What's Wrong with Partially Hydrogenated Oils?

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What's Wrong with

Partially Hydrogenated Oils?

 

 

Summary

Consuming partially hydrogenated oils is like inhaling cigarette smoke. They

will kill you -- slowly, over time, but as surely as you breathe. And in the

meantime, they will make you fat!

[1700 words]

 

 

 

by Eric Armstrong

Why Fats are Important

The first thing to understand about fats is that the essential fatty acids they

contain are truly essential. They are the " active ingredient " in every bodily

process you can name:

 

brain cell function and nervous system activity

hormones and intra-cellular messengers

glandular function and immune system operation

hemoglobin oxygen-transport system

cell wall function:

passing oxygen into the cell

passing nutrients into the cell

keeping foreign bodies out of the cell

 

digestive-tract operation

assimilating nutrients

blocking out allergens

 

 

In short, the essential fatty acids (contained mostly in polyunsaturated oils)

are the most important nutrients there are -- more important than vitamins,

minerals, or even proteins. Because, without them, there is no life. They are

the substance and foundation of life energy.

What is Hydrogenation?

Hydrogenation is the process of heating an oil and passing hyrdrogen bubbles

through it. The fatty acids in the oil then acquire some of the hydrogen, which

makes it more dense. If you fully hydrogenate, you create a solid (a fat) out of

the oil. But if you stop part way, you a semi-solid partially hydrogenated oil

that has a consistency like butter, only its a lot cheaper.

 

Because of that consistency, and because it is cheap, it is a big favorite as a

butter-substitute among " food " producers. It gives their products a richer

flavor and texture, but doesn't cost near as much as it would to add butter.

What's Wrong with Hydrogenation?

Unlike butter, hydrogenated oils contain high levels of trans fats. A trans fat

is an otherwise normal fatty acid that has been " transmogrified " , by high-heat

processing of a free oil. The fatty acids can be double-linked, cross-linked,

bond-shifted, twisted, or messed up in a variety of other ways.

 

The problem with trans fats is that while the " business end " (the chemically

active part) is messed up, the " anchor end " (the part that is attached to the

cell wall) is unchanged. So they take up their position in the cell wall, like a

guard on the fortress wall. But like a bad guard, they don't do their job! They

let foreign invaders pass unchallenged, and they stop supplies at the gates

instead of letting them in.

 

In short, trans fats are poisons, just like arsenic or cyanide. They interfere

with the metabolic processes of life by taking the place of a natural substance

that performs a critical function. And that is the definition of a poison. Your

body has no defense against them, because they never even existed in our two

billion years of evolution -- so we've never had the need or the opportunity to

evolve a defense against them.

Partially Hydrogenated Oils Make You Fat!

Partially hydrogenated oils will not only kill you in the long term by producing

diseases like multiple sclerosis and allergies that lead to arthritis, but in

the meantime they will make you fat!

 

It's not like you have any choice in the matter. Remember that the essential

fatty acids are vital to every metabolic function in your body. You will get the

quantity of essential fatty acids that you need to sustain life, no matter what.

You will not stop being hungry until you do.

 

If you are consuming lots of saturated fats, you really have no choice but to

become fat, because saturated fats contain only small quantities of the

polyunsaturated fats that contain the essential fatty acids you need. The key to

being thin, then, is to consume foods containing large amounts of

polyunsaturated oils. (Those foods include fish, olives, nuts, and egg yolks.)

Over the long term, those foods remove your sense of hunger.

 

Note:

The difference between a " fat " and an " oil " is temperature. A " fat " is a lipid

that is solid at room temperature. An " oil " is one that is liquid at room

temperature. Both are lipids (or " oil/fat " ). Change the temperature, and you can

convert an oil into a fat, or vice versa.

 

Partially hydrogenated oils make you gain weight the same way that saturated

fats do -- by making you consume even more fat to get the the essential fatty

acids you need. But partially hydrogenated fats are even worse. Not only do they

produce disease over they long term, but they interfere with the body's ability

to ingest and utilize the good fats!

 

Picture it like this. The trans fats are now the guards along the watchtower.

The essential fatty acids (the support troops) are waiting outside to get into

the fort (the cell), so they can be distributed along the watchtower (the cell

wall). But the guards won't let them in! So they have to find someplace to stay

in town. Over time, more and more troops are finding lodging in town. So new

houses (fat cells) have to built to keep them in. The town grows more and more

swelled with troops (fat), and it gets bigger and bigger (fatter). It's not a

pretty picture at all, when you realize that the town is your belly, buns, face,

and neck.

Avoiding Hydrogenation

When you start reading food labels, it is astonishing how many products you will

find that contain partially hydrogenated oils. In the chips aisle, there are

maybe two brands that don't: Lay's Classic Potato Chips (not their other

brands), and Laura Scudders chips. Most every other package on the shelf does.

 

Then there are the cookies and crackers. Most every single one does. About the

only cookie that doesn't is Paul Neuman's fig newtons. Among peanut butters, the

all-natural brands (Adams and Laura Scudders) don't. All the rest seem to.

 

Even some items on the " health food " shelf, like Tigers Milk bars, contain

partially hydrogenated oils. Can you imagine that?? A product marketed as a

" health food " that contains partially hydrogenated oils? If they want to market

it as a candy bar, fine. Caveat emptor. But to market it as a health food calls

for a class action lawsuit on the basis of false advertising.

 

The more labels you read, the more astonished you will be at the variety and

number of places that this insidious little killer shows up. Do read the labels.

Do recoil in disgust, and do throw the product back on the shelf -- or throw it

on the floor, where it belongs.

Deep-Fried Foods: The Ultimate Killer

Fortunately, this information is beginning to penetrate the public

consciousness. Recently, a news special covered the subject. The reporter got

some of the details wrong, but the general message was right on the money. And

the one surprising tidbit of information in the report was the fact that most of

the deep-fried foods served in fast food joints are fried in partially

hydrogenated oils!

 

Now, deep frying all by itself is pretty bad. After all, you are applying a lot

of heat. But if that heat is applied to a saturated fat, there is a limit to how

much harm it can do. A saturated fat doesn't have a " business end " . There is no

part of it that is chemically active. It's inert. Your body can burn it for

fuel, but it can't use it to carry out any of your metabolic processes.

 

But because a saturated fat is inert, it can't be hurt much by heat. It's not

all that good for you, but it's not terrible either. So if you're going to fry,

fry in a fully saturated fat like lard, or coconut oil. Or, best of all, use

butter! Butter is the shortest saturated fat there is. So, of all the saturated

fats, it is the one that is most easily burned for fuel. And it tastes

fantastic. It's so good, in fact, that you don't even need to use very much to

get a lot of flavor. So if you are frying something up at home, use butter!

You'll get gourmet-quality food that is also healthy.

 

For commercial deep frying, though, butter is prohibitively expensive. Still,

were things fried in lard or coconut oil, they wouldn't be great, but they

wouldn't be terrible. But that sounds bad, so one " healthy " Mexican restaurant

advertised that they fried in vegetable oil. Admittedly, that's a lot better

than partially hydrogenated oil. And if its relatively low heat frying (like in

a frying pan), its probably not too bad. But you wouldn't want to subject the

unsaturated fatty acids contained in a vegetable oil to the high heat of a deep

frying vat. The result would be the same kind of trans fats that you get in the

hydrogenation process!

 

But the absolute worst has to be the fast-food chains, who almost uniformly do

their deep frying in cheap, deadly partially hydrogenated oil. Any fats that

escaped being transmogrified in the hydrogenation process are now subjected to

the deep frying process. It's a miracle that any of the unstaturated fats escape

being transmogrified, if any of them do.

More InformationWith any luck, the first lawsuits against " food " producers will

begin in the next 10-20 years. The scientific knowlege has been available since

the early 1990's, at least, so there is no doubt they are fully aware of what

they are doing. They are ignoring the health effects for the sake of profit.

Their behavior is both unethical and immoral. With luck, some day it will be

illegal, as well.

For a slightly deeper look into the science of trans fats, see: Trans Fats:

Metabolic Poisons

For more on the subject of " food " producers, see Killing for Profit.

For more information on what can you do, see Boycott Hydrogenation!

For a one-page summary of things you should know, see Fat Facts.

For more information on Essential Fatty Acids and the role they play in

maintaining health, see Oils and Essential Fatty Acids.

The three most important books to read on this subject are:

Fats That Can Save Your Life, by Robert Erdmann, PhD.

Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill, by Udo Erasmus.

(and Udo's web site at http://www.udoerasmus.com)

Flax Oil as a True Aid Against Arthritis, Heart Infarction, Cancer, and

Other Diseases, by Dr. Johanna Budwig

 

For other books that clearly explain the biology and chemistry of fatty

acids, see the Book Reviews.

 

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2001 by Eric Armstrong. All rights reserved.