If you can't identify them, it's hard to cut processed foods out of your diet. And although most people know processed foods are bad for them, it's often unclear what makes them so dangerous to a person's health.
Remember - processed foods are foods that have been altered from their natural state.
Have you ever wondered why a pre-packaged food stays fresh for months, when the same food made from scratch grows moldy in just days? It's because food manufacturers use man-made ingredients that prolong a product's shelf life. Unfortunately, they may have the opposite effect on peoples' health.
Physician to Patients: Trans Fats Will Kill You
For instance, trans fats are oils infused with hydrogen. They raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol. Dr. Michael Aziz, author of the book, The Perfect 10 Diet, doesn't mince words when he tells his patients trans fats will kill them.
"Trans fats are really like plastic," he said, "and when we eat them they incorporate in our cells and the cells cannot communicate or talk to one another. In turn, hormones are disturbed, weight gain follows but more troubling, the risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke, infertility goes up."
Trans fats are commonly found in commercially fried food and packaged foods, especially baked goods. But you won't see the phrase, "trans fat" in the list of ingredients. Instead, look for the word, "hydrogenated." And beware of labels claiming no trans fats. They're often still in there, because the Food and Drug Administation allows food with up to a half-gram of trans fat per serving to be labeled "trans fat free." The problem is, those servings can be small so we eat many servings, and those half-grams add-up.
Source: Lorie Johnson, CBN News
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