Obesity

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152.   TFAs have been implicated as causative or exacerbating factors for a multiplicity of lifestyle diseases including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, obesity, diabetes, immune problems etc. etc. TFAs can cause you to gain weight as they interfere with the metabolism and breakdown of EFAs. It is a pity that extremely harmful foods loaded with TFAs are aggressively marketed with eye-catching and misleading labels, such as cholesterol free, low fat, low in saturated fat, light, sugar free, 100% natural, no animal fat etc.

153.   More alarmingly, children consuming higher amounts of TFAs in the junk diets may be increasingly likely to develop allergic diseases such as asthma, hay fever and eczema, according to a study published in the medical journal “Allergy”. Yet, despite the danger, it is a Herculean task especially for younger people – whose new age nutritional regimes are rapidly being Americanised – to avoid TFAs, since a great number of processed, refined junk foods contain them. As a thumb rule, 5 grams of TFAs a day will raise the risk of heart attack by 25%. Be warned! A portion of fast food French fries contains 6.8 grams of TFAs!

154.   We should totally refrain from consuming foods containing TFAs which produce harmful free radicals. We should consume other fats in moderation and less of SFAs & more of MUFAs & PUFAs. But remember, if you eat too much fat of any kind, you can ruin your chances of ditching the extra baggage. One gram of fat has 9 calories, no matter what the source. Some naturo-food therapists believe that no “visible” fat (animal or plant-based) is necessary if you eat a variety of wholegrains, fruits and vegetables, beans, pulses and non-fat dairy products and you will get more than enough “invisible” fat to satisfy your body’s need for EFAs. For example, chick peas contain 4.5% oil. Even onions and celery contain some fat.

155.   To stay healthy, eat the whole foods, not its oil; corn not corn oil; olives rather than olive oil; soyabean products instead of soyabean oil. As a bonus, when you eat the whole food, you get all the vitamins, minerals, fibre and phytochemicals that Nature pairs with the “good” fats.