For the past several months, my mom has been saying things about the dangers of a substance called trans fatty acids. She is not only a registered nurse, but also stays current on the latest health trends in medical science (her knowledge is usually a few years ahead of most mainstream medical standards). So generally, when she says something about health-related subjects, it ends up being right. Despite this, I have usually ignored her most of the time because I don't like being told how unhealthy everything I do or eat is going to make me. But last night, curious after having heard a few bits and pieces about this particular subject from other sources, I read one of her little books.

It was a tiny little paperback titled, Trans Fats: The Hidden Killer In Our Food, by Judith Shaw. I shall now present my own version of cliff notes.

The first section of the book almost reads like a plot from an episode of The X Files. It describes how an entire population has been the subject of a massive experiment over the past 50+ years. The experiment involves feeding everyone a substance whose real effects were largely unknown and unresearched, adding it so many processed foods that it became virtually unavoidable to unsuspecting consumers, and marketing it as a "healthy alternative" to saturated meat fats and butter.

During the 70's, several questioning scientists began to discover some of the very harmful effects of the substance, but their findings were squelched or ignored by a government that didn't want to admit its mistakes, a food industry that had grown addicted to a cheap and easy way to prolong the shelf life of its products, and a medical industry that was more interested in dispensing prescription pills and surgeries than focusing on prevention.

The substance in question is a commonly found ingredent usually listed as "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil", or sometimes "vegetable shortening", or occassionally "margarine.". Consumers can find it in its the purest form under the brand name Crisco.

The fact that it bears absolutely no nutritional value is the least of its problems. Trans fatty acids, which exist in every "partially hydrogenated" oil, disguise themselves as normal healthy fats in a form indistinguishable to the human body. They bond to cells, and actually work to prevent any subsequently consumed healthy fats from being processed normally. It is now undisputed (but still not widely talked about) that these trans fats are a root cause of heart troubles, Type II diabetes, and chronic obesity. Links to other maladies such as cancer are still being researched.

The process by which they are created is as follows: Natural vegetable oil is squeezed from corn, soybeans, or other plants. In this form, it exists as a liquid. To convert it into the partially hydrogenated stuff, bleach is added, usually along with a small amout of metal such as nickel. The oil is then heated under pressure to a ridiculously high temperature, and infused with hydrogen gas. When it cools, the resulting product is a soft, white, flavorless solid. It has the advantage of not spoiling nearly as easily as a natural oil, and is dense enough that it can be substituted in cases where meat fats such as lard would otherwise have been used prior to its invention.

It is estimated that over 40% of products in the average grocery store contain it in some form. This despite the fact that a prominent medical institution (whose exact title I don't have with me) has stated that it should be considered so dangerous that, "no amount can be considered safe.".

Its effects take years to notice, but any damage done is irreversable once it is consumed.

Here's the paragraph that blew my mind, from page 48:

Arteries have three layers. The innermost endothelium layer comes into direct contact with the blood flowing through the vessel. When an arterial lesion in the endotholium layer is formed (caused by a large range of events that include an excess of carbon monoxide in the blood from cigarette smoking, TFAs [Trans Fatty Acids], and clotted or thickened blood), cholesterol, a natural healer, rushes in to repair the damage. Because of the weakness of the artery or its sabotage by alien substances, lesions frequently re-occur. Once again cholesterol rushes to the site to make repairs. Successive repairs cause a narrowing of the arteries: Layer after layer of cholesterol is built up.

For most of my life, I have been hearing that cholesterol is the cause of heart attacks, due to the build-up process just described. "Lower your cholesterol by eating margerine instead of butter, and you'll be better off," they claimed. The realization that cholesterol is actually there to help repair damage done by foreign agents, I found astounding.

So here's the scoop. For the past month and a half, I've been generally avoiding high fructose corn syrup in any significant quantity. Ever since I learned on a very visceral level how nasty the stuff really is, the thought of gulping it down made me feel nauseated. That doesn't mean I've gone on a puritanical purge -- I have, on several occassions, eaten some candy or other stuff that contained it. But now that I know what a bunch of shit it is, an aversion has been formed, and not even a million images of Britney Spears smiling while holding a Pepsi can are going to change what I know.

I'm now putting myself into the same mode for anything containing "partially hydrogenated" ingredients. I know it's not safe, so I'll find something else. As the book says, it's not so hard once you realize that since the substance itself is tasteless, you can usually find an equivilant of just about every type of product. It just takes a little looking.

Today when I was at the grocery store looking for lunch, I bought some chips. It took looking on the backs of several bags before I found one that had just "vegetable oil" without the words "partially hydrogenated" prepended. In this case, I didn't even have to go to the more expensive "health foods" aisle, or pay any more money. Just buy a brand with which I was not familiar. There is no difference in flavor.

I don't expect any readers to suddenly start doing what I'm doing any more than I did when my mom first started talking about this to me. But I am putting it out there, because I think it's interesting, and because it's part of my life. I do not want to subsist on poison. The fact that it is widely advertised, sold and consumed by millions as "food" does not alter my stance.

Anyway, I'm WAY late for meditation class. Signing off...