FDA New Stance on Trans Fats

Trans Fats Will Finally Be Gone

June 28, 2015

by Gabe Mirkin, MD


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has officially given the food industry three years to remove trans fats from the market, since “no amount is safe for human use. This should prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year.” The FDA estimates that at one time, “95 percent of prepared cookies, 100 percent of crackers, and 80 percent of frozen breakfast products contained trans fat.”

In 1957, research showed that trans fats caused heart attacks. By the 1990s, the FDA required all foods with trans fats to have labels stating that they contain trans fats. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine found that there was no safe level of trans fatty acids. In 2006, the Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the FDA to ban trans fats. Instead, the FDA required that trans fat must be listed on food labels. This year the American Medical Association recommended banning trans fats. When trans fats are finally gone in 2018, it will have taken 58 years to get this poison out of our food supply.

Half a Lifetime Fighting Against Trans Fats
Fred Kummerow is a 100-year-old University of Illinois veterinary biosciences professor emeritus who still conducts research on the health effects of trans fats. In 1957, he published a bombshell report that he found trans fats inside arterial plaques that cause heart attacks. He then showed that rats develop atherosclerosis after being fed trans fats. Next he showed that removing trans fats from rats’ diets caused the plaques to disappear from the inner linings of their arteries. Ten years later, he documented the massive amounts of trans fat in the American food supply. In 2009, he filed a petition with the FDA to ban trans fats. In 2013, he sued the FDA for allowing trans fats to remain in the American diet.

What Are Trans Fats?
In the 1890s, chemists discovered that they could convert healthful polyunsaturated vegetable oils into trans fats by putting the oil with the mineral, nickel, into large closed containers and pumping hydrogen into the oil under pressure. This process made the oils take up the extra hydrogen into their structures to become trans fats (Annual Review of Nutrition, 1995; 15:473-93). For a detailed explanation see my report on Trans Fats

How Are Trans Fats Harmful?
They are found in the plaques that cause heart attacks (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1981; 34:877-86). They raise the LDL (“lousy”) cholesterol and lower the HDL (“healthful”) cholesterol to increase risk for heart attacks (N Engl J Med, 2006 Apr 13;354(15):1601-13). They cause inflammation, an over-activity of the immune system that causes heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain cancers (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004; 79:606-12). Trans fats also cause obesity and insulin resistance. A week ago, a study linked worsened memory function to higher consumption of trans fatty acids (PLoS ONE, June 17, 2015).

Why Do Food Companies Still Use Trans Fats?
Many food companies have responded to public pressure and have already switched from trans fats to the saturated plant fats such as coconut oil or palm kernel oil. However, some products still contain trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) even though they are known to be harmful. Food companies use them because they are cheap, they give foods a longer shelf life than those made with liquid oils or butter, they provide crispness that is hard to obtain with liquid oils, and they withstand repeated heating without breaking down.

The new regulations banning trans fats will not take effect until June 16, 2018, so you will need to continue to read the list of ingredients on processed foods for the next three years. At this time the FDA requires foods to say trans fats on the nutrition label only if they contain more than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, so many foods that claim to have no trans fats still have them. The only way to be sure is to read the entire list of ingredients.

A Healthful Diet With No Trans Fats
The best way to avoid trans fats is to eat a diet with lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and other seeds. Use only liquid vegetable oils such as olive, canola, safflower, peanut and sunflower oils. A healthful diet limits meat, fried foods, and sugary foods and beverages. If you choose to eat any processed foods, read through the list of ingredients, and if you see the words “partially hydrogenated”, put it back on the shelf.

The inside tour of Seattle with Cal and Jen

Our last full day in Seattle was a perfect combination of sightseeing and relaxation.  Metabolic Warriors Cal and Jen hosted us on their boat for a fun day on the water.

Jen texted us directions to where to meet them.  Since Seattle traffic makes Phoenix traffic look mild we left a big time buffer and managed to arrive early.  We were sure we were waiting at Cal and Jen's yacht but as the meeting time approached there was no sign of them.

Then we spotted this sporty little thing and decided we must be in the wrong spot.  So we waited here and still no sign of them.  

Then our hosts arrived in a boat designed for SURFING!  Never heard of such a thing on a lake.

Of course we had to go past the Brooks RUN HAPPY sign.

And what is a relaxing day on the boat without a little refreshment?

Lunch was at the Yacht Club.  Cal gave us a little history of the Club which indicated that women haven't always been welcome in all areas of the Club.  The Women's Group bulletin board sort of backs that up.

Time for some surfing fun!  After an explanation of how this whole thing works, Cal showed that he can not only surf, but can multi-task while doing so.

Jen was as impressive on the surfboard as she is on the weight bench.

Really fun to watch but they couldn't entice either of us into the water in spite of Jen repeatedly saying that the water was VERY warm for this time of year.

Cal was happy to show us some of the exercises that their trainer has introduced just in case we would like to try them with all of you.

Part of the tour included checking out their fitness facility.  It is a beautiful location on the water and when weather permits the spin and bootcamp classes are outside.

We liked their workout motto!

True to Seattle, the weather started out a little overcast, the sun came out for part of the afternoon, and then the clouds rolled in with a little rain for the ride back to dinner.  BRRRR!  But nothing a beach towel and a little warm air won't fix.

Since Katie has posted the other blogs she probably left out a few "Katieisms".  So I will leave you with something to make you smile.  What is scarier than a snake, Bigfoot, and a bump in the night?  A metal fish on the sidewalk in Seattle!  Katie jumped 3 feet in the air and squealed when the killer fish nearly bit her foot off.

Uptown Metabolic

With June coming to a close we have just one more week of Uptown Metabolic fun!  Here's a little inspiration to get you ready for this week.

Here's what we noticed on the video:

Jackie - We suspect you are analyzing each movement so you know what sore muscles you can blame us for the next day.
Stacey - You get extra credit for double timing those squats and lunges.  Nice speed girl!
Scott - For the Warrior with the biggest guns you have some rhythm.
Kathy - We think your field hockey opponents didn't stand a chance against your dynamic movement.
Rachel - You get a diamond tiara for stellar form on squats and side lunges.
Jerry - We think you are keeping your hands on your hips to suppress the urge to really cut loose and dance!
Joe - Kudos for attention to detail and keeping your head up or looking at Katie during your squats.
Shirley - When those gloves come off at about 2:00 minutes we don't want to mess with you.
Heidi - We are just sorry we didn't run the video longer on the bicycle crunch because we know you can out-crunch any of us.
Dave- Somewhere over the last 30 years CBD has lost his Rolling Stones "Start Me Up" dance steps.  But you get an A for effort for the shingles dance.
Emily - Five stars for power and dynamic movement.  You rock girl!

Seattle By Day

Alki Beach. We had met a tourist in Sedona that was from Seattle and she said that we just had to go to Alki beach for beach glass. So of course we did.

Although from the desert, we figured out low tide would be best for searching for lost treasures! What we didn't expect was to walk on slimy, wet stuff! Little crabs were everywhere. Crustacean loving Sherry was quite pleased. She is adventerous though so it didn't stop her. We walked along the water. The weather was in the 70's with full sun. Locals were there to relax, some to play fetch with their dogs. One Labradour was funny..he would pick up the frisbee, toss it into the water with his mouth and try to get it as it bobbed around. Once he got it he would repeat the whole thing again. We are easily entertained.

Another example of easy entertainment. Tell Katie & Sherry that there is beach glass on the beach and they will be occupied for hours. So for two hours we were occupied. The funny thing here is that the beach glass is glass from old garbage that has been tossed around and etched by the water and sand...so is this glorified dumpster diving?

Across the street from Alki Beach is all kinds of eclectic food places. This one was called the Chupacabra and had cool murals on the walls. Definitely a cool beachy vibe. We ate the 3 corn tortillas plate with the meat done Al Pastor style...pork marinated with onions and pineapple...it was really good!

We next went to Chihuly Museum of Glass...WOW!

More WOW! Botanical Gardens in Phoenix has done a Chihuly garden exhibit each year and it is beautiful to see but this was truly a spectacular display of glass art. Chihuly is world renowned for his artistic expressions through glass.

And one more WOW!

You get a better deal on tickets if you buy a Space Needle ticket along with your Chihuly ticket. Both are located in the Seattle Center area. An interesting place to hang out and people watch. There is also a science museum there and a park.

Note the grip on the railing. I was terrified to go up on this thing but I tried to pretend I was fine...Sherry may still have bruises on her arm from where I gripped it on the ride up! Going up really messes with my mind...roller coasters, ski lifts and space needles...but coming down is amazing! Anyways, really breathtaking views from here. You can also opt to have a meal at the rotating restaurant....

70 some bolts, 32 feet long are holding the Space Needle in the ground. An earthquake in 2000 did no damage to the Space Needle so it seems it was built right.

We finished the day with dinner at a great restaurant called Lombardis. It is in Everett. It is on the water. Sherry loved her home made ravioli dish and I loved my salmon...together we loved their limoncello drenched version of tiramusu! The Italian Drop martinis were also very good;)


Final Thoughts of the Day: Different vibe being in the city today. We started at the water and loved walking on the beach, we enjoyed the eclectic vibe of downtown Seattle and its food, we experienced a wee bit of the amazing art here.  We, as in I, faced a fear and then gladly unfaced the fear and then ended our day at the water with great food. Sherry's face says it all-it was a great day in Seattle.

Tacoma to Rainier National Park

So if you golf then you know that we are here during the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.
It begins Thursday but our hotel is full of Brits, Aussies and Scots that are here to be a part of
or to participate in the Golf Tournament. We were at breakfast with amazingly nice staff and these
bananas. Kind of funny-if any of those people were famous golfers it was lost on us. It was a fun
experience though.

First falls of this park and first hike. This is the innocent looking creek that flows under
this side of the bridge.

This is the same innocent creek that thunders over the rocks on the other side of
the bridge! You can see the bridge at the very top. Many people are here taking in the
breathtaking site. We wonder what innate thing in us draws us to water...

Paradise Lodge is a great base for the start of many hikes. In the parking lot we see various people putting their packs together for overnight excursions. Wildflowers are abundant everywhere. The colors of flowes, the green trees and the white glacial Mt. Rainier is a site that took our breath away. We just sat and stared. This mountain is over 14,000'. This place is often covered by clouds so again it is an outstanding day to visit. Temps are varying from high 60's to low 70's. About 25 glaciers on this mountain. In this picture we are at 5400'. This is considered to be the snowiest place on earth. 1971/72 snow fall of 1,122" was recorded. Paradise also has the record for the most snow on the ground (in comparison to the whole Cascade Mtn Range) it was 367" on March 10, 1956.  Climate here is considered to be subartic. Today it is ideal.

We pulled off for roadside picnic..behind us was a creek, just up the hill was a waterfall. Lunch was an oddity of things picked up from the Paradise Lodge.

Sherry's lunch was a classic ham sandwich while mine was a mix of weird protein bars. Selections were limited at the Lodge and I wasn't up for a chili dog or another ham sandwich so....I am just going to say it...this thing looked like a terd.

When you are hungry...it was a peanut butter, chocolate protein plop. I imagined it was cardboard with a schmeer of pb and chocolate...it was actually okay... I have eaten worse...such as the bar I ate right before it.

Trying to stay hydrated means lots of stops at Comfort Stations. Hehe...that is kind of funny. This one happened to be closed so then we had to stop at outhouses called Honey Buckets. Also kind of funny...Sherry came back with the report that the Honey Bucket was nearly overflowing...all stops required a holding of your breath and a very fast visit.

A roadside falls. Had to stop. We are from desert so every water fall was a must stop moment.

Grove of the Patriarchs has trees that are well over 200 feet tall and bigger around than anything I had ever seen!

One suspension bridge made this hike even more fun. I believe it said one person at a time but it was not a surprise that Sherry stepped onto the bridge when I was halfway out so that she get it bucking up and down...paybacks...

This is one of the smaller root systems of an old tree we saw. Many of the dead trees had new trees growing out of them. How cool that something that seems useless because it no longer stands is actually providing a foundation for life of new plants and trees.

This tree was so big I could only take a panorama of half of it!

Paybacks...look who is on the bridge now!

Silver Falls and final hike. So pretty. Every falls is different and we just don't get tired of seeing them.

Wild berries are growing everywhere...wild raspberries? Found them in yellow, dark purple and deep red and they were so good...it just so happens that the one I gave Sherry wasn't quite ripe...hehe.

Final view of majestic mountains as we leave.

Long days in the parks have been fun and now seem funnier as we tiredly head for our hotel..2 hours away in rush hour traffic. This song played and we laughed.

GPS directions told us our hotel was here...Boeing airstrip and no hotel. Turns out it is on the other side but seems that driving across the airstrip will get us more attention than we want right now.

ahhh...martini time.

Final thoughts on this day: We are tired at the end of this day but we are feeling happy not because of the martini but because we have seen incredible sites. We have put our hands on trees 1,000 years old and wondered what history they knew and what forces they had survived in this place that was so beautiful and peaceful in this moment. We wondered at the beauty of fallen trees that provided so much life to a continuing regeneration of forests. We stood on ground that had been ravaged by volcanos erupting, blinding snow storms, gale force winds and torrential downpours that caused floods of humongous porportions but in this moment this ground is covered by gentle, living things and the sunlight is casting its soft rays gently down through the majestic heighths of the forest canopy and air is warm and sweet with the subtle fragrance of green things around us. So much wonder and so much peace exists in this place...may we never forget this feeling and these moments when we go back to our fast paced lives.

From Rain Forests to Waterfalls to Mountains Olympic National Park

Ferry ride on Edmonds/Kingston Ferry was an experience not
be missed when you visit Seattle. Sherry tried to get me
to go out on the front but I didn't love the idea so...

First hike of the trip was through beautiful rainforests. We
hit this day right. The weather was incredible with
clear blue skies and mid 70's. Great trails here!

The end of the first hike was a rewarding view of
Sol Duc Falls. These three fingers of the falls
come down to a narrow shoot under the bridge and
the water thunders through. To see it and hear it
was exhilarating.

Lake Crescent is an incredible blue green color due to the
absence of nitrogen. It is anywhere from 300-600' deep with
an unofficial reading of 1,000 feet deep. Near freezing temps make it
more of a trout fishing and boating lake without much skinny dipping.;) There
was a small convenience store/deli here that provided us with a couple of
much needed ham sandwiches. The girl workking here was so nice, come to find out she was
from Chandler Arizona! And her little store was about as hot as Arizona! Neat spot for our roadside picnic.

Marymere Falls. Another chance to hike by a lake and to this beautiful site.

Hurricane Ridge. After winding up a mountain we came to the end
of the road and this incredible mountain range. The Olympic Mtn range and
the southern end of the Cascades Mtn range can be seen from here.

Another shot from the top of Hurricane Ridge. Smaller
than normal deer (Blacktail deer) were grazing everywhere. Wanted
to pet them but seemed taboo. Elevation here is 5242'. It is named for
its gale force winds. The day we were there was pretty mild.

Final thoughts for this day: Amazing diversity in one park. Such power and awe

when observing the extremely tall trees in the rainforests, the thundering water,

the peace of  babbling brooks, the perfectly warm air smelling of cedar and the beauty of tall

glacier covered mountains. We realized how small we were in comparison and felt

humbled and happy to have been in this place.