Hello everyone. Hope all is well. Since writing about nutrition can be rather dry, I figured I’d start out this week’s entry with a true story that actually occurred while putting all of this information together over the weekend.

So I’m sitting at my boyfriend’s computer Saturday afternoon typing in all of the information below when he sits down on the couch with all the grocery store circulars for the upcoming week. Now to give you a little background on both of us…other than when on the water, we both gravitate toward type “b” personalities with a typical conversation generally sounding like, “I don’t care, what do you want to do?” We will often laugh at the AMAZINGLY petty little things that couples fight about when walking down the street and of course never miss an opportunity to remind each other of how good the other one has it. We never really fight and neither individual is controlling, jealous or bossy and I’ve always taken a sort of pride in that.  But then came Saturday. While I’ve always known this about myself, I was reminded again that when it comes to nutrition, I‘m extremely TYPE A.

My boyfriend started reading what’s on sale and exclaimed: “All Entenmann’s ½ price!”  I proceeded to turn from the computer screen and just give him “the look”.  And I’m pretty sure most of you know what “look” I’m talking about.  He continued with, “Triscuits???” It was of course followed with the same disapproving glare. He then deflatingly ensued with a frown, “Probably no “Keebler Fudge shop cookies or Campbells CHUNKY New England Clam Chowder either”. At this point in time, he handed me the flyer and just suggested that I cross off the “bad foods”.  Sadly, other than the back page with all the produce, in just a few minutes I annihilated majority of the circular with my highlighter.  At this point in time his housemate had entered in on the conversation as well.  When I ever handed the flyer back which included the Ore Ida tater tots crossed off, it was clear that I had crossed the line of all that is sacred. At that point in time and for about the next 24 hours, I was deemed by both of them as “the FOOD NAZI”. 

I myself was a little unnerved as well simply for the fact that for the first time I felt like, “Oh my gosh! I’ve become one of THEM! One of those obnoxious control-freaks that we’re always rolling our eyes at as they pass by.  I will digress for now & come back to the end of the story later.

 Today’s topic deals with unhealthy fats and hydrogenated oils.  Unfortunately for all of you bread, pasta, cereal & baked good lovers I’m here to share some bad news.  The same goes for the fans of cool whip, most peanut butter, coffee mate, margarine, creamy dips, breaded food, cookies & crackers. Please don’t hate me though: I’m just the messenger.  Since I believe the experts did such a great job of capturing all of this information indepthly, but in an extremely reader friendly format, rather than waste a lot of time summarizing previous  publications I’ve copied on several articles below that jam-packed with information regarding hydrogenated oils including what effect they have on your body & what kind of foods contain them. 

• Part A of your assignment today is to read the articles below.
• http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/FatFacts.html   
• http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/PartiallyHydrogenatedOils.html
• http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/TransFatLabels.html 
• http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/TransFats.html 
• http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgif=/chronicle/archive/2002/07/31/FD183554.DTL 
• http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/AmericanFoods.html 
• http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/Wheat.html 
• http://www.dldewey.com/columns/monodyf.htm 
• http://www.dldewey.com/hydroilf.htm 

Now it’s time for a little quiz:

1. If a food is labeled 0g trans fat per serving, does that mean it has no hydrogenated oils?    a.yes                                                                                                                                             b.no                                                                                                                                                                                                 Ans: b. While some foods are indeed “trans fat free”, several foods can contain up to .5g of hydrogenated oil/ serving and still claim to have “0g trans fat/serving”.  The key is to read the label. If you see the word “hydrogenated”, put it back on the shelf.  
2.  Are monodiglycerides a trans-fat?                                                                                                          a.yes                                                                                                                                                                     b.no                                                                                                                                                                                                  Ans: a. Another way manufacturers “hide” trans fats. Monodiglycerides function in a way very similar to hydrogenated oils.  One product I can think of off the top of my head is Hershey’s syrup. 
3.  Jeez, you just about abolished majority of my daily caloric intake!  Is there anything I CAN eat now that my everyday staples were just wiped out?                                                                                                                 a.yes                                                                                                                                                                                               b.no, you must STARVE!!!                                                                                                                                                              Ans: a. While you may feel like your options have been cut quite a bit, the good news is there are PLENTY of alternatives out there other than the mainstream marketed products.  You can now find gluten free pastas, cake mixes & bread as well as hydrogenated oil free peanut butter, buttery spreads, crackers and even frosting and whipped topping. Several of these products cost a little bit more and may require shopping at a specialty store such as Whole Foods or Trader Joes, but sometimes there’s actually NO difference in price. 

Likewise, when you think of the money you’ll be saving down the road by preventing Diabetes or Cancer or maybe even an extra few seconds over a 2k… spending a little bit extra on groceries doesn’t seem like such a big deal. 

To conclude, there was even good news for me regarding my current dilemma.  When I headed out to Whole Foods Sunday PM to pick up some stuff for my upcoming trek up to the Charles, I paid a visit to the frozen food section. While I will probably not be placing these on the list in my next blog entry of SUPER FOODS, I returned home with both All Natural Ice Cream & yes, even (trans-fat free)Tater Tots.  Needless to say all hearts AND stomachs were happy. I guess the moral of the story is: sometimes you CAN have your potato & eat it too.

                                                       Eat, Drink & Row MerryJ