Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
So, since it turns out that trans fat makes saturated fat look like health food, I've been trying to cut it out of my diet. (For those of you who don't know, trans fats are the hydrogenated oils, like margarine and Crisco, that make everything worth eating. They used to be what french fries and potato chips were fried in, what made all the cakes and cookies rich and good, etc. Hydrogenation makes transparent oils opaque and creamy.)
I've been trying to watch my fat and saturated fat intake for the last 15 years or so (ever since the surgeon general gave his warning about less than 30% of calories from fat). My specific interest is with the butter/margarine substitutes, the "spreads". Generally speaking, I try to use as little of this type of substance (butter/margarine/spread) as possible, but for some things, like, say a baked potato (yes, I know I should be using fat free sour cream or yogurt), you wanna use some spread.
They almost all say "trans fat free" and I generally gravitate toward the olive-oil blends due to the "mediterranean diet" connotations, even though it's obvious from the ingredients that there isn't much olive oil and it's mostly soy or other oils (one of them admits to only 4% olive oil in their "olive oil" spread). Since the label says "trans fat: 0g" one would think they can eat as much as they want without getting any trans fat. So here we go...I know the government allows nutrition ratings to be rounded down to zero if they are below 0.5 per serving. The list of ingredients on these spreads typically includes some hydrogenated oil...so I'm presuming I'm getting 0.49 g of trans fat in each serving. Opinions?
I've been trying to watch my fat and saturated fat intake for the last 15 years or so (ever since the surgeon general gave his warning about less than 30% of calories from fat). My specific interest is with the butter/margarine substitutes, the "spreads". Generally speaking, I try to use as little of this type of substance (butter/margarine/spread) as possible, but for some things, like, say a baked potato (yes, I know I should be using fat free sour cream or yogurt), you wanna use some spread.
They almost all say "trans fat free" and I generally gravitate toward the olive-oil blends due to the "mediterranean diet" connotations, even though it's obvious from the ingredients that there isn't much olive oil and it's mostly soy or other oils (one of them admits to only 4% olive oil in their "olive oil" spread). Since the label says "trans fat: 0g" one would think they can eat as much as they want without getting any trans fat. So here we go...I know the government allows nutrition ratings to be rounded down to zero if they are below 0.5 per serving. The list of ingredients on these spreads typically includes some hydrogenated oil...so I'm presuming I'm getting 0.49 g of trans fat in each serving. Opinions?
