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Are you reusing your water bottles?

Aug 30, 2010

Are you reusing your water bottles

Are you reusing your water bottles?

Are the chemicals in your plastic food containers, water bottles and even baby bottles harming your health?

Recently the Food and Drug Administration said that a chemical widely used in plastics is safe for children and adults, even though recent research has raised questions about its safety. Studies have linked the chemical bisphenol-A, or BPA, to increased risks for heart disease and certain types of cancer.

Plastic food containers, reusable water bottles and plastic baby bottles are so popular because they’re convenient, which is not to be overlooked. But the price of convenience might have a dark side. Should we replace plastic containers with glass or another non-leaching option?

Check out these facts to decide for yourself:

- Polycarbonate plastics, often used to make reusable water bottles, clear plastic food-storage containers and some baby bottles, contain BPA, an estrogen like chemical also used in the linings of some food and drink cans. Studies link BPA to the development of pre-cancerous lesions and abnormal development of reproductive systems in animals. While BPA can leach into food and drinks, whether it actually affects human health is currently not known but the possibility couldn’t be ruled out. What is known is that we’re all exposed to plenty of the chemical. In a 2005 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, 95 percent of people screened tested positive for BPA.

- Hot liquids and foods exacerbate leaching in BPA-containing plastics. When boiling water is poured into polycarbonate drinking bottles, it causes up to 55 times more BPA to seep out than room-temperature water had.

- Whether washing containers in hot water causes them to break down and release BPA the next time they’re used isn’t clear: Only a handful of studies have been conducted, and results are conflicting. While heating these plastics in the microwave hasn’t been studied, it’s not recommended.

The Bottom Line: Manufacturers currently aren’t required to label BPA, so there’s no way of knowing if it’s present in the plastics or cans you use. For now, the best way to reduce your exposure is to use stainless steel, glass or plastics labeled “BPA-free.” If you’re not sure about a product contact the manufacturer for more information.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Check out Hydracoach Water Bottles for a safe alternative at www.i-Supplements.com.

Lawsuit Over Deceptive Vitaminwater Slams Coca-Cola

Aug 9, 2010

Lawsuit Over Deceptive Vitaminwater Slams Coca-Cola

Lawsuit Over Deceptive Vitaminwater Slams Coca-Cola

Courts find Coca-Cola in violation of several FDA regulations and standars and denies its motion to dismiss current lawsuit.

A federal judge has vehemently denied Cokes motion to dismiss the current lawsuit over what many are saying are deceptive and unsubstantiated claims on the company’s “vitaminwater” line of soft drinks.  The company claims that vitaminwater variously reduces the risk of chronic disease, reduces the risk of eye disease, promotes healthy joints, and supports optimal immune function, and uses health buzz words such as “defense,” “rescue,” “energy,” and “endurance” on the products labels.

Besides denying Coca-Cola’s motion to dismiss, the ruling contains other bad omens for the company.  Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York found that the company’s use of the word “healthy” violates the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations on vitamin-fortified foods.  The FDA’s so-called “Jelly Bean” rule prohibits companies from making health claims on junk foods that only meet various nutrient thresholds via fortification.  The judge also found that vitaminwater’s claim on the “focus” flavor of vitaminwater that it “may reduce the risk of age-related eye disease” runs afoul of FDA regulations.

The judge also took note of the fact that the FDA frowns upon names of products that mention some ingredients to the exclusion of more prominent ingredients such as, in the case of vitaminwater, added sugar.  The names of the drinks, along with other statements on the label, “have the potential to reinforce a consumer’s mistaken belief that the product is comprised of only vitamins and water,” Gleeson wrote.

“In sum, plaintiffs’ allegations sufficiently state a claim that defendants have violated FDA regulations by making health claims about vitaminwater even though it does not meet required minimum nutritional thresholds, by using the word ‘healthy’ in implied nutrient content claims even though vitaminwater’s fortification does not comply with FDA policy, and by using a product name that references only two of vitaminwater’s ingredients, omitting the fact that there is a key, unnamed ingredient [sugar] in the product,” Gleeson continued.

“For too long, Coca-Cola has been exploiting Americans’ desire to eat and drink more healthfully by deceiving them into thinking that vitaminwater can actually prevent disease,” said CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner.  “In fact, vitaminwater is no more than non-carbonated soda, providing unnecessary added sugar and contributing to weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and other diseases while un-truthfully claiming to prevent them.  We look forward to representing all Americans whom Coke has deceived.”

The judge also rejected Coke’s argument that disclosing sugar content on Nutrition Facts labels eliminates the possibility that consumers may be misled into thinking the product has only water and vitamins, and little or no sugar.  Gleeson cited a similar case involving deceptive fruit imagery on packages for Gerber’s Fruit Juice Snacks, which are mostly corn syrup and sugar.  That court held that “reasonable consumers should [not] be expected to look beyond misleading representations on the front of the box to discover the truth from the ingredient list in small print on the side of the box.”  Vitaminwater has 33 grams of sugar in each 20-ounce bottle.

The judge excluded one group of New Jersey-based plaintiffs from the case but otherwise rejected Coke’s arguments to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds, paving the way for the plaintiffs’ lawyers to ask to take depositions of Coca-Cola executives, to ask for discovery of key vitaminwater marketing documents, and to seek certification as a class action.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Stay up to date with all of the latest health and nutritional news while browsing your favorite supplements at www.i-Supplements.com

Lean 1 Chocolate Back In Stock!

Jul 27, 2010

Lean 1 Meal Replacement Shake

Lean 1 Meal Replacement Shake

Lean 1 Meal Replacement Shake by Nutrition 53 is a delicious meal replacement shake that provides you with every single nutrient your body needs to support optimal health and vitality. Providing perfect nutritional balance and all-natural ingredients, Lean1 can help you burn off unwanted fat, increase lean muscle, protect your heart, and support healthy digestion.

Recent research shows that the synergistic combination of nutrients found in the proprietary Nutrition 53 Protein Blend may significantly enhance muscular recuperation and growth, while simultaneously inhibiting the breakdown of muscle protein. The net result – greater amounts of lean, functional muscle.

The combined effects of Alpha Lipoic Acid, Hoodia gordonii extract and Green Coffee Bean extract have been shown in scientific studies to increase the rate of fat loss by up to 68%, significantly suppress appetite and food consumption, and enhance daily energy expenditure.

Research shows that daily consumption of Phytosterols and Omega-3, oils at the levels found in Lean 1, can reduce your risk of heart disease by up to 25% and 50% respectively!

The abundant doses of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber in Lean1 help keep your digestive tract clean and healthy; while inclusion of the patented Aminogen® proteolytic enzyme has been shown in company research to increase protein digestion, absorption and utilization by up to 250%.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Get your Lean 1 Chocolate today or try one of their other great tasting flavors at www.i-Supplements.com!

Excess Weight in Older Women Linked to Diminished Memory

Jul 19, 2010

Excess Weight in Older Women Linked to Diminished Memory

Excess Weight in Older Women Linked to Diminished Memory

Middle aged women who are overweight may have yet another motivation to take off those excess pounds. The more a postmenopausal woman weighs, the worse her memory, researchers have found.

The negative impact on memory was more pronounced in “pear-shaped” women who carry excess weight around their hips, and less of a factor in “apple-shaped” women who carry it around their waists, the study authors noted.

In the new study, researchers found that for every one point increase in a woman’s body mass index (BMI), her score on a standard memory test – though still in the normal range – dropped by one point. (BMI is a measurement that takes into account height and weight as well.)

The study, which was based on data from nearly 9,000 women, was released online July 14 in advance of publication in the August print issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The study really underscores the importance of maintaining an ideal body weight. Even if a woman feels that she’s generally healthy because her blood pressure and cholesterol levels are good, what these findings suggest is that she also needs to pay attention to her weight, because it’s not only good for her heart, it’s also good for her brain one of the researchers explained.

For the study researchers examined data on 8,745 women between the ages of 65 and 79 who had no signs of dementia or other brain abnormalities. In addition to looking at BMI and waist and hip measurements (to determine body fat distribution), they also reviewed the women’s scores on a 100-point cognitive functioning test known as the Modified Mini-Mental Status Examination. Roughly 70 percent of the women were overweight or obese.

After controlling for age, level of education and vascular diseases that have been shown to raise the risk of dementia, such as stroke, the researchers found that the association between obesity and poorer memory and brain function persisted. Researchers added that although the women’s scores were still in the normal range, the added weight clearly had a detrimental effect.

They stated that more studies are needed to confirm and explain the apparent disparity between pear- and apple-shaped women. But one possibility is that the type of fat that’s deposited on the hips is more likely to release hormones that are detrimental to brain function. A follow-up study now in the planning stages will involve conducting MRIs of women’s bodies so they can look at how much abdominal fat they have versus hip fat, and see if there’s any difference in their brain functioning researchers explained.

This study expands on several others involving body shape, in which obese apple-shaped women – but not pear-shaped women – were found to be at higher risk of diabetes, heart disease and dementia.

What this study is really telling us is that there’s something about obesity that puts you at risk for dementia, and it’s independent of other factors such as vascular disease.

Researchers added that he hoped the results would coax more older women to exercise regularly in order to maintain a healthy weight. This is really a call for women to make an effort to get more active, find an exercise partner, and do something every day.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Browse our easy to use online catalog today at www.i-Supplements.com

Cartoon Characters Make Food More Appealing To Kids, Really?

Jun 23, 2010

Cartoon Characters Make Food More Appealing To Kids, Really?

Cartoon Characters Make Food More Appealing To Kids, Really?

Cartoons, a favorite Saturday morning staple, do more than just entertain your child. They provide recognizable characters that children can identify with, idolize, and want to emulate. Those same characters can also influence what your child eats, both good and bad.

Cartoon characters are already used liberally in the packaging of foodstuffs, particularly cereal, cookies, and snacks, many of which have little nutritional value. Could these same well-loved characters sell healthy food and snacks as well?

A small study conducted with preschoolers investigated the use of cartoon characters on packaging and the perception that foods tasted better with those images attached. Children tasted 3 pairs of identical foods (graham crackers, gummy fruit snacks, and carrots) presented in packages either with or without a popular cartoon character (Dora, Shrek, or Scooby-Doo). They tasted both food items in each pair and indicated whether the two foods tasted the same or one tasted better. Children then selected which of the food items they would prefer to eat for a snack.

The participants were asked to taste a sample of both unmarked and character-labeled packages. The results showed that the presence of a cartoon character on a package influenced the children’s perception of taste and their preference in snacks to a certain degree.

In the case of the graham crackers, 37.5 percent were not fooled and said both packages tasted the same, however 55 percent thought that the cartoon branded crackers were better. The gummy bear test yielded almost identical results. The carrots were a bit different, with 50 percent liking the carrots featuring a character, 25 percent liking the unbranded carrots, and 25 percent unable to tell the difference.

This study is empirical and undeniable evidence that marketing using licensed characters has an influence on children’s taste and snack preference and the characters could be restricted for junk food and utilized in selling health snacks. But the fact that the influence on taste perception was weakest for carrots may mean the second approach may not be an effective strategy.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Lawmakers Working to Improve School Food Offerings

Jun 15, 2010

Lawmakers Working to Improve School Food Offerings

Lawmakers Working to Improve School Food Offerings

School lunches are notoriously bad. Mystery meat, fake cheese, and a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables are only part of the problem; with high-calorie sodas and vending machine options increasing the calorie intake of our children, the whole system is feeding our children in a way that is nutritionally inferior. While many children balk at brown-bagging it or—heaven forbid—carrying a lunchbox, it is the only way to ensure that they eat healthy, balanced food. But the tide may be changing.

With the White House advocating with the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, First Lady Michele Obama taking the message to the streets and to food manufacturers, and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution gaining ground, the focus on school lunches has probably never seen so much press. Combined with the alarming rate of obesity amongst our youth, and it was bound to happen that someone in Congress would lead a charge to shake things up in school cafeteria’s around the country.

A long time coming, Senator Blanche Lincoln, who chairs the Agriculture Committee, has put forth a ten-year, $4.5 billion increase in funding for school lunch and nutrition programs. While this stops short of President Obama’s $1 million/year request, and that of food advocates such as Alice Waters and Ann Cooper, it will provide much-needed upgrading of food standards in our schools.

This proposal is a monumental step forward as we work to end childhood hunger and address the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. The bill will not only feed more children who cannot afford a mid-day meal but make it easier to attain eligibility for free meals. In addition, it will include provisions for allowing the Agriculture Department to set nutrition standards for all food sold at schools, and could ban high-sugar sodas and junk food from vending machines.

Currently, the school lunch program serves over 32 million children, with over 60 percent being free or reduced in cost. In many poor urban areas and low-income rural communities, the lunch program is a significant portion of a student’s daily calories and nutrition.

The Team i-Supplements.com

Here is to keeping our kids healthy and happy! Check us out at www.i-Supplements.com today.

Nuts About Nuts: Improving Your Cholesterol While Snacking

Jun 14, 2010

Nuts About Nuts - Improving Your Cholesterol While Snacking

Nuts About Nuts - Improving Your Cholesterol While Snacking

High in protein and fiber, nuts contain healthy amounts of folic acid (brain nutrition), vitamin E, selenium, phytic acid and omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, nuts have what is known as “good” or unsaturated fat and are low in the “bad” or unsaturated fat. Nuts can lower the chance of heart disease and help in keeping your cholesterol level down.

Recent research looked at data from 25 previous studies in 7 different countries to examine the factors involved in nuts’ cholesterol-lowering effects. The results showed that eating an average of 2.4 ounces of nuts per day reduced cholesterol levels by 5 percent in both people with normal and high cholesterol levels. For those suffering from high triglycerides, daily nut consumption lowered levels by 21 points, although it did not affect those who had  normal levels of tryiglycerides.

The bigger finding is that by adding nuts to the diet, people who had high LDL cholesterol levels (160 milligrams per deciliter), lower body mass index (BMI), or a predominantly Western diet benefited more than those who were already consuming a Mediterranean diet.

Eating one to two servings of nuts a day benefits most of the people by improving their lipid profile, which leads to a “drastically decreased” heart attack risk.

Nuts can be eaten raw, roasted, and dry-roasted but should be limited to 3 ounces or less per day, given their calorie count. Early indigenous populations soaked their raw nuts before they were eaten, which isn’t such a bad idea. Nuts contain enzyme inhibitors, which can strain the digestive system if you are a regular voracious consumer. By soaking overnight before eating or toasting, you are neutralizing the enzymes and the nuts will be easier to digest.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Browse www.i-Supplements.com for all of your supplement needs.

The 7 New Rules of Kid Nutrition

Jun 9, 2010

The 7 New Rules of Kid Nutrition

The 7 New Rules of Kid Nutrition

A parent’s first instinct, when she sees her child gaining weight, is to deny him or her those extra snacks and nibbles. But that’s a losing strategy, just like any fad diet. One of the reasons diets fail is because nobody likes to feel as though they are denying themselves — in a land of plenty, we don’t want to feel left out. And children are no different. Why should some other kid get a snack and your child miss out? Besides, skipping a snack is a guaranteed way to feel hungry, and a child’s hunger is a VIP first-class ticket to Candy Aisle Meltdown.

Instead of even thinking about cutting down on your child’s food intake, think of expanding his or her palette. Here are some simple rules that can teach your child to swim — no matter how rough the nutritional seas may become.

1. Never Skip Breakfast, EVER! Yes, mornings are crazy. But they’re also our best hope at regaining our nutritional sanity. A 2005 study synthesized the results of 47 studies that examined the impact of starting the day with a healthy breakfast. Here’s what they found:

- Children skip breakfast more than any other meal. Skipping is more prevalent among girls, older children, and adolescents.

- People who skip breakfast are more likely to take up smoking or drinking, less likely to exercise, and more likely to follow fad diets or express concerns about body weight. Common reasons cited for skipping were lack of time, lack of hunger, or dieting.

- On the day of the surveys, 8 percent of 1- to 7-year-olds skipped, 12 percent of 8- to 10-year-olds skipped, 20 percent of 11- to 14-year-olds skipped, and 30 percent of 15- to 18-year-olds skipped.

Bad news. And sure, it would seem to make sense that skipping breakfast means eating fewer calories, which means weighing less. But it doesn’t work that way. Consider: Breakfast eaters tend to have higher total calorie intakes throughout the day compared with skippers, but they also take in significantly more fiber, calcium, and other micronutrients. Breakfast eaters also tend to consume less soda and french fries, and more fruits, vegetables, and milk.

Breakfast eaters are approximately 30 percent less likely to be overweight or obese. (Think about that — kids who eat breakfast eat more food, but weigh less!)

2. Snack With Purpose. There’s a big difference between mindless munching and strategic snacking. Snacking with a purpose means reinforcing good habits, keeping your child’s metabolic rate high, and filling the gaps between meals with the nutrients a child’s body craves.

3. Beware of Portion Distortion. Snacks aren’t the only thing that’s increased wildly in portion size. Since 1977, hamburgers have increased by 97 calories, french fries by 68 calories, and Mexican foods by 133 calories. Studies conducted in the late 90’s looked at 63,380 individuals’ drinking habits over a span of 19 years. The results show that for children ages 2 to 18, portions of sweetened beverages increased from 13.1 ounces in 1977 to 18.9 ounces in 1996.

One easy way to short-circuit this growing trend? Buy smaller bowls and cups. A recent study shows that 5 and 6 year-old children will consume a third more calories when presented with a larger portion. The findings are based on a sample of 53 children who were served either 1- or 2-cup portions of macaroni and cheese.

4. Drink Responsibly.  Too many of us keep in mind the adage “watch what you eat,” and we forget another serious threat to our children’s health: We don’t watch what they drink. One study found that sweetened beverages constituted more than half (51 percent) of all beverages consumed by fourth through sixth grade students. The students who consumed the most sweetened beverages took in approximately 330 more calories a day than did those who drank only small amounts or no sweetened drinks at all. What’s more, they ate less than half the amount of whole fruit.

5. Eat More Whole Foods. Here’s a rule of healthy eating that will serve you well when picking out foods for your family: The shorter the ingredient list, the healthier the food. (One of the worst foods we’ve ever found, the Baskin Robbins Heath Shake, has 73 ingredients — and, by the way, a whopping 2,310 calories and more than 3 days’ worth of saturated fat! Whatever happened to the idea that a milkshake was, um, milk and ice cream?) And don’t think that you’re the only one who’s confused: The FDA maintains a list of more than 3,000 ingredients that are considered safe to eat, and any 50 of them could wind up in your next box of mac ‘n’ cheese.

According to USDA reports, most of the sodium in Americans’ diets comes from packaged and processed foods. Naturally occurring salt accounts for only 12 percent of total intake, while 77 percent is added by food manufacturers.

6. Set the Table. Children in families with a more structured mealtime exhibit healthier eating habits. Among middle-school and high-school girls, those whose families ate together only one or two times a week were more than twice as likely to exhibit weight control issues compared with those who ate together three or four times a week.

Of course, the notion of 6 p.m. dinnertime and then everyone into their PJs is a quaint one, but it hardly fits within a society where both Mom and Dad work, where the office may call at any time day or night, and where our kids have such highly scheduled social lives that the delineation between “parent” and “chauffeur” is sometimes difficult to parse. While we can’t always bring the family together like Ozzie Nelson’s (or, heck, even like Ozzy Osbourne’s), we can make some positive steps in that direction. Keep one dinner night sacred — no social plans, no school projects, no extra work brought home from the office. And although it’s not ideal, keeping the family ritual just once a week gives parents the opportunity to point out what is and isn’t healthy at the dinner table.

Another smart move: Get your kids involved in cooking. Make a game of trying to pack the most healthful ingredients into your meals. A Texas study shows that children can be encouraged to eat more fruits and vegetables by giving them goals and allowing them to help in preparation.

7. Kick the Sugar Habit. Take a look at the label on your loaf of sliced bread. Then take a look at the label on your ketchup. Now, for the coup de grâce, take a look at the label on a package of Twizzlers, or Jolly Ranchers, or Nerds. As different as they may seem, chances are these foods all contain the same ingredient: high-fructose corn syrup, or HFCS. According to the USDA, high-fructose corn syrup constitutes more than 40 percent of the caloric sweeteners used in U.S. foods and beverages. Now consider this: In 1970, high-fructose corn syrup accounted for less than 1 percent of all caloric sweeteners.

Why is this so bad? It’s not because HFCS is more dangerous for you than sucrose; in fact, most recent data suggests that the body metabolizes HFCS the same way it does ordinary sugar. No, the major concern is that HFCS — a derivative of corn that’s cheaper to produce than sugar and has a longer shelf life — is being added to foods that you’d never imagine would need sugar. But as Americans have been trained to develop a more intense sweet tooth, marketers have begun adding cheap sugar substitutes into everything from tomato sauce to wheat bread. And that pads everything we eat with extra calories. Today, the average American consumes 132 calories’ worth of HFCS every day.

To completely avoid HFCS, you’d have to give up eating packaged foods, and that’s just not practical for most families. Instead, become a savvy label reader and eliminate foods, not just with HFCS, but with any form of sugar at the top of the ingredient list.

Good Luck Parents!

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Study Says 10 minutes of exercise, hour-long effects

Jun 4, 2010

Study Says 10 minutes of exercise, hour-long effects

Study Says 10 minutes of exercise, hour-long effects

Ten minutes of brisk exercise triggers metabolic changes that last at least an hour. The unfair news for panting newbies: The more fit you are, the more benefits you just might be getting.

We all know that exercise and a good diet are important for health, protecting against heart disease and diabetes, among other conditions. But what exactly causes the health improvement from working up a sweat or from eating, say, more olive oil than saturated fat? And are some people biologically predisposed to get more benefit than others? They’re among questions that metabolic profiling, a new field called metabolomics, aims to answer in hopes of one day optimizing those benefits — or finding patterns that may signal risk for disease and new ways to treat it. They’ve only just began to catalog the metabolic variability between people.

The researchers measured biochemical changes in the blood of a variety of people: the healthy middle-aged, some who became short of breath with exertion, and marathon runners. First, in 70 healthy people put on a treadmill, the team found more than 20 metabolites that change during exercise, naturally produced compounds involved in burning calories and fat and improving blood-sugar control. Some weren’t known until now to be involved with exercise. Some revved up during exercise, like those involved in processing fat. Others involved with cellular stress decreased with exercise.

Those are pretty wonky findings, a first step in a complex field. But they back today’s health advice that even brief bouts of activity are good.

Your heart rate rapidly drops back to normal when you quit moving, usually in 10 minutes or so. So finding lingering biochemical changes offers “tantalizing evidence” of how exercise may be building up longer-term benefits.

Back to the blood. Thinner people had greater increases in a metabolite named niacinamide, a nutrient by-product that’s involved in blood-sugar control. Checking a metabolite of fat breakdown, researchers found people who were more fit — as measured by oxygen intake during exercise — appeared to be burning more fat than the less fit, or than people with shortness of breath, a possible symptom of heart disease.

The extremely fit — 25 Boston Marathon runners — had ten-fold increases in that metabolite after the race. Still other differences in metabolites allowed the researchers to tell which runners had finished in under four hours and which weren’t as speedy.

Don’t expect a pill ever to substitute for a workout — the new work shows how complicated the body’s response to exercise is, says one of the metabolomics researchers.  But scientists are hunting nutritional compounds that might help tweak metabolic processes in specific ways. For example, they discovered the muscles of diabetic animals lack enough of a metabolite named carnitine, and that feeding them more improved their control of blood sugar.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

Most Companies Replace Trans Fat with Healthier Fats, Study Finds

May 25, 2010

Most Companies Replace Trans Fat with Healthier Fats, Study Finds

Most Companies Replace Trans Fat with Healthier Fats, Study Finds

When food manufacturers and chain restaurants reduced or eliminated artificial trans fat, the reformulated foods almost always ended up lower in their total amount of trans and saturated fat.  These findings effectively disprove speculation that food manufacturers would merely replace partially hydrogenated oils—the source of artificial trans fat—with saturated fat from butter, lard, or palm oil.  And, it means that getting rid of artificial trans fat usually resulted in foods that are healthier for hearts, according to the researchers.

In the largest survey of its kind ever done in the United States, researchers identified 83 brand-name packaged and restaurant foods that had been made with trans fat prior to 2007, but then were reformulated to largely eliminate the trans fat.

The study found that the overall content of both fats combined was reduced in 90 percent (52 of 58) of the supermarket products and 96 percent (24 of 25) of the restaurant products, with average total reductions of 1.2 and 3.9 grams per serving, respectively.

This study should alleviate concerns that most food manufacturers and restaurants would simply switch to a shortening high in saturated fat when they reformulated their products without trans fat. In only a small handful of baked goods, more saturated fat was added than trans fat subtracted following reformulation.  Still, because a gram of trans fat is more harmful than a gram of saturated fat, even those changes represented relative improvements.  In the majority of products, trans fat was reduced or eliminated without corresponding increases in saturated fat.  In the case of reformulated restaurant foods, not only was trans fat largely eliminated, but saturated fat also was reduced—making for a much healthier food.

For example, a large order of McDonald’s French fries used to have 13 grams of saturated and trans fats, but ended up with only 3.5 grams.  The total amount of trans and saturated fats in Gorton’s Crunchy Golden Fish Sticks declined from 7 grams to 4 grams.  In one of the exceptions, an Entenmann’s frosted doughnut, which started with 5 grams of saturated fat and 5 grams of trans fats, ended up with no trans fat, but 12 grams of saturated fat.

The authors note that some foods, such as pie crusts and pastries, may need a small amount of hard fat, like butter or palm oil, to have a flaky texture.

This study demonstrates that the U.S. food industry has been generally responsible in replacing partially hydrogenated oils with more healthful oils.  That should pave the way for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to eliminate partially hydrogenated oils from the food supply.  The agency could do that quite easily by stating that it no longer considers partially hydrogenated oil to be ‘generally recognized as safe,’ and give companies a year or two to switch to healthier oils.

The Team at i-Supplements.com

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