Zero Doesn't Mean Zero

(If you know me, you know how adamant, almost fanatical, I am about avoiding hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. You've probably heard my warnings and, hopefully, have been reading food labels at my urging. If not, please read the below article. Hopefully, the recent media coverage will help convince you. For more information on hydrogenated oils and their health risks, please search my blog (label: "trans fat") or do your own online search.)

Zero Trans Fat Doesn't Always Mean Zero

By STEPHANIE NANO, Associated Press Writer

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Stroll the aisles of any grocery store and you're sure to spot labels declaring "zero grams trans fat" on the front of snack foods, cookies and crackers. But does zero really mean there's NO artery-clogging fat inside?

Maybe, maybe not.

Federal regulations allow food labels to say there's zero grams of trans fat as long as there's less than half a gram per serving. And many packages contain more than what's considered one serving.

"The problem is that often people eat a lot more than one serving," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of Harvard School of Public Health. "In fact, many people eat two to three servings at a time."

Those small amounts of trans fat can add up, said Michael Jacobson of the consumer advocacy Center for Science in the Public Interest. To find out if there might be some trans fat, he said shoppers can check the list of ingredients to see if partially hydrogenated oil — the primary source of trans fat — is included.

"When it says zero grams, that means something different from no trans fat," said Jacobson. His group has urged the government to bar food producers from using any partially hydrogenated oils at all.

The Food and Drug Administration began forcing food companies to list the amount of trans fat on nutrition labels of packaged foods in January 2006. That led many companies to switch to alternative fats.

Trans fat occurs naturally in some dairy and meat products, but the main source is partially hydrogenated oils, formed when hydrogen is added to liquid vegetable oils to harden them.

Consumer groups and health officials have campaigned to get rid of trans fat because it contributes to heart disease by raising levels of LDL or bad cholesterol while lowering HDL or good cholesterol. Fast-food restaurants are switching to trans fat-free oils and New York City and Philadelphia are forcing restaurants to phase out their use of trans fat.

The American Heart Association recommends that people limit trans fats to less than 2 grams per day.

Julie Moss of the FDA's Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements, said the half-gram threshold for labeling was adopted because it is difficult to measure trans fat at low levels and the same half-gram limit is used for listing saturated fat. She said the FDA would soon be doing consumer research on trans fat labeling, including whether a footnote such as "Keep your intake of trans fat as low as possible" should be added to food labels.

Robert Earl of the Grocery Manufacturers Association said any trans fat in products labeled zero trans fat is likely to be far less than the half-gram threshold. For example, he said, a little partially hydrogenated oil might be used to help seasoning stick.

"I think the industry has been extremely responsive. Most of them were ahead of the curve to either remove or reduce trans fat in most food products," he said.

Earl said shoppers should be looking at the entire food label.

Jacobson is also concerned that people are focusing too much on the trans fat content alone, and not considering other ingredients such as saturated fat, which also raises the risk of heart disease.

"The bigger problem is foods that have no labels at all," Mozaffarian said, citing food served not only at restaurants, but at bakeries, cafeterias and schools.

New York resident Diana Fiorini said she's just recently started paying attention to labels. Holding a box of microwave popcorn at a Manhattan store, she scanned the label and was happy to see that it listed zero grams trans fat.

"I look at the labels. It's still hard to stop yourself when you know you should," she said.

Diet and Infertility

The Diet News You Need To Know
Eating just 4 grams of trans fat a day--the amount you might find in a half of a medium serving of french fries or one Krispy Kreme glazed donut--can more than double your risk of infertility, according to a new study. "Trans fats increase insulin resistance, which has been show to negatively affect ovulation in some otherwise healthy woman, says study author Jorge Chavarro, M.D., a researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health. To reduce your intake of these artery clogging fats, look beyond the nutrition label. "A product can claim it has zero trans fats if it has anything less than half a gram," he say. To make sure a snack is really trans-fat free, double check that the ingredients list is clear of anything "partially hydrogenated" or "hydrogenated".

Another Reason to Avoid Trans Fats

Belt size increasing? It may be the kind of fat you're eating--and not the total amount you consume each day--that contributes to weight gain. Researchers at Wake Forest University in North Carolina found that monkeys that ate trans fats gained four times the weight as monkeys eating the same amount of unsaturated fats.

My Philosophy: Not a New Year's Resolution, a New Life Resolution/Revolution

Part 1
Because I am slim and fit, a lot of my clients and friends ask me if I diet. I don't believe the word "diet" should be a verb (as in, "Are you dieting?"). I'm a strong believer that one's diet should be a way of life. I don't believe in good foods or bad foods (chocolate cake=bad, rice cake= good). It should be noted that I do not consider highly processed foods, most fast foods, and foods containing certain artificial ingredients (hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, &c.) real food that is fit for consumption. Few things in life are black and white, so why should we expect what we eat to be so simple and binary?

My philosophy is that we should listen to what our bodies are telling us. If we are gaining weight, are becoming hypertensive, if our cholesterol levels are high, if we're always hungry/stuffed, we should take a good, unbiased look at what we eat, when we eat, why we eat, and how we eat, and we should modify those things until we are healthy. What we consume should not negatively affect us, and if it does and we do not change our eating habits, we only have ourselves to blame. We don't have to diet (ie. deprive) we need to adjust our diet (how, how much, and what we eat).

Losing Weight

To effectively lose weight, one needs to adjust their diet as well as their activity level. Doing one without the other probably won't have much of a lasting effect. Think of it as a lifestyle change that will give you a changed body, a healthier body. Our bodies are amazing things. They will do only what we ask of them. If you want the strong, lean body of an active, healthy person, you are going to have to embark on the process of becoming a strong, active, healthy person. You won't get a strong, lean body by watching 20 hours of tv a week and substituting rice cakes for potato chips. If you're willing to accept that your lifestyle as it is now is not giving you the physique you want and committed to altering your lifestyle and adopting a healthier diet and more physical activity, your body will listen. It may grumble, it may ache and complain, but it will listen.

A good friend of mine is always saying, you are the master of your own destiny. You are the master of your body as well.

Change Your Diet, Change Perspective

It's common for many people to improve the quality of their food, make healthier choices, and still find they are not losing weight. Portion size is very important. It is crucial. American meals, especially the ones served at restaurants, have lost all sense of proportion. Our dinner plates are huge. Our spoons are huge. We need to relearn what a real portion size is and accept that. As long as we believe that a steak should be 24 ounces (as opposed to 4-6 ounces), we are not going to get the bodies we want.
At home, use smaller plates and fill them mostly with brightly colored vegetables. Keep your protein portion about the size of a deck of cards and your starch about 1/2 cup (think of a baseball cut in half). Still hungry? Have some more steamed string beans, some more beets, another helping of broccoli.
When you are actively trying to change your diet, to nurture your palate to accept and enjoy healthier real flavors, and to lose weight, you may want to step away from the desserts for a while. You should probably cut out alcohol, which is high in calories. This does not mean that you will forever forgo these items, but just know that for the time being, you are taking a break and resetting your palate and your body. If you must, savor just a bite of some high quality sweet instead of having a whole dessert or candy bar.
When you achieve your goal weight, remember that you can have anything you want occasionally and in moderation.

Exercise

The healthiest way to lose weight is to adopt a healthy diet and exercise. We should all be getting 45 minutes a day of exercise. At least. Our bodies are designed to be active. Unfortunately, our jobs often require we sit still for long periods of time. This starts a vicious circle of fatigue and inflexibility. This vicious circle continues even when we first start working out. It can last a few weeks, but slowly, surely, your body will wake up and rise to the occasion. It will do what you ask of it; it will get stronger, more flexible, healthier. You will feel stronger, healthier. You'll have more energy. As you come into your body, you'll be amazed at how good it feels to be more active, to be stronger. Your body is meant to be strong and healthy and your hard work and exercise will be rewarded. Your body is a part of you. Don't neglect it.

Math

While I don't believe we should be wed to the scale, there are some important numbers to consider. 3500 is the number of calories in a pound. If over the span of a month, you consume 7000 extra calories, you will gain two pounds of fat. Likewise, if over the span of a week, if you decrease your calorie consumption by 200 calories a day (that's about equal to a slice of cheese and a can of soda) while increasing your energy expenditure (exercise) by about 300 calories every day, you can expect to lose a pound.
What about all those diets you read about that tell you to cut out carbs and you'll lose 10 pounds in a week.... well, most of that is water. It is safe and reasonable for most people to lose between 1-2 lbs a week. Unless you have an excessive amount of weight to lose, dropping more than 1-2 lbs a week usually indicates you are dehydrated (a side effect of ketosis, the state your body goes into when it's deprived of carbohydrates).
Going back to what I wrote earlier about being wed to the scale... you should use how you look, how you feel, how your clothes fit, as better indicators of your progress. Muscle weighs more than fat. How much more? A pound of fat is about the size of a large grapefruit. A pound of muscle is about the size of a small orange or tangerine. So if you are losing fat and gaining muscle, the numbers on the scale might not be moving very much. If the jeans you banished to the back of your closet or some other "thin clothes" are telling you you lost weight but your scale is telling you otherwise, rest assured that you may not have lost "weight" but you certainly lost fat.

NYC Bans Trans Fat!

Many of you are familiar with my opinion that trans fats (hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils) should not be consumed at all. I think the only reason hydrogenated oil --a very inexpensive alternative to natural fats and oils--is still legal is because of the enormous lobbying budget of the corporations that use this product . Finally, this issue is getting the public and political attention and action it deserves.






Hydrogenated oil is commonly found in baked goods and fried foods.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Board of Health voted Tuesday to make New York the nation's first city to ban artery-clogging artificial trans fats at restaurants -- from the corner pizzeria to high-end bakeries.
The board, which passed the ban unanimously, did give restaurants a slight break by relaxing what had been considered a tight deadline for compliance. Restaurants will be barred from using most frying oils containing artificial trans fats by July and will have to eliminate the artificial trans fats from all of their foods by July 2008.
But restaurant industry representatives called the ban burdensome and unnecessary.
"We don't think that a municipal health agency has any business banning a product the Food and Drug Administration has already approved," said Dan Fleshler, a spokesman for the National Restaurant Association.
The ban contains some exceptions; for instance, it would allow restaurants to serve foods that come in the manufacturer's original packaging.
Why trans fats are bad
Trans fats are believed to be harmful because they contribute to heart disease by raising bad cholesterol and lowering good cholesterol at the same time. Some experts say that makes trans fats worse than saturated fat.
The panel also passed another measure that has made restaurants unhappy: Some that choose to inform customers about calorie content will have to list the information right on the menu. The rule would generally apply to fast-food restaurants and other major chains.
Sheila Weiss, director of nutritional policy for the Restaurant Association, said the rule would be a disincentive for restaurants to provide any nutritional information.
Trans fats are formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats by adding hydrogen in a process called hydrogenation. A common example of this is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is used for frying and baking and turns up in processed foods like cookies, pizza dough and crackers. Trans fats, which are favored because of their long shelf life, are also found in pre-made blends like pancake and hot chocolate mix.
The FDA estimates the average American eats 4.7 pounds of trans fats each year.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who banned smoking in bars and restaurants during his first term, has dismissed cries that New York is crossing a line by trying to legislate diets.
"Nobody wants to take away your french fries and hamburgers -- I love those things, too," he said recently. "But if you can make them with something that is less damaging to your health, we should do that."
Some use already halted
Many food makers have stopped using trans fats on their own after the FDA began requiring companies to list trans fat content on labels.
McDonald's Corp. has been experimenting with more than a dozen healthier oil blends but has not committed to a full switch. At an investor conference last month, CEO Jim Skinner said the company is making "very good progress," at developing an alternative, and vowed to be ready for a New York City ban.
Wendy's International Inc. introduced a zero-trans fat oil in August and Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC and Taco Bell said they also will cut the trans fats from their kitchens.
Chicago is also considering its own trans fat law, which wouldn't ban the fats outright but would severely restrict the amount that kitchens can use. The measure would apply only to large restaurants, defined as those that make more than $20 million in sales per year.
New York's move to ban trans fats has mostly been applauded by health and medical groups, although the American Heart Association warns that if restaurants aren't given ample time to make the switch, they could end up reverting to ingredients high in saturated fat, such as palm oil.