Did you know that.......

sarabear

ground beef, 80/20, has naturally occuring trans fat?!?!? I was shocked! Anyone know if this is as bad as man made? I always buy lean but was looking at different calories, fats etc on different foods and found this!

songbyrdsweet

Trans fats are found in nature as well. Cis and Trans refers to the location of the hydrogens on the fatty acid arms. When an unsaturated fat is saturated by way of hydrogenation, they fill up all available spots and some enter the Trans location. This can happen naturally as well, and not just in ground beef.

Phoenix_Rising

Brain.... hurts..... blinded with science.... :indifferent:

songbyrdsweet

Brain.... hurts..... blinded with science.... :indifferent:

LOL 'She blinded me with science...'

mommared53

So is 80/20 beef ok?

Phoenix_Rising

Brain.... hurts..... blinded with science.... :indifferent:

LOL 'She blinded me with science...'

My high school best friend is a science teacher. At her wedding, her husband had the DJ play that song as well as "Hot For Teacher" for him to dance with her to. :bigsmile:

songbyrdsweet

Brain.... hurts..... blinded with science.... :indifferent:

LOL 'She blinded me with science...'

My high school best friend is a science teacher. At her wedding, her husband had the DJ play that song as well as "Hot For Teacher" for him to dance with her to. :bigsmile:

Haha that is SO cute!! :laugh:

July24Lioness

So is 80/20 beef ok?

Natural occurring is what nature intended................chemical, man made fats, not so much. From what I have read, the natural occurring trans fats that occur in nature are part of saturated fats, but definitely not the same as man made trans fats that come from partially hydrogenated oils.............

July24Lioness

Double Post.

songbyrdsweet

So is 80/20 beef ok?

Natural occurring is what nature intended................chemical, man made fats, not so much. From what I have read, the natural occurring trans fats that occur in nature are part of saturated fats, but definitely not the same as man made trans fats that come from partially hydrogenated oils.............

It's the same thing...they're both saturated, just that one was already hydrogenated and the other had hydrogen added. The hydrogen they add is the same hydrogen you'll find in nature. A little trans fat isn't going to hurt you, it's just bad in large quantities. So don't eat a ton of margarine with your red meat and you should be okay.

July24Lioness

Here you go regarding the good trans fats versus the bad trans fats.................even more evidence to support why you should go with grass fed meats. :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

The Bad Trans Fats

First, the bad trans fats I'm referring to are the man-made kind. These are represented by any artificially hydrogenated oils. The main culprits are margarine, shortening, and partially hydrogenated oils that are in most processed foods, junk foods, and deep fried foods.

These hydrogenated oils are highly processed using harsh chemical solvents like hexane (a component of gasoline), high heat, pressure, have a metal catalyst added, and are then deodorized and bleached. A small % of the solvent is allowed to remain in the finished oil. This has now become more of an industrial oil rather than a food oil, but somehow the FDA still allows the food manufacturers to put this crap in our food at huge quantities, even with the well documented health dangers.

These hydrogenated oils cause inflammation inside of your body, which signals the deposition of cholesterol as a healing agent on artery walls. Hence, hydrogenated oil = inflammation = clogged arteries. You can see why heart disease has exploded since this crap has been loaded into our food supply over the last 5 to 6 decades.

As time goes on, and science continues to unveil how deadly these oils really are, I feel that eventually they will be illegal and banned from use. The labeling laws were just the first step. In fact, certain countries around the world have already banned the use of hydrogenated oils in food manufacturing or at least set dates to phase them out for good.

However, keep in mind that as companies are starting to phase out the use of hydrogenated oils in processed foods, they are replacing them, in most instances, with highly refined polyunsaturated oils such as soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, etc, etc. These are still heavily processed oils using high heat, solvents, deodorizers, and bleaching agents. Even refined oils are known to produce inflammation in your body...a far cry from natural sources of healthy fats.

Don't be fooled by the new onslaught of foods claiming "trans fat free"... if they use heavily refined oils (even if they're non-hydrogenated), it's still pure evil for your body!

Once again, for the best results, your best bet is avoiding highly processed foods altogether and choose whole, natural, minimally processed foods. Your body will thank you!

The Good Trans Fats

Ok, after having trash talked the man-made trans fats, let me clearly state that there is such a thing as healthy natural trans fats. Natural trans fats are created in the stomachs of ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, etc. and make their way into the fat stores of the animals.

Therefore, the milk fat and the fat within the meat of these animals can provide natural healthy trans fats (best in grass-fed organic versions only).

Natural trans fats in your diet have been thought to have some potential benefit to aid in both muscle building and fat loss efforts. However, keep in mind that the quantity of healthy trans fats in the meat and dairy of ruminant animals is greatly reduced by mass-production methods of farming and their grain and soy heavy diets. Meat and dairy from grass-fed, free-range animals always have much higher quantities of these beneficial fats.

One such natural trans fat that you may have heard of is called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and has been marketed by many weight loss companies. Keep in mind that these man-made CLA pills you see in the stores may not be the best way to get CLA in your diet. They are artificially made from plant oils, instead of the natural process that happens in ruminant animals. Once again, man-made just doesn't compare to the benefits of natural sources.