Fat -- it enhances the flavor, texture and shelf life of many processed foods -- from cookies and crackers to donuts, French fries, cakes and frozen pizza. These trans fatty goodies that tantalize your taste buds, travel through your digestive system to your arteries where they turn to sludge, according to one doctor.

When it comes to fat, trans fat is considered by some doctors to be the worst type of fat, because it both raises your bad (LDL) cholesterol and lowers you good (HDL) cholesterol, and a high LDL cholesterol level in combination with a low HDL cholesterol level increases your risk of heart disease, the leading killer of people.

General practitioner Dr. Patrick Whitfield says unhealthy eating habits represent one of the main drivers of epidemic chronic diseases among Bahamians suffering from non-communicable diseases due to trans fats. He encourages people to try to modify their diets as doctors worry about trans fat because of its unhealthy effect on their cholesterol levels.

While he said there are small amounts of trans fats occurring naturally in beef, lamb, and full-fat dairy product, most trans fats come from processing liquid vegetable oil to become a solid fat.

"Trans fat used to be more common, but in recent years food manufacturers have used it less because of concerns over the health effects of trans fat," said Dr. Whitfield. "As of 2006, food manufacturers have been required by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to list trans fats on food labels. As a result, health-conscious shopping became easier."

The doctor says there's more to reducing trans fats from your groceries and diet than simply purchasing grocery items that reads zero trans fats on the label.

There's more to it than buying products that boast zero trans fats

Dr. Whitfield, who runs a practice out of the Oxford Medical Center said when shopping consumers should look for the words "partially hydrogenated" vegetable oil, another term for trans fats. He noted that fully or completely hydrogenated oil does not contain trans fat.

Unlike partially hydrogenated oil, the process used to make fully or completely hydrogenated oil doesn't result in trans-fatty acids. If the label just says hydrogenated vegetable oil, it could mean the oil contains some fat. Dr. Whitfield says the American Heart Association advises limiting saturated fat consumption to less than seven percent of daily calories and trans fat consumption to less than one percent. Given that a gram of fat has nine calories, the doctor said the recommended trans fat limits are based on calorie intake:

"The FDA label ruling and consumer awareness of the dangers of trans fats have led many food manufacturers to reformulate products to reduce or eliminate trans fats. Today you can buy cookies and soft-spread margarine with zero trans fats. But trans fats still exist in some products."

Dr. Whitfield who is also a family medicine consultant at the Princess Margaret Hospital, encourages people to carefully read nutrition labels and chose brands that don't use trans fats and are low in saturated fat in products like cookies, crackers, cakes, muffins, pie crusts, pizza dough, and breads such as hamburger buns, some stick margarine and vegetable shortening, pre-mixed cake mixes, pancake mixes, and chocolate drink mixes, fried foods, including donuts, French fries, chicken nuggets, and hard taco shells, snack foods, including chips, candy, and packaged or microwave popcorn and frozen dinners.

If you think you can get off scot free by reaching for a product with a label that reads "0 Trans Fats", Dr. Whitfield says you have another think coming, because you may be getting some trans fats because the FDA allows that for labels on anything with 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving.

"Even if you're a conscientious shopper, it's easy to ingest a significant amount of trans fats without knowing it. A bowl of trans-fat-free-cereal that actually contains half a gram of trans fat plus a slice of birthday cake at the office and some microwave popcorn in the evening add up quickly."

Read labels

The doctor's advice is for consumers to get in the habit of reading nutrition labels and to look at all the fats listed.

"Keep in mind that saturated fat is also unhealthy. If the label lists Trans Fat as 0 g, look at the ingredients list for the words partially hydrogenated.

Any oil that is partially hydrogenated is a trans fat, so a single serving of cookies could have as much as a half gram of trans fat and be labeled 0 Trans Fats.

"Be aware, too, that often a single serving is often less than an average person eats," he said. The bottom line according to the doctor, is when choosing foods with zero grams of trans fats, people should evaluate the total fat content including the amount of saturated fat, and choose foods that have the least amount of saturated fat and that use healthy fats like canola oil in the product.

If you are a budget-conscious shopper who might be tempted to buy the cheapest brand of pastry, pot pie or microwave popcorn, Dr. Whitfield encourages you not to make that decision at the expense of nutrition.

"Reformulating foods to reduce or eliminate trans fats costs manufacturers money. Some zero trans fats foods may cost more, although not all do, so people should read the nutrition label carefully so they know if they're buying a healthier version of the snack, cookie, cracker, or cake."

According to the doctor, while the FDA's labeling rule has made consumers aware of a hidden danger and has motivated food manufacturers to reduce or eliminate trans fats, health experts say even the reformulated snack food products rarely deliver good nutrition, and that most are loaded with empty calories and should be avoided anyway.

"The American Heart Association advocates a diet containing a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains, especially whole-grain products; fat-free and low-fat dairy products; legumes, poultry, and lean meats; and fish, preferably oily fish like salmon, at least twice a week."

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian