Trans fatty acids have been called by everyone for years now. It's not surprising to talk about this term, but if you ask what's wrong with it, few people seem to be able to tell.反式脂肪酸 Many people don't even know why food packaging is labeled with a table of its content or what they should be aware of in order to avoid consuming too much.
What exactly should consumers know about this trans fat? How can you make sure you're effectively reducing your trans fats?
What are trans fatty acids?
Most of the naturally occurring unsaturated fatty acids in foods are in the cis-configuration (cis-). Two hydrogen atoms are attached to the carbon-carbon double bond of these fatty acids,代糖種類 and both hydrogen atoms are distributed on the same side of the carbon chain.
However, if we encounter some external interference, such as a high temperature, partial hydrogenation, etc., the two hydrogen atoms may be forced to choose to separate and distribute to both sides of the carbon chain.靜脈曲張改善 This problem is a distortion of the "cis-fatty acids" into "trans-fatty acids" (trans), or "trans acids" for short.
Human consumption of trans acids above 1% to 3% of total calories may increase levels of "bad cholesterol" (LDL LDL cholesterol) and decrease levels of "good cholesterol" (HDL HDL cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol cholesterol). It also lowers levels of "good cholesterol" (HDL HDL cholesterol) and raises serum triglyceride levels to some extent, which can have a negative impact on health. It is well established that trans fats increase blood cholesterol and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (GB 28050).
Where do trans fatty acids come from?
1. Naturally occurring
Some trans fatty acids are naturally occurring. They mainly come from ruminants such as cows and sheep. Ruminal microorganisms produce small amounts of trans acids in their bodies for specific functions in feed. This makes a little of meat, milk, dairy products (e.g. natural cream) and other foods such as cattle and sheep.
2. Industrially produced
There are also unnatural trans acids that are mainly produced in food processing, such as partial hydrogenation and refining. It is these industrially produced TFAs that are now the main target for elimination by organizations such as "The Who".
Partial hydrogenation is actually kind of a historical problem. It was once prevalent, but since it was recognized that partial hydrogenation produced harmful TFAs, many of the more sophisticated companies have switched to safer processes (fractionation, transesterification, etc.), so the threat of hydrogenation is now much less than it was before.
A small amount of trans acid may also be produced during the refining process of edible oils, but with the optimization of the process in recent years, the amount of trans acid has also been reduced. According to the findings of the National Expert Committee on Risk Assessment for Food Safety, the average level of trans acids in cooking oils such as corn oil, canola oil and soybean oil, as well as in foods such as sandwich cookies and pies, has been significantly reduced since 2007.
3.Others
When cooking at home, a small amount of trans acid may be produced if the oil temperature is too high and the cooking time is too long, especially when frying.
How can I eat less?
WHO recommends an energy supply ratio of trans acid intake of less than 1%, about 2g per day (trans acid energy supply ratio refers to the percentage of total dietary energy provided by trans acid intake).
How to avoid trans fatty acids?
1. Read labels and try to eat less food with high acid content.
The key is to read nutrition labels, and when buying snacks or pastries and other foods, prioritize the development of choosing foods with less trans acid content or "0 trans fatty acids", and through these foods at the same time should also need to pay attention to the internal control of the amount of intake.
What is trans fat? According to the definition, food can be classified as "trans fat" as long as it does not contain more than 0.3% trans fat.
2. Cooking oil should be processed accurately and moderately.
Precision medium processed oils are preferred as they can keep the trans acid content at a lower level. This is also the current market and over-processed oils are not recommended.
Precision moderate processing, both to control the production of trans fatty acids, but also to ensure that the raw material of vitamin E, phytosterols and other beneficial nutrients retained in more than 80%.
There is also a market for vegetable oils labeled as "zero TFA" such as sunflower oil, peanut oil, corn oil production, and so on.
These types of oils can be optimized to reduce trans fats by less than 0.3% by optimizing the deodorization process, which is theoretically less trans fat than regular oils.
3. Control cooking temperature and time
Don't fry or deep fry at high temperature for a long time. The higher the cooking temperature, the higher the trans fat content and the more unhealthy.
In addition, many families also have a "bad habit", that is, they are not willing to throw away the fried cooking oil at once, and still keep some for daily use. These oils will continue to produce trans fatty acids after prolonged deep-frying, which is not a small health hazard.
In actual working life, it is very difficult to really do without eating trans acid at all. However, the adverse health effects of TFA are generally the result of long-term development and accumulation. As long as we can pay more attention in our daily life and try to control the intake of TFA, its health management risk is still controllable and there is no need to worry too much.
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