Why Weight

If New York Banned TransFats Why Don't You?

By Susanne Myers

What we once took for granted as being a healthy alternative to the high fat content of margarine and butter has come home to haunt us. Consumers are more concerned than ever about their health. In an attempt to aid the public, the FDA has made food manufacturers reveal those items in foods that are detrimental to our health.

These announcement by the FDA help consumers make smart decisions concerning their health as individuals try to create and maintain a healthy lifesyle. Informed consumers are eliminating transfats from their diets. But eliminating transfats is only part of the equation. The solution to the transfat debacle is healthy eating. Eating healthy involves limiting the saturated fats while increasing the amount of healthy dietary choices.

The obvious way is to limit these harmful fats are by loading up on vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Another healthy eating choice is to choose low fat dairy and lean proteins.

In a recent news story it was reported that the entire restaurant population of New York may be required to eliminate transfats from their menus. New York may take some formal action against the use of artificial trans fats that are used in the restaurant and fast food industry.

The proposal will make New York the first large city in the country to strictly limit such fats in restaurants.

This proposal would prohibit the entire restaurant industry from McDonalds to other street corner restaurants from using these unhealthy fats in their menus.

Scientific evidence shows that consumption of saturated fat, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad cholesterol," levels, which increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, more than 12.5 million Americans have CHD, and more than 500,000 die each year. That makes CHD one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
The only good news about transfat is that The Food and Drug Administration requires that saturated fat and dietary cholesterol are listed on food labels.From the beginning of Jan.1, 2006 food labels will have to reveal the use of the of trans fat as an ingredient. With trans fat added to the Nutrition Facts panel consumers will know for the first time how much of all three--saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol--are in the foods you select.

Identifying saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol on the food label gives the consumer the information needed to make healthy food choices.

However, not everyone is aware of the risk posed by consuming too much saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. The effects of these fats on the body can be
devastating. Avoiding these items is critical to maintaining good health.

Saturated and trans fats have a detrimental effect on the blood cholesterol. The heart is also affected by transfat. "Transfat and saturated fats not only affect how much plaque is deposited in blood vessels but also may damage the tissue of blood vessels. says Susan Moores, MS. R.D.who is a spokesperson for the American dietetic Association.

The path to healthy eating eliminates transfat from our diets. Buying foods that are labeled as being transfat free is a step toward a healthier lifestyle. Read food labels carefully. Include those foods that are nutrient rich in your shopping cart. Put the transfat labeled products back on the shelf.

To learn more about how you can start forming healthy eating habits read the article here http://www.healthymenumailer.com/articles/healthy-eating-habit.html

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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 12:59 PM