Category — Hydrogenated Oils

I think it’s important to sit down and put all this nutritional info into realistic context.

I had a conversation the other morning with a group of women I hold in very high regard.  They are a compassionate, ambitious, and discerning group and they had an excellent point to make.

These women have been eager to learn more and more about decoding nutrition labels and making healthful decisions about the foods they bring into their homes.  They described recent shopping visits (now as avid label reading consumers) as empowering, eye-opening, disheartening, sometimes disgusting, and, in the end, totally depressing.  They were, it seemed, dismayed that so many of their favorite foods were downright harmful to their health.  The chant – “Ignorance is Bliss”.

Once you know what to look for – the rotten stuff on food labels – and you can’t  pretend you don’t see it, there’s no turning back.  It’s just like being a committed recycler and then visiting a location that doesn’t facilitate recycling of your morning paper.  You can’t simply throw it in the trash.  You’re tempted to put it in your suitcase and cart it back to your hometown for proper disposal!

Food label reading is the same thing.  Now that the high fructose corn syrup, the hydrogenated oils and trans fats alerts are in your head, you simply can’t shake them out.

The reality is – for the new label reader, it does get easier.  Grocery shopping becomes an adventure, an expedition perhaps?  My kids get a kick out of correcting  me and/or my husband when we inadvertently place a “non-okay” (kiddo term) item in the cart during a shopping excursion.  Taking charge over what we CHOOSE to take in can make you feel refreshingly capable, no matter what your age.

My first official post addressed the prevalence of High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Now, I’m going to tackle the equally prevalent existence of hydrogenated oils in the foods available in our local grocery stores.  

Hydrogenated oils (trans fats) are created in an industrial process engineered to extend a food product’s shelf-life.  Consumption has been linked to heart disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes, arthritis and MS.  Be aware that regulations for food claims on the front of a package are very loose, and a package might claim 0% trans fat but actually contain up to 2 grams of trans fats per serving. 

If you see hydrogenated oils in an ingredient list, put the product back on the shelf.