I’ve always said that no diet is worth its salt (pun intended) if one cannot do a U-turn, that is to say stick to the diet, but occasionally reward yourself by slipping off the rails, but then climb back on. “Occasionally.” Have a donut, buy a pizza, drink some beer. The formal diet should be your usual fair, but it should also make you feel good, both physically and spiritually, that is to say feel good about what it’s doing to you, which should be making you feel and act healthy, or at least healthier. Once the rails have been slipped, a person should actually desire doing the U-turn back to the diet, whatever that may be, because of the overall sensation of wellness.

Trans fats are not cumulative, but the damage is. These hydrocarbon chains will eventually pass through the system and out. While there, however, they will up your cholesterol. What doctors generally measure is “flowing” cholesterol, not the damage already done, that being the plaque buildup inside arteries, inside the heart, and the number of destroyed capillaries, many of which are located in the liver and kidneys, and the horror stories are all over the web. The physical damage can be measured, but it’s a very intense procedure and takes time to compile.

Trans Fats: The Science and the Risks
This man-made fat was developed to protect us against butter. Turns out, it acts like butter inside our bodies.

Denise Mann | freelance health writer

Reviewer Louise Chang, MD | webmd.com

What exactly are trans fats? How are they made? How bad are they, really? And just how solid is the science that the FDA consulted when they voted to list trans fats on nutrition labels? To get to the bottom of these and other questions about trans fats, WebMD spoke to leading nutritionists.

Trans fat

wikipedia.org

Health risks
Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils have been an increasingly significant part of the human diet for about 100 years (in particular, since the later half of the 20th century and where more processed foods are consumed), and some deleterious effects of trans fat consumption are scientifically accepted, forming the basis of the health guidelines discussed above.

Not just the heart, trans fats damage other organs too

18-11-2013 | Sharadha Kalyanam | BANGALORE

Even if a packet of chips, flavored bread, preserved food mixes for dosas, idlis or traditional sweets say ‘Zero trans fats’ in bold letters or under the label ‘Nutrition Facts’, it is just a marketing gimmick, Dr Manjari Chandra, chief consultant, Nutritionists Republic said.

“Most of these foods are manufactured in machines in large food processing units. Even if normal oil is used for frying, TFAs are automatically produced when the oil is heated to temperatures of around 400 degrees Celsius in certain conditions,” she said.

“A ‘safe quantity’ of trans fat does not exist as it does not have any beneficial effects. The lesser of it we consume, the better,” she said.

Please do note that low-density lipoprotein LDL = bad cholesterol, whereas high-density lipoprotein HDL = good cholesterol, and trans-fats are simply bad cholesterol, through and through.

If you simply must go to the Shack, ask them about their reputed trans fat issues, and don’t be afraid to ask if they could fix you a good HDL meal. For a place that caters food, this should not be a huge problem.

Restaurants’ trans fat bans may have positive health effects

2-11-2012 | Alan J. Liddle | Managing Editor, Special Projects Nation’s Restaurant News

Reductions in restaurants’ use of trans fats may have played a role in declining levels of the fats in the blood of white American adults between 2000 and 2009, a Centers for Disease Control study found Wednesday.

The level of trans fats in those who participated in the study fell 58 percent from 2000–2009, a time period in which many restaurant companies reduced their use of oils that contained man-made trans fats.

Cheers.

Bottom line is the effect cumulative or is it just deadly?