The Skinny on Trans Fats

After a long road trip returning from Alaska—where I worked for the summer—I craved pancakes. The diners I ate at just didn’t have a flair for flapjacks. And some didn't even have butter; instead they had "spread." What does that even mean? With that bitter taste in my mouth, I assembled the ingredients on the counter and took a whiff of the canola oil. I made a face and exclaimed, “Rancid!”

My canola oil wasn’t hydrogenated. That’s the bad word you’ve seen in the paper, connected to its villainous partner, trans fat. Though meat and dairy contain trace trans fats, the artificial stuff first cooked up by Crisco at the turn of last century, the hydrogen enriched shortening made its market debut in 1911. Why change the composition of fat? Simple, it lasts longer; and is cheaper because you don’t have to trash it. If my oil was lab treated, I could’ve treated myself to a stack of griddlecakes, but my heart wouldn’t have been as happy.

The media fuss is over the health benefits hydrogenated oils provide. What benefits, you say? Exactly. The successful science experiment that plays a part in so many convenience and fasts foods is detrimental to your health. So, in a country where heart disease is the number one silent assassin, trans fats don’t sit well in America’s stomach. The fugitive oils wage a two pronged war on your health; they not only raise bad cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein), they lower good cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein). Almost a hundred years later some people are just finding this out. What you don’t know can hurt you.

If you’ve seen Supersize Me you cannot forget the decomposing French fry test. An order of diner fries sat next to some McDonald’s spuds. The former frites broke down rapidly; however, the Arches’s fries looked fresh from the fryer. Various preservatives are to thank/blame for this super shelf life, among them hydrogenated oil. Scientists modify the molecular structure of the oil by adding hydrogen. The pressure from hydrogen forces a new shape and the fat is stabilized. This is why it stays in your system longer and is harder to process. Our bodies don’t recognize the new configuration, so it’s a poison. As we adapt, future generations may develop new digestive functions, but it’s been 100s of years and most people still cannot fully digest lactose, a sugar in milk. Only time will tell.

The Big Apple trans fat ban confuses some folks. People are angry they won’t unsuspectingly consume hydrogenated oil at restaurants anymore. Some say food won’t taste the same. Not true; these oils taste no different from other oils. It’s about consumer education. Sure, a few restaurateurs’s feathers are ruffled over changing and perhaps paying more, but don’t New Yorkers deserve healthier oil? The owners charge enough.

My theory, which is untested and only conjecture and blogservation, is that hydrogenating oil also expands the atomic structure. So the oil is stretched and appears thinner, thus cheaper.

As you can tell, I think informing the public of trans fats lurking in their $50 entrée is admirable, but a ban seems extreme. Of course if it were voluntary to change the oil, who would do it and who would some use “no trans fats” as a selling point? Many grocery items already advertise bad fat free on the label. For those people who are worried about not getting enough trans fats while dining out in NYC, don’t worry, you can still buy commercial peanut butter, margarine, lard, Hot Pockets, Hostess cakes and donuts, “buttery” crackers, pancake and waffle mixes, and candy bars with more than your daily dose of hydrogenated oil at your local supermarket. As for me, I make my own pancakes, and top them with natural trans fat—real butter.