Simply put, these often don’t come from natural foods but are created through a chemical process (usually in a lab). The likelihood that the body can process these foods without issue seems low because they aren’t natural foods. Until proven otherwise, data suggests that our bodies were designed to be free of inflammation when eating only if we eat natural foods.
There are some naturally occurring trans fats in some foods, but you probably won’t find many products with these natural trans fats. To know whether a trans fat is naturally occurring or not, look at the ingredient list of the product/food and verify that every ingredient is a natural food or produced from purely natural foods.
To be extra safe, ensure that the food/oil wasn’t created with the use of non-food products like hexane. Any oils that don’t explicitly state cold-pressed or expeller-pressed likely used hexane for extraction.
More on trans fat and their unnatural state from the Mayo Clinic:
“Most trans fats are formed through an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil, which causes the oil to become solid at room temperature.
This partially hydrogenated oil is inexpensive and less likely to spoil, so foods made with it have a longer shelf life. Some restaurants use partially hydrogenated vegetable oil in their deep fryers, because it doesn’t have to be changed as often as do other oils.
Some meat and dairy products have a small amount of naturally occurring trans fats. However, it’s not clear how these trans fats affect health.”
Foods that contain trans fats
The manufactured form of trans fat, known as partially hydrogenated oil, can be found in a variety of food products, including:
- Commercial baked goods, such as cakes, cookies and pies
- Shortening
- Microwave popcorn
- Frozen pizza
- Refrigerated dough, such as biscuits and rolls
- Fried foods, including french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken
- Nondairy coffee creamer
- Stick margarine
If you’d like to read more about trans fats go here.
