I was just looking at a bad of "Sunchips" that I bought, and on the front it says "0 trans fat".. Then I flip the bag over the read the nutritional info, and under the catagory "Saturated fats" it says "6" percent, and 1 gram!
I think this bag is deceptful... so ya whats the diff between saturated and trans fats?
2007-12-11 08:21:52 · 7 answers · asked by nameless 2 in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
They have a slightly different molecular structure, the trans fat has a double bond near the middle. It is nearly the same in nutritional numbers, but very different in the affect on the body. Its been shown that lower trans fats can greatly improve your health.
2007-12-11 08:25:05 · answer #1 · answered by Steve C 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Saturated fats are those that usually come from animal sources or certain plants. The idea is if it's solid at room temperature, then it's a saturated fat. These are unhealthy fats and can lead to heart disease.
Unsaturated fats are those that come from plant sources and are liquid at room temperature. Most of these are good for you and some like olive oil are great for your heart.
Trans fats are when they take an unsaturated fat and turn it into a saturated fat. An example is margarine or vegetable shortening. These are even worse than saturated fats because they don't break down in the body.
Now when it comes to labels, by law if the serving size contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fats it can be listed as being "trans fat free".
2007-12-11 16:31:37 · answer #2 · answered by JavaJoe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Saturated fats in excess are converted to "bad" cholesterol and lead to artery clogging.
Trans fats are not only converted to "bad" cholesterol, they also decrease the levels of "good" cholesterol.
The recommendation is that you don't consume more than X grams of saturated fat per day, and that you don't eat any trans fat. Sunchips have fiber, and that helps the body get rid of saturated fats.
2007-12-11 16:33:47 · answer #3 · answered by Zentraed 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Trans fat is very harmful because it raises the bad cholesterol in your blood meanwhile lowering your good cholesterol. This paves the road to heart disease. You should not have more than 1% trans fat in your daily diet.
Saturated fat is not as harmful as trans fat, but you should not have more than 7% of it in your daily diet. It is believed that Trans fat is twice as harmful as saturated fat and the fact that trans lowers the HDL (good cholesterol) in your blood makes it very harmful. I think saturated fat only raises the LDL (bad cholesterol) in your blood, but does not lower the HDL.
You have to be wary of labels that say "0 Trans fat". Legally companies are allowed to put 0 on the label if the trans fat content is less than .5%
So just because it says 0 doesnt mean it is always 0.
2007-12-11 16:32:41 · answer #4 · answered by NAQ 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
from a nutrition standpoint I would stay away from both. if you had to ingest one then saturated would be better than trans. trans fat refers to hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. simply put they turn mono and polyunsaturated fats like corn, sunflower, olive, etc. and add hydrogen atoms to them to make the fatty acid chains more straight. saturated fats will clog your arteries quicker than unsaturated fats. i don't think one bag of sunchips are going to hurt you.
2007-12-11 16:28:40 · answer #5 · answered by chaz 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Well....
Saturated fat- Is solid at room temperature
Trans Fat- Increases its "Shelve Life" (can keep it on the shelves longer)
But you should go for unsaturated fat... its better 4 u
2007-12-11 16:27:08 · answer #6 · answered by ~Chrissy~ 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
they are both bad for you. trans fat is partially hydrogenated oils. i dont feel like explaining that cause its rather complex. research it. its horrible for you. but honestly, if your worried about your health STOP EATING CHIPS! they are horrible for you regardless if they contain trans fat or not!
2007-12-11 16:25:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 5⤋