The Dallas News has a story reporting that while trans fat “has become the new fall guy for bad nutrition,” the national obsession with trans fat elimination means that many people are not concerning themselves with saturated fat, which isn’t very healthy, either.
“The irony: Americans eat about five times more saturated fat than trans fat,” the News reports. “And while gram-for-gram, trans fat is considered somewhat more harmful than its cousin, too much of either greatly increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other ailments.”
And so, the American Heart Association “is beginning a major campaign to teach consumers about the different fats and how to tell what foods they're in…Federal guidelines say between 25 percent and 35 percent of total daily calories should come from fats, but the bad fats should make up only a fraction of that. The heart association says less than 7 percent of total calories should be saturated fat – the average American gets about 11 percent now. Trans fat should be less than 1 percent of calories, half today's average.”
“The irony: Americans eat about five times more saturated fat than trans fat,” the News reports. “And while gram-for-gram, trans fat is considered somewhat more harmful than its cousin, too much of either greatly increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other ailments.”
And so, the American Heart Association “is beginning a major campaign to teach consumers about the different fats and how to tell what foods they're in…Federal guidelines say between 25 percent and 35 percent of total daily calories should come from fats, but the bad fats should make up only a fraction of that. The heart association says less than 7 percent of total calories should be saturated fat – the average American gets about 11 percent now. Trans fat should be less than 1 percent of calories, half today's average.”
- KC's View:
