Trans Fats

[dee123]

how common are these "illegal" substances being used to cook your breakfast from your local street vendor?........lets hear the facts as I have a hunch its destroying everyones health in Thailand.

[blue eyes]

What illegal substances???????

[aaaaaa]

well, more then once there were reports on Thai TV about vendors using "puffer-fish" for all those fish balls and many other food stuffs. it is poisonous - there've been cases. and now it is outlawed. however many are still using it since it is much cheaper then some other fish.

[suegha]

Trans fats are only a step away from eating chemicals. The body cannot digest them. In large quantities they can cause all sorts of problems. It's not the calorie content, it's the substance itself. Google it and see...

[cathyy]

Transfats are what you get when you take a naturally liquid fat, such as corn or soybean oil, and make it into a fat that is solid at room temperature. (hydrogenize or partially hydrogenize it) The best examples of a transfat are margarine and shortening.

The best oils for you are the mono-unsaturated oils: olive oil and canola oil. If you need a solid fat, the best thing to use is butter or lard. Transfats are the worst thing to consume.

[sabaijai]

Transfats are what you get when you take a naturally liquid fat, such as corn or soybean oil, and make it into a fat that is solid at room temperature. (hydrogenize or partially hydrogenize it) The best examples of a transfat are margarine and shortening.

The best oils for you are the mono-unsaturated oils: olive oil and canola oil. If you need a solid fat, the best thing to use is butter or lard. Transfats are the worst thing to consume.

If that definition is correct, then transfats are used very little in everyday Thai cooking.

[cathyy]

Wiki on transfats

Yeah, Thai cooking in general won't use transfats as they tend to use oils instead. It's one reason why living in Thailand is generally healthier than living in the USA. Be careful of fried foods, though, that may be fried in a partially hydrogenated oil, which has lots of transfats. Home cooks probably don't use them but any place that does a lot of deep frying, like hotel restaurants, or fast food joints, where they like to use the same oil for a long time, very well may. Partially hydrogenated oils don't go rancid as rapidly.

Edited February 25, 2008 by cathyy

[suegha]

Wiki on transfats

Yeah, Thai cooking in general won't use transfats as they tend to use oils instead. It's one reason why living in Thailand is generally healthier than living in the USA. Be careful of fried foods, though, that may be fried in a partially hydrogenated oil, which has lots of transfats. Home cooks probably don't use them but any place that does a lot of deep frying, like hotel restaurants, or fast food joints, where they like to use the same oil for a long time, very well may. Partially hydrogenated oils don't go rancid as rapidly.

Good link there cathyy. Dangerous stuff!

[Jingthing]

I think most commercial Thai deep fried food probably uses transfats. What about that "butter" you see at the Pancake Roti stations? That stuff looks vile.

Edited February 26, 2008 by Jingthing

[suegha]

Butter is still far better than any trans-fat! I use butter every day.

[dee123]

what worries me is how tightly regulated using transfat are in Thailand....we allknow that the chinese are getting bad press about dodgy goods and the borders of the asian countries seem so porous .I am worried that cheap cooking oil if available would be used and not checked,.....i emphasize that i'm no expert,.....but have seen quite a few thais with fatty tisue around their eyes,.....is this /or could it be connected?

[dee123]

...perhaps I should explain a bit further,.......well, a year ago my wife went over to Thailand and around her eyes were normal but a month later when I arrived she had developed quite large fatty tissues around her eyes,.....it shocked me when I first saw her,...we have talked to a doctor about it who confirms they are fatty tissues and gave her a cholestreal test which wasslightly above but not too much,.....here in UK we use sunflower oil from major supermarkets,....what I want to know is how can these little lumps appear almost overnight !! at the time they appeared she was helping her friend with preparation of pork scractchings and I wondered what kind of oil she was using,.....her friend by the way had these fatty tisues for a long time which were even more noticeable,....advice would be appreciated

Edited March 22, 2008 by dee123

[suegha]

Can't say if these 'fatty' spots are caused by trans-fats, never heard of such a thing. They would not flair up that quickly either. I'd have more tests done with the doctor

[Gary A]

It's a simple task to find out what kind of oil the food vendors are using. Just walk into a supermarket and look for the cheapest cooking oil they have. I think you will find that it's palm oil. Palm oil has always gotten a bad rap but it really isn't that bad for your health.

[Ulysses G.]

I think you will find that it's palm oil. Palm oil has always gotten a bad rap but it really isn't that bad for your health.

If it is not hydronated or partially hydronated, it is simular to coconut oil and supposedly not bad for health. Hydronated or partially hydronated oils become transfats.

[dee123]

can anyone be more specific and give us a list of foods that might be transfat related,....in thailand and abroad

[crowbait]

can anyone be more specific and give us a list of foods that might be transfat related,....in thailand and abroad

This is quoted from Wikipedia article on trans fats "Pesence in foods"

A type of trans fat occurs naturally in the milk and body fat of ruminants (such as cows and sheep) at a level of 2–5% of total fat.[20] Natural trans fats, which include conjugated linoleic acid and vaccenic acid, originate in the rumen of these animals.

Animal-based fats were once the only trans fats consumed, but by far the largest amount of trans fat consumed today is created by the processed food industry as a side-effect of partially hydrogenating unsaturated plant fats (generally vegetable oils). These partially hydrogenated fats have displaced natural solid fats and liquid oils in many areas, notably in the fast food, snack food, fried food and baked good industries.

Partially hydrogenated oils have been used in food for many reasons. Partial hydrogenation increases product shelf life and decreases refrigeration requirements. Because baking often requires semi-solid fats to suspend solids at room temperature, partially hydrogenated oils can replace the animal fats traditionally used by bakers (such as butter and lard). They are also an inexpensive alternative to other semi-solid oils such as palm oil. Because partially hydrogenated plant oils can replace animal fats, the resulting products can be consumed (barring other ingredient and preparation violations) by adherents to Kashrut (kosher) and Halal, as well as by adherents to vegetarianism in Buddhism, ahimsa in Jainism and Hinduism, veganism, and other forms of vegetarianism.

Foods containing artificial trans fats formed by partially hydrogenating plant fats may contain up to 45% trans fat compared to their total fat.[20] Baking shortenings generally contain 30% trans fats compared to their total fats, while animal fats from ruminants such as butter contain up to 4%. Those margarines not reformulated to reduce trans fats may contain up to 15% trans fat by weight.[21]

It has been established that trans fats in human milk fluctuate with maternal consumption of trans fat, and that the amount of trans fats in the bloodstream of breastfed infants fluctuates with the amounts found in their milk. Reported percentages of trans fats (compared to total fats) in human milk range from 1% in Spain, 2% in France, 4% in Germany, and 7% in Canada.[22]

Trans fats are also found in shortenings commonly used for deep frying in restaurants. In the past, the decreased rancidity of partially hydrogenated oils meant that they could be reused for a longer time than conventional oils. Recently, however, non-hydrogenated vegetable oils have become available that have lifespans exceeding that of the frying shortenings.[23] As fast food chains routinely use different fats in different locations, trans fat levels in products can have large variation. For example, an analysis of samples of McDonald's french fries collected in 2004 and 2005 found that fries served in New York City contained twice as much trans fat as in Hungary, and 28 times as much trans fat as in Denmark (where trans fats are restricted). At KFC, the pattern was reversed with Hungary's product containing twice the trans fat of the New York product. Even within the US there was variation, with fries in New York containing 30% more trans fat than those from Atlanta.[24]

[sugarhead]

All locally baked goods (toast bread, cookies, cakes, pies, etc.) contain transfats. Shortening is used because it is far cheaper than butter, has a longer shelf life, easier to store.

No regulation in Thailand yet but some companies are taking initiatives to reduce trans-fats in their cooking (Banyan Tree Hotel) or ban it all together (Shangri-La).

[BigSnake]

About the best one can do is read the labels when shopping, even then you might miss some of the fine print.

[Tolley]

If you are worried about healthy food don't eat out anywhere.

Cook at home and then you know exactly what you are getting.

[crowbait]

If you are worried about healthy food don't eat out anywhere.

Cook at home and then you know exactly what you are getting.

On the other hand, if you lead a normally healthy life, maintaining a reasonable amount of exercise and eating a moderately ballanced diet, statistically, you should live out your normal lifespan and die without enduring too much suffering.

Concentrate on that very hard and be suitably grateful

Worrying about trans-fats, carcinogens, global-warming, the resurgence of the Cold War, a repeat 9/11 (or 11/9 as we Brits like to put it), obesity in the young and any other hype the media throws at us to make us watch their dreadful programmes or read their awful newspapers is likely to lead you to Madness and death!!

Don't do it............don't fall into the trap of believing statisticians. 'coz they have to make a living too, and so they big up their role to make them seem important!!

Yours

A statstician. (posh name = informaticist)

[BugJackBaron]

If you are worried about healthy food don't eat out anywhere.

Cook at home and then you know exactly what you are getting.

On the other hand, if you lead a normally healthy life, maintaining a reasonable amount of exercise and eating a moderately ballanced diet, statistically, you should live out your normal lifespan and die without enduring too much suffering.

Concentrate on that very hard and be suitably grateful

Worrying about trans-fats, carcinogens, global-warming, the resurgence of the Cold War, a repeat 9/11 (or 11/9 as we Brits like to put it), obesity in the young and any other hype the media throws at us to make us watch their dreadful programmes or read their awful newspapers is likely to lead you to Madness and death!!

Don't do it............don't fall into the trap of believing statisticians. 'coz they have to make a living too, and so they big up their role to make them seem important!!

Yours

A statstician. (posh name = informaticist)

Wow some actual logic here....Yes transfats are Probably bad as they are unnatural(or rare in nature)

so we cannot be adapted to them. On the other hand no studies have ever shown a link

between transfats and bad diseases.

A lot of new products advertise "transfat free" now so why take the risk(even though it may be small)