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How I Easily Lost 21 lbs. in Just Weeks- Without Getting Hungry
I was shocked. I started to cry...
After the holidays, I stepped on the scale and discovered I was 30 pounds heavier than I had ever been in my life.
I’m a 56 year old grandmother (somebody please tell me how that happened) and it occurred...
Hunger Free Eating - How To Eat Less And Not Feel Hungry
There are many diets, all of which boil down to taking in fewer calories especially of the foods, which tend to lay down fat in the body. The reason most people become over weight is that they are eating foods that are high in calories and low in...
Is an Apple a Day Really OK?
Copyright 2005 Michael Brooks
Young or old, there is probably a good chance that at some time in your life you have heard the phrase “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Is there any substance to this claim? Or, is it just a cute little...
Kanhaiya Amla Powder
AMLA ( EMBLICA OFFICINALIS ) FOR HEALTH AND BEAUTY AMLA, proudly known as ‘Indian Gooseberry' has been the key constituent of many Ayurvedic formulations. And nowadays, it has been accepted by almost all medical branches as a result of...
Preparing For Baby: Strategies, Tools, and Tips for First Time Grandmothers
Preparing for baby is an exciting process that can be as unique as childbirth for first time grandmothers. Once you recover from the initial shock that your baby is no longer your baby, it’s time to get mentally and physically prepared to offer...
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Can A Low Carb Diet Help You Avoid Trans Fats?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware that trans fats are thought to contribute to heart disease, weight gain, and other health problems. These transformed fatty acids are commonly referred to as Trans Fatty Acids or TFA’s and are present in most of the packaged foods found in the grocery store and your pantry!
Trans fats are produced by hydrogenation - the process of heating an oil and passing hydrogen through it. This process turns liquid oils into solid (margarine, Crisco) and extends the shelf life of most processed foods. The high temperatures used to heat the oils also destroy the essential fatty acids and transforms them into trans fats (short for transformed fatty acid). These fats compete with essential fatty acids for absorption in the body and are thought to contribute to coronary heart disease by raising LDL cholesterol levels (bad cholesterol), while lowering the HDL levels( good cholesterol). They also increase platelet aggregation, which in turn increases the chance of blood clotting, strokes and heart attacks. And if that isn’t bad enough, they also create free radicals that have been linked to cancer.
If you are on a low carb diet, chances are that you don’t eat very many processed or fried foods so you won’t be
consuming much food with trans fats. If you are sticking to mostly low fat meats and vegetables you’re probably in pretty good shape as far as trans fats ingestion goes. Margarine is high in trans fats, but there are several brands out there that have no trans fats so if you are eating a lot of margarine, you may want to look into the brand you are buying. Mos of the foods high in trans fatty acids like chips, donuts, muffins, cakes, candy, soups, breads, margarine, cheese spreads, and cookies are no-no’s on a low carb eating plan so cutting them out of your diet has the added health benefit of reducing your intake of these fats.
How do you know if a food has them? Well, the food industry doesn’t make it easy, they rarely put their content on the labels so you will need to figure it out by reading the ingredients. When buying packaged foods beware of the word “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” in the list of ingredients. These foods will contain trans fatty acids. If you are leading a low carb lifestyle you probably won’t be buying these foods anyway so not to worry!
About the Author
Lee Dobbins is webmaster of http://www.lowcarb-resource.com where you can find more information on low carb living.
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