Trans Fat

[an7222]

Is it moral to eat trans fat?


The trans fats created during hydrogenation are uniquely bad for human health - far worse than the saturated animal fats and saturated tropical oils that many people are scared of. This is because they are unnatural fats, which do not exist in nature: unsaturated fats which mimic saturated fats.
Trans fats confuse the human body and its various metabolic pathways. As a result they end up in the wrong places, doing the wrong thing. And so they send tens of even hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to an early grave every year.
Specifically, dietary trans fats

• raise LDL (Low-Density Lipo-proteins, known as "bad" cholesterol) and lower HDL (High-Density Lipo-proteins, known as "good" cholesterol) levels.
• promote the formation of arterial plaque, leading to circulation problems, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke;
• predispose to cancer, multiple scelerosis, diverticulisis and obesity.
• decrease the response of human cells to insulin, a factor in both adult-onset (type 2) diabetes and obesity. See here for more information.
• when consumed by pregnant women, introduce themselves into the tissues of unborn babies and reduce their birth weight. See here for more information.
• when consumed by breast-feeding mothers, enter into mothers milk, reducing cream levels and the amount of essential fatty acids. See here for more information.
• assimilate into cell membranes to levels as high 20 percent, weakening their structure and protective function.
• weaken the immune system, increasing susceptibtibility to infections.
• inhibit the action of enzymes that destroy toxic and carcinogenic chemicals.
• block the beneficial action of the essential Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.
• reduce the elasticity of blood vessels.
• promote the onset of Alzheimer's disease and accelerate mental decline among elderly people.
• may produce severe allergic and other reactions, with reports of strong hayfever symptoms and yeast infections.

Source: http://www.tfx.org.uk/page20.html

 

[Cheli]

I don't think it's a question of morality. If one is well-informed yet still chooses to consume trans fat then one is not immoral.

If a well informed person knowingly fed it to someone who didn't want it that would be immoral, but that immorality comes from going against somebody's wishes with bad intent rather than from the food iself.


Happy Birthday btw!!

 

[an7222]

Trans fat is a poison

 

[vitodabona]

It is a question of Ethics when companies purposely put such things in their food to make them cheaper/taste better. How many people truly know how bad this stuff is?

 

[an7222]

http://www.bantransfats.com/abouttransfat.html

 

[quatona]

Is it moral to eat trans fat?l

No. People who eat trans fat shall be put to death.

 

[cobaltburrito]

Trans fat is a poison

So is the char on meat.
So is pretty much any fried food.
Water is a poison, in large amounts.

 

[Arnold_Philips]

It is unnatural, so of course it's immoral.

 

[bammertheblue]

Attention! I am about to take this post way too seriously.

The notion that some people think that any food item has a positive or negative morality really bothers me. Assigning moralities to food tends to be a large part of most eating disorders. Food is just food. It does not have intrinsic morality. Some kinds of food are better for you than other kinds, and some kinds taste better than other kinds. It really makes me angry when I read things like "sinful foods" or "evil foods" in magazines (open a women's magazine sometime, this phenomenon is all over).
I know this is just my personal issue and I also know that that's not what the OP meant (I assume). I just had to put in my two cents because this bothered me more than it really should.
Thanks

PS- I did not mean to imply that the OP or anyone else has an eating disorder. I'm recovering from one right now, so that's naturally where my mind goes. Thanks again.

 

[Mling]

Attention! I am about to take this post way too seriously.

The notion that some people think that any food item has a positive or negative morality really bothers me. Assigning moralities to food tends to be a large part of most eating disorders. Food is just food. It does not have intrinsic morality. Some kinds of food are better for you than other kinds, and some kinds taste better than other kinds. It really makes me angry when I read things like "sinful foods" or "evil foods" in magazines (open a women's magazine sometime, this phenomenon is all over).
I know this is just my personal issue and I also know that that's not what the OP meant (I assume). I just had to put in my two cents because this bothered me more than it really should.
Thanks

PS- I did not mean to imply that the OP or anyone else has an eating disorder. I'm recovering from one right now, so that's naturally where my mind goes. Thanks again.

Oh, good point. Gosh, that brings up memories...Thanks to my dad, I grew up actually thinking that foods had intrinsic moral value, and that eating certain foods made you a good or bad person.
The ranking system went:

Olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and dry red wine----most moral of all foods.
Basil--Very, very good.
Torn off chunks of coarse, grainy bread and cheese--quite good.
Very dark chocolate--pretty decent
Ice cream--fairly neutral, if it is natural, "real" ice cream.
Most anything with sugar--going to the dark side
Anything with unnatural additives--evil.
Marshmallows--Carp bait; rivals Pol Pot for evil.

 

[cobaltburrito]

Marshmallows--Carp bait; rivals Pol Pot for evil.

*cough*
*sputter*
*choke*

 

[Yusuf Evans]

Is it immoral? Nope, but our body is the temple that houses the Holy Spirit, so polluting it with such things is bad.

 

[an7222]

New York will finally ban trans fats:

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/09/26/trans.fat.ban.ap/index.html

 

[trunks2k]

The notion that some people think that any food item has a positive or negative morality really bothers me. Assigning moralities to food tends to be a large part of most eating disorders. Food is just food.

I somewhat agree with you, but not entirely. It somewhat of a moral issue when the majority of foods have ingredients that are exceedingly bad for your health, and finding real healthy food either drives up your food budget considerably or considerably limits your options. It can be a real issue with low income families. So there's the moral question of companies pushing the cheap, unhealthy food without trying to manufacture cheap, healthy food.

 

[The Nihilist]

Is it immoral? Nope, but our body is the temple that houses the Holy Spirit, so polluting it with such things is bad.

I'm not sure what this means, exactly. I know the Bible says it, but it's unclear to me what exactly is going to count as polluting the body or keeping it pure. Unless I'm mistaken, Paul makes the remark in the sense of sexual morality. This is even less helpful, because at no point does he outline what he means by sexual morality, which makes it even harder to talk about seriously.
Honestly, though, even when I was a Christian I couldn't understand a single word Paul ever wrote.

 

[Lynden1000]

I somewhat agree with you, but not entirely. It somewhat of a moral issue when the majority of foods have ingredients that are exceedingly bad for your health, and finding real healthy food either drives up your food budget considerably or considerably limits your options. It can be a real issue with low income families. So there's the moral question of companies pushing the cheap, unhealthy food without trying to manufacture cheap, healthy food.

Your point is well taken. On the other hand, dried beans, rice, pasta, whole grain breads, peanut butter and eggs are all cheap, healthy foods that low income families can afford. I suspect the decision to buy twinkies and tortilla chips instead is a matter of choice, not necessity.

 

[shamsweedo]

I don't know if it is immoral but they are trying to make it illegal for restaraunts to serve things with trans fats here in Indy.

 

[trunks2k]

Your point is well taken. On the other hand, dried beans, rice, pasta, whole grain breads, peanut butter and eggs are all cheap, healthy foods that low income families can afford. I suspect the decision to buy twinkies and tortilla chips instead is a matter of choice, not necessity.

Yes, but as I said if you are on a limited budget there is a greatly limited variety of healthy food you are able to buy. Not saying it's impossible, it is possible, but considering our overall food consumption culture, it is pretty limited. We also should consider the ethical issue of how unhealthy foods are advertised, especially towards children. There are way more advertisements for say, a salt and fat laiden frozen dinner, than there are for healthy foods. Even a lot of the stuff labeled as "healthy" aren't very good for you.

(this coming from the boy that spent a week of eating hotpockets and strawberry icecream for dinner)

I really think that a good amount of our unhealthy eating habits comes from our unwillingness to cook our own food. Out of all my friends, I'm one of two or three that actually puts thought into cooking dinner. Most people I know will just nuke a pizza or something. While I'll spend a sunday cooking pot roast, and use the left overs for lunch at work for the next couple days. By cooking my own food, I'm cutting out a ton of crud that is put into foods, i.e. excess salt & fat.

 

[bammertheblue]

Yes, but as I said if you are on a limited budget there is a greatly limited variety of healthy food you are able to buy. Not saying it's impossible, it is possible, but considering our overall food consumption culture, it is pretty limited. We also should consider the ethical issue of how unhealthy foods are advertised, especially towards children. There are way more advertisements for say, a salt and fat laiden frozen dinner, than there are for healthy foods. Even a lot of the stuff labeled as "healthy" aren't very good for you.

I agree that the advertisement of food and education surrounding nutrition in our country is a moral issue. I just meant that french fries and broccoli don't, in and of themselves, have moral characteristics.

Anyway...I just went to the grocery store today and I have to rant about something. WHY is leaner meat (say, ground beef) more expensive than fattier meat? Why is whole grain bread and pasta more expensive than white bread and regular pasta? It can't cost that much more to produce, can it? Grrrr.....

 

[trunks2k]

Anyway...I just went to the grocery store today and I have to rant about something. WHY is leaner meat (say, ground beef) more expensive than fattier meat?

Because lean meat:

1.) Is more desireable, and just a better cut.
2.) There's less of it. To make lean ground meat, you can't put many fatty pieces into it. And there's relatively little non-fatty pieces. So you're usually using pieces from better cuts of meat.

Why is whole grain bread and pasta more expensive than white bread and regular pasta? It can't cost that much more to produce, can it? Grrrr.....

White bread keeps much longer than whole grain. While it may take more effort/money to make white flour, the money saved on how to store it and how long it stays good outwieghs that cost.