Glad to know you’re our Internet MD while we’re waiting for the weekend to get our fix of Dr. Dean Edell. I’m always playing freelance advice nurse for my friends, so maybe we should set up a practice. (I specialize in sports injuries with a focus on running with severely blistered feet.)

Runnerg -
LDL/bad cholesterol sticks to the arteries, causes clogs and leads to heart disease/hypertension

HDL/good cholesterol has the opposite effect, removing gunk and transporting it to the liver, where it is processed into fuel.

Basically, you want a diet higher in mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats. These occur in vegetables and plants in a higher ratio, although foods like avocados and peanuts are pretty high in saturated fats..

You want a diet lower in saturated fat. These occur in animals in a higher ratio.

Of course, in general, you want a diet low in ALL fats because protein and sugars have 6 calories/gram, while fats have 9 calories/gram.

I am not a doctor, but I play one on the Internet.

I remember when we used to wince at the thought of lard even existing, because we were brought up in post-1950’s america when we were taught to beleive that the new, space-age technology was healthier and more normal, and that using lard was uncouth and primitive. It’s something that communists and people who live in countries like Mexico eat. It’s not for us, though.

Then I ate things that had been prepared with Lard. My God. Lard. You know what, I’d be okay with us having lost World War One and living in an autocratic empire controlled by an out-of-touch German Monarchy if we could have more lard.

I’m guessing here, but I’m going to speculate that lard is no worse for you than transfats, other than perhaps it creates a higher risk of cardioascular problems. Sure, nothing to blow your nose at, but well…LARD IS SO GOOD!

Stickie - great post! True, transfats were introduced for economic reasons. Now they are being banned for the same reasons. If the health consequences weren’t so expensive and largely hitting a demographic without insurance…

This is NOT a “flavor of the week” diet recommendation. It is NOT like those lame studies that come out every so often that tell us Mexican food and Chinese food are high in sodium and fat.

This is the first time the FDA has required adding new nutritional information to food labels since 1992 when the labels were expanded to basic per serving nutrition information.

The bottom line is that trans fats SIGNIFICANTLY raise your bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol. If you don’t know what the difference is between these two things, you need to take some responsibility in protecting your own health. (Sure, I know how to use and AED and just got my recertification on the new CPR standards, but I don’t want to have to use these skills.)

You might say that it’s your body, and when it’s your time to go it’s your time to go. Blah blah blah. I don’t want to hear about it. Get off your duff, get your blood moving, and eat some fresh quality food that’s not fried or drowning in sauces. You will feel so much better if you don’t eat as much processed food and get exercise most days of the week — it doesn’t take much effort, and it will greatly improve your quality of life.

One of my non-profits recently had a PhD nutritional science researcher from UC Davis come speak to us about diet and its affect on your body. I went into the training session thinking I already knew everything she was about to say, but I learned so much more about trans fats, and it scared the heck out of me.

All the top medical institutions are coming out against transfats. Please at least inform yourselves on how bad this stuff really is for you. Here is some basic info in case you don’t know all the facts:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/reviews/transfats.html

my new favorite bill is sharon runner’s increase on the jail sentence for necrophilia. because that extra 18 months of jail time is going to discourage the corpse fuckers.

ps… 100% in favor of the trans fat ban.
#1 I don’t want to eat them, yet i don’t want to ask every fucking cook in town “are there trans fats in this? are there trans fats in this?” ‘Cause the servers sure as hell aren’t going to know.

#2 They are really, really, really bad for you. Read the research.

#3 They are TOTALLY unecessary. They are a recent invention and we ate fine before they came along. Have you tried any foods that used to have the trans fats and now do not? Can you even tell the difference? Their main purpose is to extend shelf life on processed foods. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!

#4 See the seat belts and cigarette filters arguments.

#5 If you really want to eat junk food, or eat what you consider to be “yummy” food, the trans fat ban is not going to stop you.

#6 Really, they are really bad for you. Dieticians say that butter, duck liver and sugar are all OK in moderation but there is NO acceptable dietary level of trans fat and it serves absolutely no legitimate nutrirional value.

(p.s. that was sarcastic. my response to amrit was not, though)

Okay..I can see why transfats should be limited in grade school cafeteria’s…maybe banned. I don’t like the word Ban (but love secret).

I’ll take that pill Sac-eats!

You will be able to eat 14 big macs a day and not gain a pound. However, you will be sitting on the toilet for two hours per day shitting out red-hot liquid magma and suffer from blinding headaches almost everyday, but it’ll be worth it America. Obesity will be a thing of the past and just like every other problem in this country, we’ll have found a pill to beat it.