- Table of foods high in trans fat
- Allowable amount of trans fat in food
- How to read the food label
- Why trans fat is harmful to health
- Understand the difference between trans fat and saturated fat
Frequent consumption of foods high in trans fat, such as bakery and confectionery products, such as cakes, pastries, cookies, ice cream, packaged snacks and many processed foods like hamburgers for example, can increase bad cholesterol.
This hydrogenated fat is added to processed foods because it is an inexpensive way to increase its shelf life.
Table of foods high in trans fat
The following table shows the amount of trans fat in some foods.
| Foods | Amount of trans fat in 100 g of food | Calories (kcal) |
| Pastry dough | 2.4 g | 320 |
| Chocolate Cake | 1 g | 368 |
| Oatmeal crakers | 0.8 g | 427 |
| Ice cream | 0.4 g | 208 |
| Margarine | 0.4 g | 766 |
| Chocolate cookies | 0.3 g | 518 |
| Milk chocolate | 0.2 g | 330 |
| Microwave popcorn | 7.6 g | 380 |
| Frozen pizza | 1.23 g | 408 |
Natural, organic or poorly processed foods, such as cereals, Brazil nuts and peanuts, contain good fats for health and can be eaten more regularly.
Allowable amount of trans fat in food
The amount of trans fat that can be consumed is a maximum of 2 g per day, considering a 2000 kcal diet, but the ideal is to consume as little as possible. To know the amount of this fat present in an industrialized food, one must look at the label.
Even if the label says zero trans fat or free from trans fat, you can still be ingesting that type of fat. The list of ingredients on the label should also be searched for words such as partially hydrogenated vegetable fat or hydrogenated fat, and it can be suspected that the food has trans fat when there is: vegetable fat or margarine.
However, when a product contains less than 0.2 g trans fat per serving, the manufacturer can write 0 g trans fat on the label. Thus, a portion of a stuffed cookie, which is usually 3 cookies, if it is less than 0.2 g, the label may indicate that the entire cookie package does not contain trans fat.
How to read the food label
Watch this video what you should check on the label of processed foods to be healthier:
Why trans fat is harmful to health
Trans fat is harmful to health because it brings harm such as the increase in bad cholesterol (LDL) and the decrease in good cholesterol (HDL), which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. In addition, this type of fat is also related to an increased risk of infertility, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and some types of cancer. If this is your case, here's how to lower bad cholesterol.
Understand the difference between trans fat and saturated fat
Saturated fat is also a type of fat that is harmful to health, but unlike trans fat, it is easily found in products such as fatty meat, bacon, sausages, sausages and milk and dairy products. The consumption of saturated fats should also be avoided, but the intake limit for these fats is greater than the limit given for trans fat, being around 22 g / day for a 2000 kcal diet. Learn more about saturated fat.
