Frequent consumption of high-fat trans foods, such as baked goods and confectionery such as cakes, sweets, cookies, ice creams, packaged snacks and many processed foods such as burgers, can increase bad cholesterol.
This hydrogenated fat is added to processed foods because it is an economical way to increase shelf life.
The following table shows the amount of trans fats in some foods
Natural, organic or underprocessed foods, such as cereals, Brazil nuts and peanuts, contain healthy fats and can be consumed more regularly.
The maximum amount of trans fats that can be consumed per day, considering a 2000 kcal diet, but ideally consume as little as possible. To know how much of this fat in an industrialized food, you have to look at the label.
Even if the label says zero trans fats or no trans fats, you can still ingest this type of fat. Words such as partially hydrogenated vegetable fat or hydrogenated fat should also be searched in the list of label ingredients, and the food may be suspected to contain trans fats when there are: vegetable fat or margarine.
However, when a product contains less than 0.2 g of trans fats per portion, the manufacturer can label 0 g of trans fats. For example, for a portion of stuffed biscuit, 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 fats.
Watch this video for what you should check on the processed foods label to be healthier:
Trans fats are harmful to health because they cause damage such as increased bad cholesterol (LDL) and decreased good cholesterol (HDL), which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. In addition, this type of fat is also linked to an increased risk of infertility, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer. If this is your case, here’s how to lower bad cholesterol.
Saturated fats are also harmful fats, but unlike trans fats, they are easily found in products such as fatty meats, bacon, sausages, sausages and milk and dairy products. Consumption of saturated fats should also be avoided, but the intake limit for these fats is above the limit given for trans fats, i.e. approximately 22 g/day for a 2000 kcal diet. Learn more about saturated fats.