suet, tallow, lard, coconut oil, cottonseed oil, palm kernel oil, dairy products (esp. high-fat ones like cream and cheese) and in meats.

One other place that saturated fats are found is in parents' diets. A study at the University of Iowa College of Medicine found that adults who live with children (just about all parents) ate more saturated fat than their childfree counterparts. The study looked at adults who lived with children under 17 and those with no children. Those living with kids ate an extra five grams of fat per day, including almost two grams of saturated fat. The extra fat came from snacks, cheese, ice cream, cakes, processed meats and bacon, high-fat and often high-calorie "convenience foods."

The problem, according to the study's lead researcher, is that parents are not influencing their children's eating habits enough and are allowing theirs to be influenced. If parents don't take the time to make dinner for their children, then they aren't going to eat a nutritious dinner themselves. To make up for this, especially when part of a very busy family, researchers recommend keeping healthier snacks (fruit, low fat milk, etc) in the house and fewer high-fat frozen/convenience foods, which will help compensate for less healthy meals.

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The butter slicer we saw a couple of days ago might be helpful when you're baking and are trying to cut off just the right amount for your recipe, but its not the most practical tool to have around when you just want to butter your toast. The One Click Butter Cutter is somewhat unnecessary if you own a knife, but is a useful gadget in its own way, not to mention that it's fun to use. With the push of a button, it dispenses one standard "pat" of butter - slightly less than 2/3 tsp, so you get 5 pats per tablespoon of butter. You can store a stick of butter in the butter cutter in the refrigerator, so it is always ready to go.

The gadget could come in handy at breakfast or when you're cooking and need to grease the pan, just for sheer convenience. In addition, it is a great way to consistently use portion control with butter, since you know exactly how much you're going to get from each slice without having to measure it out yourself.

[via book of joe]

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After its launch at the end of last year in the UK, the voluntary traffic light labeling system seemed to be a success. The labels use an easy-to-read, color-coded system to indicate that a product has a high, low or medium level of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt. The premise behind the label is that it eliminates the time and hassle of label-reading, not to mention the stigma of "diet" foods, or being on a diet, which is a concern to some. Consumers learn that greens are good for everyday and the reds are fine once in a while.

Now, Australia is probably going to give the labels a go. They are hoping that, just like in Britain, consumers will opt for healthier foods over less healthy choices with more regularity. Surveys show that 9 out of 10 consumer find the system clear and easy to use, enabling 97% of consumers to make the better nutritional choice when comparing foods with the labels.

In the meantime, the British government is considering making the labeling system mandatory in the hopes of helping consumers further. Could the US be the next country to try the system?

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According to research, it you are going to pig out it should be on regular food, not fast food. In a study where monkeys were fed a diet consisting mostly of  trans-fats, the types of fats most commonly found in fast foods, the primates gained more weight than those fed the same number of calories containing unsaturated fats.

Trans-fats, or partially hydrogenated oils, are bad news. They are found in many fast foods, baked goods and processed snacks. They have been shown to significantly increase the risk of heart disease, even more than saturated fats found in animal products.

After maintaining the monkeys on the fat laden diet for six years, the trans-fat-fed monkeys had gained 7.2% of their body weight, compared to just 1.8% in the group who ate unsaturated fat. CT scans showed that the trans-fat monkeys carried 30% more abdominal fat, which is a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. Although the data might prove informative to some fast food eaters, I can't help but feel bad for those poor monkeys.

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Frito-Lay is changing its Lay’s line of potato chips to give them a healthier nutritional profile. The company is switching to frying in sunflower oil from cottonseed oil, a move that will reduce the saturated fat content in the chips by 66%. Though some people, analysts and consumers alike, worry about a taste change in the best-selling snack food, the company says that it has been selling sunflower-fried chips in Canada and the UK (under the Walker’s brand) with only positive feedback from customers. There are other brands, including Kettle Chips, which currently use sunflower oil

Sunflower oil is made from sunflower seeds and is higher in vitamin E than any other vegetable oil. There are three types of sunflower oils: linoleic, high oleic and NuSun, all created through selective cross breeding of sunflower plants. Linoleic sunflower oil is the original oil, with low saturated fat levels (11% saturated) and a clean, light taste. Because it is so high in polyunsaturates, it is susceptible to oxidation during frying. The high oleic oil is unusually high in monounsaturated fats (82% monounsaturated, 9% polyunsaturated, 9% saturated) and was created to preserve the benefits of traditional sunflower oil but to be better for frying, so as to have a greater commercial application. In fact, this is most likely the type of oil that is being used by Frito Lay. NuSun is the newest type of sunflower oil. It is shelf-stable without the need for hydrogenation and falls somewhere between the linoleic and high oleic oils, with 65% monounsaturated, 26% polyunsaturated and 9% saturate fat.

By comparison, cottonseed oil is 27% saturated fat.

This isn't turning potato chips into health food, per say, but it is a very positive change in the snack food industry. And that’s something that can really make you “get your smile on.”

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