Avoid Hydrogenated Oils in Food 

 What are hydrogenated oils?

 They are types of fats that are used in food manufacturing in order to increase the shelf life of the food, this type of oils are reported to cause many health problems. Hydrogenation means converting of the liquid unsaturated fats into a solid form by adding hydrogen atoms to the unsaturated fatty oils in the presence of an catalyst usually is nickel, this process depends on many factors like temperature, pressure and catalyst type. Usually vegetative oils are used in hydrogenation process to be turned to a solid firm fat at room temperature, this usually gives the manufactured food its specific flavor, preserve the product for a longer time because the attached hydrogen atoms in hydrogenation process keep the newly solidified fat product against spoilage or any other chemical reactions,. so, increase its shelf life and it also not expensive. so, it has economic view especially for pastries, dessert and ghee manufacturers.

Forms of hydrogenated oils:

Hydrogenated oils are found in two forms, partially hydrogenated oils and fully hydrogenated oils. The term of fully saturated hydrogenated oils means that these oil are completely saturated in hydrogen atoms. While, The partially hydrogenated oils is a term which means the hydrogenated oils are not fully saturated in hydrogen atoms and is also known as trans fats which have many public health hazards especially for hypertensive and diabetic patients. 

The U.S. Food and  Drug Administrations (FDA) in 18 June 2018 has banned the addition of trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils)  in food manufacturing as it can increases the risk of heart diseases. Examples of trans fats are those found in any processed food formed from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils as they have the majority of trans fats in their content, they are like cakes, cookies, biscuits, cheese, industrial coffee creamers, any fried food as fried meat, chicken and potatoes, margarine and in a limit amount in butter and meat as they are naturally present in animal products. In addition, heating oils used for frying different foodstuffs at a very high temperature produces trans fats, every time of reusing this oil again for frying, its trans fats content in turn are increasing.

 Is ghee a trans fat?                  

No, ghee do not contains any trans fat, Although the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids in ghee is much lower  than the saturated fatty acids, (as saturated acids in ghee represents about 64%), reports have suggested that not all saturated fats are bad, some is considered very healthy and much better than other types. Ghee  also contains a high content of  healthy fatty acids like omega 3, butyric acids and linoleic acids in addition to its high content of fat soluble vitamins as vitamin D, A, K and E. 

Why Trans fats are very dangerous and can badly affect your health?

1. As it was found that trans fats known as partially hydrogenated oils can increase your bad cholesterol known as (LDL) and decrease your good healthy cholesterol known as (HDL), and this can badly expose you to a high risk of arteriosclerosis as a result of precipitation  of bad cholesterol  within your arteries results in hypertension, heart disease and even coronary heart disease. The American Heart Association has stated that you should obtain only less than 1% of trans fats from the total fats you are obtained from foods daily.

2. Trans fats are reported to increase the risk of  insulin resistance, make obesity, type 2 diabetes especially for pre diabetic patients who have a blood sugar level is higher than normal range but not very high to be diagnosed as diabetic patients.

3. Trans fats can raise your risk of inflammations and incidence of cancers.

Which oils are containing trans fat?

Commercial vegetative oils containing trans fats present in local markets are like canola oil, palm oil, olein oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil safflower oil , cottonseed oil and hydrogenated margarine. Naturally, trans fats come from ruminant animals like cow and sheep,  they are present in a little amount in theses animal products as meat, milk and dairy products as butter and ghee. While in industrial trans fat production, the above mentioned vegetative oils are used in a partial hydrogenation process by attaching hydrogen to these oils up on specific  temperature and pressure in order to be turned from liquid state to solid state.

Are Fully hydrogenated oils more safer than partially hydrogenated oils?

 Fully hydrogenated oils are more safer from partially hydrogenated oils in only one point that they do not produce trans fats as they are fully  saturated, totally solid and stable at room temperature. so, it considered less dangerous than partially hydrogenated oils. However, they are not healthy for human and still a very dangerous risk for frequent heart diseases and body inflammations. 

How to know the non hydrogenated oils to buy in hypermarkets?

1. You have to read the label stick on the oil bottles, read the ingredients present well and check the term hydrogenated, like hydrogenated canola oil , hydrogenated palm oil, all these terms indicates that these oils are hydrogenated and contain trans fats. so, they should be avoided. Not only oil bottles, you have to check also the ingredients of any packaged processed food to find the term partially hydrogenated oils and avoid trans fat. 

2. Try to a buy a high quality oil types that are often known and has its specific trade name.

3. Use the healthy non hydrogenated vegetative oils for cooking like extra virgin olive, coconut , sun flower ,corn , soybean , sesame, flaxseed and peanut oil. They are all very healthy and do not contain detectable levels of trans fats. they are cholesterol free, having a low levels of saturated fats and a high levels of mono unsaturated fatty acids.

4. Use avocado oil for frying because it high in oleic acids, In addition to its high contents of omega 3 and omega 9 fatty acids, these unsaturated fatty acids are seemed to decrease the risk of heart diseases and cholesterol. Also, canola, sunflower and peanuts are examples for a very suitable oils for frying but they are too expensive like avocado. However, there are many kind of these oils that are of a lower price and quality than others, but you have to choose those that are of a higher quality regardless their price or to investigate other healthy vegetative oils of much lower price like corn oil.  It is often used as a cheap oil type suitable for frying.

How to avoid hydrogenated oils & trans fats in our daily diet?

 1.Avoid eating processed foods like cakes, biscuits and cookies that are having a high contents of trans fats.

2. Avoid fried foods as much as possible especially the packaged one.

3. Eat more healthy types of cheese like quraish, cheddar, feta and swiss cheese in stead of other types of  hydrogenated cheeses that have a high contents of trans fat.

4. Add more vegetables, fruits, green leaves and grains in to your daily diet as they are all trans fat free.

5. Cook using natural butter and ghee as they have a limited amount of natural trans fat. However, avoid excessive using of them to avoid the risk of incidence of heart diseases and avoid using hydrogenated margarine at all as it contains a very high contents of trans fat that causes malignancies.

6. Avoid  frequent adding of industrial coffee creamers to your daily hot drinks.