I know that when converting a liquid oil to a solid, the oil goes through a process of hydrogenation. Because of this process, margarine contains amounts of trans-fats. My question has to do with another way of making a solid margarine. One way is to mix a tropical oil (like palm oil) with the liquid oils in order to solidify.
I know that this will add a little saturated fat, but is it better than the hydrogenated version? Also, are any of you aware of any other bad things that come out of this process besides the saturated fat? I hope i'm being clear here...thanks...
Yes, I think saturated fats are definitely preferably to trans fats, and have never seen the opposite opinion.
You don’t have to make your own. Smart Balance Buttery Spread, for example, seems to me to be a good product if one has a need for that sort of thing. (I have a tub of it in the refrigerator but almost never use it, actually.)
Trans-fats are purely a product of technology (and a pretty frankenstein-ish one at that). During evolution our body never encountered them, so we have no mechanisms to deal with them…they actively cause damage over time. saturated fats aren’t the healthiest fats but at least they occur in nature and you’re body is capable of dealing with them. The bottom line: hydrogenation…bad.
Here’s something that might sound nuts but I swear it’s delicious. Instead of butter or margerine, buy the best, most fragrant extra virgin olive oil you can find (or one you really like)and spoon it onto you’re bread with a pinch of sea salt…damn it’s good!
Thanks for the feedback, Bill. There’s some companies up here in canada that make it also, to which i was referring.
what is your opinion on the non-hydrogenated version compared to olive oil or something like that. The product i have in my fridge (I keep it for my girlfriend) contains
2.9 omega 6's
0.4 omega 3's
1.1 saturated fats
so, this product doesn't sound all that bad. I still have a big bottle of olive oil and flax oil in my kitchen, which I regularly use, but I found this idea interesting. I appreciate your opinions...
I’m really not a fats expert and can’t recall the ratios that I’ve read to be beneficial, sorry.
For sure if you’re one of those who likes olive oil on bread and so forth, olive oil
is a perfectly good choice and the other desired fats can be gotten from supplementation with fish oil and say Udo’s Choice which would be desirable anyway.
Thanks Bill…i think i’ll stick with my olive & flax oil
Burnsy - yah…i like olive oil on a slice of french bread…i guess i’ll have to try the sea salt. But on a free day, you know Carbs & Fat!? that’s a no-no :o)
I think that making a solid margerine the way you mentioned is excellent, and here’s why.
You are adding saturated fat in the form of tropical oils (e.g., palm, palm-kernel, and coconut). These oils are the richest and purest form of MCT fat (although when MCT’s are combined in protein bars and powders they are usually fractionated for even greater purity). As you probably know, MCT fat is medium-chain and its metabolic fate is extremely different than long-chaing fatty acids and of course the hydrogenated crap. MCT act as pseudo-carb, pass through the portal vein, and are unlikely to be stored as body fat due to their chemcical and metabolic nature. In addition, they have the potential to improve blood-lipid profiles, maintain or increase meatabolism, and spare lean-tissue when dieting.
well aaron, after reading up on it a bit more I tip my hat and admit I was off. Appearantly trans-fats do occur naturally but are rare and occur in such small quantities that it is true our body cannot use them for any biological function. Here’s a quote from Dr. Micheal Colgan’s book “Optimum Sports Nutrition” that pretty much sums this up in a nutshell:
“Hardly any trans fatty acids occur in nature, so the human body has never developed the mechanisms necessary to use them.”
Getting back to the role of technology in all this, the creation of large, nutritionally damaging quantities of trans fats in our food supply can definitely be blamed on technology. Hydrogenation is particularily bad, transforming large proportions of good, biologcally usefull fatty acid molecules (cis configuration) into trans-fats. These kind of quanitites are far beyond what occurs naturally. I have to admit however, I was a bit releaved to discover that trans fats aren’t just an eeeevil byproduct from Proctor and Gamble’s factories.
Just as a small point: hydrogenation per se does not create trans fats but rather fats saturated at the locations where the hydrogenation occurred. If a fat were fully hydrogenated it would not be a trans fat at all: it would be a saturated fat.
Partial hydrogenation as a side effect yields some trans fats.
Good point Bill, I’d like to emphasize for anyone reading that hydogenation yields trans fatty acids only as an accidental bi-product, and that the real intent of hydrogenation is simply to make fats more saturated. A theoretically perfect hydogenation process would yield a fully saturated, non-trans molecule. It’s just that in real world conditions, what’s actually going on in the large oil processing plants is a much less exact process, even if the aim is perfect hydrogenation, the reaction is somewhat ‘dirty’ if you will, yielding some unintended products (trans fatty acids being one of them). Another thing to note is that in the making of margerine there are many other nasty processing steps besides just hydrogenation, which include heating, bleaching and deodorizing. All of this processing changes the chemical character of the the fatty acids for the worse. The best way to get healthy, biologically usefull essential fats (and a minimum of trans fatty acids), is always buy raw, unprocessed oils.
hey bill…this really isn’t about the topic at hand, but i thought since we’ve both been here…
i had a question about insulin...first off...is it over the counter in canada? I'm not interested in using it at this point, but i find it an extrememly interesting compound. I've search the steroid forum and while many people seem to be against it, you don't (and i understand...if taken properly) i was wondering if you good point me in the direction of any good literature on the subject.
and one more thing...do you do private consultations? or if i showed a 6 week program of mine, do you hink you could critique it? I'll be getting 3 bottles of 4-ad in about a month and i have a few ideas of what to do with it, as i want the most bang for my buck.
ok...;ast thing...do you know if biotest is working on anymore prohormone formulas right now? thanks...
I’m sorry, but I don’t know if insulin is OTC in Canada. If no one answers you here, I’d suggest posting it as a new question: surely someone will know.
I used to do private consultations but
stopped doing so because of liability concerns. If you ask about your cycle on
the Forum though it is likely you would
not only get my ideas on it but many good
comments from others as well.
On the last question, yes and no.
But suffice it to say that MAG-10 doesn’t
need changing (except for ongoing work with
flavor) and will remain the flagship product
for quite some time; and also it’s possible
there could be a nor-4-AD-EC product if it
seemed commercially worthwhile.
Interesting and discouraging report on today’s Reuter’s Health news about trans-fats at Reuters | Breaking International News & Views 2002/07/30/eline/links/ 20020730elin016.html
Food manufacturers are not required to label the content of trans fats in our foods, so there’s no good way to tell what you’re getting.
