Trans fats (or hydrogenated fats) and processed fats are the reason why we have a fat-phobia in our society. Just go and have a look at any supermarket. You can hardly find a product that doesn't have a 'no fat' or 'low fat' version these days - even ice cream!

The reason we want low fat foods is because we want to avoid gaining weight, and all the health problems apparently caused by fat. Unfortunately you've been mis-informed.

There are fats that are very healthy, and actually help you to burn fat. These type of fats are called Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs). EFAs are essential (as the name implies) for your body to work at its optimum. They also actually help you to lose weight, because they ensure that all parts of your body are working smoothly.

The type of fats that most people have though are not EFAs, they are Trans Fats. Trans fats are exactly the type of fats you want to avoid. These fats raise blood cholesterol levels, which is a major risk factor in coronary heart disease. This greatly increas the chances of someone suffering a heart attack or a stroke.

Besides slowing down your efforts to lose weight and increasing your chances of a stroke or heart attack, here are a few more reasons to avoid Trans fats

• Mutates cell membranes
• Poor elimination of waste from your body.
• Promote congestion of toxins in the body
• It has a negative effect on the delicate function of your cells

So you can clearly see that trans fats are not worth their calories in your eating plan.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before I go further, I also want to point out that just as we are in a 'low fat' diet phase, many people are also on a 'low carb diet'. They believe that this is a better solution than the low fat diet. In fact it is not, and you can read more about this in our article on the "Low Carb Diet".

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So where are trans fats found, and what are some examples?

Most food with Trans fats have very little nutritional value, especially if they are fried. They tend to be high in salt, sugar and other chemicals you really need to be careful. All of these ingredients make it that much more difficult for you to lose weight

Here are a few examples:

• French fries
• Biscuits
• Frostings
• Pies
• Pastries
• Frostings
• Doughnuts
• Processed vegetable oils
• Fried foods of any kind
• Chips

I hope you get the idea...

The main thing you want to take out of this article is that not all fats are bad, and you shouldn't avoid all of them. It is the Trans Fats you want to avoid specifically. You should make sure you get enough EFA's, and limit Trans Fats as much as possible in your diet. You need your EFAs to be healthy, so don't miss out on them.