It's hard to find good peanut butter here in Mexico. When we were in the US last spring, we got some Smuckers natural peanut butter, which I believe had only peanuts and salt. That said, when we were in Canada I bought one that only had peanuts and maybe salt, and the Smuckers one was significantly more spreadable.
But I digress.
Someone here mentioned that she had seen some pb targeted at diabetics and that it only had a couple of ingredients. So I picked some up. I was pleased to see that it only had two ingredients. And it tastes good. But the second ingredient, behind peanuts, is a bunch of hydrogenated oils. I can never remember which ones are the good ones, so I looked it up. Now, I've only read one article so far and I'm sure there's much more to learn about this, but I am frightened. The author likened the consumption of hydrogenated oils to cigarette smoking- won't kill you right away, but it will eventually. And make you fat in the process.
"In short, trans fats are poisons, just like arsenic or cyanide. They interfere with the metabolic processes of life by taking the place of a natural substance that performs a critical function. And that is the definition of a poison." http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/PartiallyHydrogenatedOils.html
Most of our meals consist of foods in as close to their natural state as possible (as much as we can in this world of GM, hormone- and antibiotic- infused). However we have serious snacking weaknesses. Andrew- chips. Dana- chocolate. Both- gummies. And our kids have inherited our love of all things snack. It's scary! It's hard to find "good" packaged foods here! But organic is making headway in the grocery stores. And I think that one of two extremes must be in effect with regard to the meat, poultry and produce here in Mexico. On the one hand, I think it's entirely possible that the farmers here don't have the financial resources for lots of chemicals and drugs and therefore domestic food is safer. On the other hand, it seems like Mexicans love their chemicals- for sure in the domestic and janitorial spheres. My cleaning lady still shakes her head while she's using my microfibre cloths with only water to clean even the dirtiest surface. Andrew kind of misses the "clean smell", but I can't even walk past the detergent aisle in the grocery store without getting a headache anymore.
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Well I might argue that the one article you read about trans fats was slightly blown out of proportion. Trans fat is not a poison "just like arsenic or cyanide." If it were just like arsenic or cyanide each of us who grew up eating PB as a child would not have lived long enough to finish our first peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, trans fats should be avoided. Trans fats are chemically altered unsaturated (plant-based) fats. The process of hydrogenation essentiall turns them into a saturated fat and makes them have a longer shelf-life (thus the widespread use in packaged foods). Hydrogenation turned vegetable oils into margarine (& shortening) and for decades margarine was seen as superior compared to butter because butter has cholesterol (because it's animal-based) while vegetable oils are cholesterol-free.
For years and years, people who cared about natural foods avoided products with "partially hydrogenated (soybean) oil" for example without really knowing what, if any harmful effects it had on health. Well at the beginning of the 21st century there began to grow a body of research on these ubiquitous chemically-altered fats. (Now we've known for a long time that saturated fat [butter, red meats, whole dairy] in amounts greater than 10% of total calories is bad for your health, and your heart especially because saturated fats have been shown to raise total cholesterol levels, namely the "bad" cholesterol levels in the blood. This has caused us to name saturated fats as "the worst.") The body of research we have now not only showns trans fats doing the same as saturated fat (raising total cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels) but it also lowers the "good" cholesterol. That's a triple whamy! Because of this, trans fats has been shown to cause more of an increase in heart disease risk than saturated fats do, making saturated fat only a SLIGHTLY better choice.
In 2003 the USDA began requiring trans fat amounts to be listed on nutrition facts labels in the US. Since then, American manufactures have been forced to not only list it but to eliminate it all together from their products since the consumer is getting the message that it's bad. It seems since then other countries have followed suit. There are even some states in the US that are banning its use alltogether and there is a trend that will likely make their use a thing of the past, like in Canada where it apparantly is banned.
Yes, trans fats are the worst and should be eliminated. But we must not forget that saturated fats are only slightly better and need to be eaten in moderate amounts. The general recommendation is and has been that total fat should be limited to less than 30% of total calories, with saturated fats making up 10% or less of our total calories. That means for a 2000 calorie (average diet) we should be eating maximum 65 grams of fat (any kind) per day, with only 20 of those grams coming from saturated sources.
The majority of our fats should come from unsaturated forms which are generally plant-based (with the exeption of coconut and palm oils which are plant-based but are high in saturated fat). Unsaturated fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) have been shown to raise good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol, thereby improving the cholesterol ratio, decreasing risk of heart disease and actually providing some benefit to the heart. Unsaturated fats are found in nuts, seeds, fish, & non-hydrogenated vegetable oils (canola and extra virgin olive oil being the best). These are what we should be focusing on while limiting saturated fat as much as possible and eliminating trans fat completely.
Now I haven't been able to find a good peanut butter in the Philippines yet either. I was so excited the other day b/c I found a "natural" one. Well since it's still really smooth and creamy I am suspicious. I know true natural PB and the oil separates making the PB on the bottom of the jar the hardest to dig out (andrey hates it for that reason b/c i used to just give up when it got to the bottom and open a new jar leaving andrey to do the digging. ha ha). Anyway, the other thing i am frustrated about here is that i can't find any PB that isn't sweetened. If i did find natural with no trans fat, it seems my only option is with added sugar. I don't like sweet PB! or at least not that sweet! ick! it's just like everything else here. the mayo is sweet, the PB is sweet, the "hot sauce" is sweet, the spaghetti sauce is sweet. ick again!
I would also just like to comment on the fact that when I pull up your blog it is finally devoid of the Thai language! Now I know which buttons I'm pushing when I want to leave a comment and I don't have to rack my brain trying to read Thai.
I guess this turned out to be a little more than a comment. jeesh...
Hey! Canada just banned trans fats in food recently...can't remember exactly when...but they are dangerous enough that they made the news over and over for awhile. Def. scary.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't bank on local farmers not being able to afford chemicles...the most dangerous fertilizers and pesticides are cheaper than natural compost...I remember in Thailand the local farmers used pesticides on to be sold locally foods that wouldn't pass inspection for export to any other country...
Wash well.
Buy organic when you can.
For snacks, I recently discovered a brand of organic 'apple chips' that I really like, where the only ingredients are dried apples and cinnamon, both organic. You could make your own (most dried fruits in the store have sulfides). It won't replace chips or chocolate, but it may add a healthy snack into your repertoire to reduce the unhealthy ones.
It's not about elimination, but rather about reduction! Reduction is more realistic, and more attainable. Except with trans fats! Lol!