What is the difference between saturated and trans fats? I know trans is worse but just exactly how? Thanks.

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franfrog

Saturated fats are "natural" fats occurring in meats, seafood, and some veggies.

Trans fats OTOH are man-made by hydrogenating liquid oils to make them more shelf-stable and able to withstand high heats. They are BAD BAD BAD for you! I avoid any products which say "partially hydrogenated", "hydrogenated", or "fractionated" - they are all trans fats!

Char

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Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

Couldn't have said it better Char!

I also avoid transfats like the plague.

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>^..^<
Esther

But what vegetables have saturated fats? (Assuming they're not battered and deep fried, of course!)

Sky

Sky, veggies have very little fats at all to the point that I wouldn't even think about it.

1 cup chopped broccoli = .33 grams fat
1 cup chopped asparagus = .16 grams fat
1 cup chopped mushrooms = .25 grams fat

Also, what's the problem with saturated fats? As long as we're talking about the natural, healthy kind (such as beef, chicken, coconut oil, etc) and you get a good amount of other healthy oils such as olive, walnut, peanut, etc, why worry about it?

It's good for you, your body needs a certain amount of saturated fats because they are stronger for building cell walls than polys or monos. Don't deprive your body of what it needs

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It is always necessary to leave some part
of cooking to improvisation. - Paul Bocuse
Member since 2001

Here is a cool link about hydrogenated oils originally posted by BC. Very informative.

http://www.treelight.com/health/Part...natedOils.html

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211/165/170

So called "Good" saturated fats are found in avocados and raw nuts, as well as coconut oil. Also recent studies have shown that the saturated fats in meats are fine when NOT taken in conjunction with refined carbohydrates, which some studies show is what actually causes atherosclerosis - it's thought that the refined carbs (i.e., sugar, white flour et al.) cause the fats to "stick together" and clog arteries.

Char

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Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

Thanks all. Needed the information. Was getting mixed up.

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franfrog

Thanks, Gregg, that is very informative.

Your welcome scott! I'm glad you found it interesting.

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keep on keepin on

211/165/170

Thanks Gregg! You sure found the link quicker than I could have, LOL! Gotta clean out my "Favorites" links one a these days!


Here's another interesting link which actually gives the definitions (why saturated fats are called "saturated" and so forth---scroll down some if you arent' interested in the rest of the info.......

http://www.westonaprice.org/know_your_fats/skinny.html

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BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108