What’s Hiding In Your Fat Free Foods
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The fat-free “light” or “diet” food that looks like a great addition to your nutrition may come with a rather large dose of Olestra, depleting your body of important nutrients it needs to function.
The Lure Of “Fat Free”
So you are strolling through the supermarket in search of something healthy to snack on. All of a sudden what catches your eye is a bag of your favorite potato chips brand and right on the front of the bag, with gigantic letters it reads ” Light”. You grab the bag and look at the fat content (what most people do when they are looking for a healthy snack ).
As your eyes are scrolling the nutrition facts, you notice that these chips have a zero fat content. And then right next to it, you also notice a sign: ” Same great taste but with half the calories and zero fat “. This is perfect, you think, and then you proceed to go home and finish the whole bag of chips.
The potato chips are just an example – have you ever wondered how these chips or other zero fat content foods are made? I know I have, because the first time I saw a bag of chips or cookies and they were fat-free I automatically thought about a saying: “There is no such thing as a free lunch “.
How Do They Make This Magic Food?
This is the question I asked myself the first time I saw a fat-free food. All you have to do is to look at the ingredients, and most likely you are going to find an ingredient called “Olean” or “Olestra”. Olestra is a non-fat cooking oil that is made by chemically combining sugar with the fatty acids obtained from vegetable oils. To be honest, the only thing I truly noticed in the above sentence is ” Chemically combining sugar “. You can stop right there for me and I will say – no thank you! But some people need a lot more information to truly understand what it is they are eating, and that’s why I will be going into further detail on why you should avoid eating foods containing Olestra or at least cut down on it.
Olestra has a structure of about 8 chains of molecules, where regular fat has only 3. This makes Olestra indigestible by the body, pretty much like eating paper: your body has no way to digest it, so it just passes through your system unchanged. This may sound like a great idea, but in reality what it does is deprive your body of nutrients such as fat soluble vitamins.
Nutrients Get Depleted
When we eat regular fat, many important nutrients in order to be absorbed have to attach themselves to fat. If we are eating fat that cannot be absorbed by the body, the vitamins will still attach themselves to it, but your system is not going to get any of them.
I think in our modern way of eating, we cannot afford not to absorb any nutrients. Most people I know are not exactly health nuts, so if you are not getting enough nutrients from your food, and the little that you do eat get’s carried away by indigestible fat, then you have nothing left. If you are eating foods made with Olestra on a regular basis you may soon discover that your immune system is failing and may begin getting colds a lot faster than you normally would. When this happens and the body is not getting enough nutrients it will have a tough time healing or repairing itself.
Get Something Healthy, Not Fat-Free
Other side effects of Olestra include vomiting and loose stools, but I think these are very small in comparison of vitamin depletion and an immune system failure. Well, unless you are on a date.
Next time you are strolling through the supermarket looking for a healthy snack, I would recommend getting something low-fat with wholesome ingredients instead of something fat-free.
Picture courtesy of Erich Ferdinand.
27 Comments
It’s a food for thought. thank you.
always,
dmitry
:), yes it is Dmitry. Don’t have any Olestra if you are planning to go on a date.
” If you are eating foods made with Olestra on a regular basis you may soon discover that your immune system is failing and may begin getting colds a lot faster than you normally would.”
Prove there is a link between Olestra consumption and frequency of colds. This is a strange statement.
Judging by the fact that all of our bodily systems are interconnected. If your digestive system is suffering, then it is going to effect every other system in your body including your immune system.
To me it’s strange that you didn’t know that.
So what you’re saying is, if I’m constipated it will affect my ability to do math?
Any system faltering will affect ANY other system in ANY possible way? Just because our bodies are “interconnected”?? What a joke.
I’ll inform the press. eating sugar free cookies will increase your risk of colds. No scientific methodology or study necessary. Its because everything is interconnected! DUH!!
If you can do math while constipated, more power to you! Obviously you’ve already attempted that so I am not going argue about it.
The above article does not talk about eating sugar free cookies, all though I would not recommend you eating them for health reasons as well.
I would love to answer your comment with all kind of links leading to scientific proof, but judging by the manner in which you responded I am going to save my self some time and ignore your IGNORANCE. You can Google everything your self :).
You already made up your mind, so I am not going to try to change that. Stay in a box, don’t come out, it’t too much information for you to handle out here.
I still stand by what I said.
Oh, just so you know, I can also speak your language of Sarcasm.
Indeed, giving Ralph links to scientific resources just results in him ignoring them.
Yep, that’s why I decided to save my self some time and not do so :).
Thank you for showing me my place. You have loads of proof supporting your pseudo-science, but of course because I am ignorant and sarcastic you will not point me toward any research. What a joke. We both know very well that you have nothing. Pathetic!
Google it Ralph, I hope you can be constipated and google things at the same time? Can you? Tell us Ralph.
Constipated or not, I did my research and unsurprisingly found there is zero evidence that regular consumption of Olestra will trash your immune system and noticeably increase the frequency of colds.
You didn’t answer the question Ralph, while doing that research were you constipated?
I also did my research and I still stand by what I said.
http://pharmacytechniciancertification.net/10-surprising-foods-that-lower-your-immune-system/
4. Olestra : A few years ago, this fat substitute was introduced in foods such as potato chips. The idea was to have a replacement for the unhealthy fat found in these fried foods. However, given all of the problems found in Olestra, from indigestion to others, it was found to be just about as destructive as the fat it was substituting. Olestra has also been shown to bind with vitamins A, E, D, and K, along with carotenoids, which have been thought to keep the immune system healthy. These vitamins have also been shown to help prevent certain cancers.
http://www.nature.com/news/manufacturing-chemicals-may-damage-the-immune-system-1.9877
Depletion of fat-soluble nutrients
Olestra depletes fat-soluble nutrients, such as Vitamins and carotenoids. Numerous studies have been conducted by producers, consumer groups and scientific community. Procter & Gamble have found that the consumption of 8 gm/day (16 chips) of olestra-containing potato chips caused dramatic depletion of fat-soluble vitamins within two weeks. They also found that olestra caused significant declines in all carotenoids monitored and 50% to 60% declines in total serum carotenoids by the fourteenth day of olestra consumption. Further, they tested 32 gm/day consumption of olestra-contained chips, which revealed that olestra reduced total serum carotenoids by 70% over the eight weeks. (1)
A study conducted in Holland found that 3 gm/day consumption of sucrose polyester (the general name for olestra-like chemicals) caused 20% decline in beta-carotene levels and a 38% decrease in lycopene, another key carotenoids. Three clinical studies found that 8 gm/day of olestra reduced lutein levels by 20% to 40%. (1)
Olestra depletes nutrients when it is consumed together with other meals. According to Procter & Gamble’s survey, 79% of the savory snacks are consumed during mealtimes. (1)
Contribution of carotenoids to health are not well known, but there are growing evidences that intake of carotenoids is associated with important health benefits. For example, a recent case-control study found that lutein (along with zeaxanthin) concurs with a lower risk of macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in the elderly.(1) Sedon, M.D. et al. (1994) explain how lutein and zeaxanthin protect the eye. “The dominant pigments in the macula are lutein and zeaxanthin, which are selectively accumulated in the retina from plasma. These yellow pigments, lutein and zeazanthin, can filter out visible blue light, which theoretically can cause photic damage. Ultraviolet light is filtered by the cornea and lens in the anterior aspect of the eye, but visible blue light reaches the retina. Therefore, lutein and zeaxanthin might serve to protect the retina from photic damage or other oxidative insults.(9)”
Other possible contribution of carotenoids is cancer prevention. Scientists have found that beta-carotene and other carotenoids reduced cancer incidence in animals exposed to carcinogens. Many epidemiological studies have linked high carotenoids intake to lower risk of cancers of lung, esophagus, pharynx, mouth, stomach, colon, rectum, and bladder. (1)
Some people also assert that beta-carotene protect the immune system.
http://www1.american.edu/TED/olestra.htm
Ralph when you are done studying Sarcasm, please try not to take your exam on it here in the comment section.
I believe that you can be constipated and google at the same time, which was my original point. But I also pooped shortly thereafter and googled again. Still nothing.
“I also did my research”.
Right, the invisible articles that you cannot share with me because I’m too ignorant. LOL
Ralph, read the above comment. It’s all there for you.
Well, the articles are interesting. Here is another good one: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/eating-fake-fat-makes-real-fat-olestra-study/story?id=13893613#.TyeFPsVrPNo
But ultimately you provided articles which indicate that Olestra may deplete vitamins. Well, this is a well established fact that I never contested.
I’m merely saying that THIS statement is without basis:
” If you are eating foods made with Olestra on a regular basis you may soon discover that your immune system is failing and may begin getting colds a lot faster than you normally would.”
And???
Your immune system is FAILING? And the colds? where on earth did you get that? My complaint is that you just made that up, to make your article more interesting.
Ralph, when your body is depleted of vitamins it affects your immune system, but if you would of read those articles then you would of known that. You proved to me that I wasted my time in provided you with these articles.
I still stand by what I said. I did not make anything up, that’s a pretty absurd statement! I am not going to argue with you about it anything because you have already made up your mind.
Please go read those articles with your eyes open this time.
Whatever you say from this point on, I am just going to ignore.
And I still stand by what I said.
It doesn’t matter how much you hurl insults or stand by what you said. Some level of vitamin depletion does not mean your immune system will *FAIL* and you have no basis to claim that you will get more colds. You should have just said:
“If you are eating foods with Olestra on a regular basis, your body may be depleted of certain vitamins which could potentially affect your immune system”. Anything more is an embellishment.
Ralph, I did say that. When your immune system is affected, you do get more colds and viruses easier.
At this point, I feel like instead of providing you with links to the articles that you didn’t read, I should of brought you a sandbox, because I feel like I am dealing with a 5 year old who just won’t stop screaming until he get’s his way.
And as an adult in this situation, I am just going to walk away. You can believe what ever you want Ralph.
*facepalm*
I meant you should have said that INSTEAD of the “you will get more colds”.
Ultimately, you walk away because you are clearly wrong. Whatever, go back to toning your butt.
Ralph, no, she walks away because this is leading nowhere: Tatianna gave you links to back her opinion and you keep replying with nothing but insisting on her being wrong.
If you don’t want to be classified as a troll, then it’s your turn now. Put some substance to your opinion.
“Tatianna gave you links to back her opinion”
Where, in her links, is there any statement that people who regularly consume Olestra will notice a substantial increase in the frequency of their colds? There is NOTHING to suggest that in her articles.
She merely showed that Olestra may hinder the absorption of various micronutrients that MAY be linked to the body’s immune response.
To extrapolate and embellish this and claim that ie: eating fat free potato chips will cause you to get sick twice as often is total nonsense.
Ralph is an angry troll. No point in feeding him; it’ll only give you a headache and make him scream for more attention.
Ha Ha, you are so funny!
I admire your ability to walk away, then check back regularly for more responses.
Ralph, I don’t check regularly. I get an email from the website every time someone posts a comment, and in that email is the actual comment.
some fats are necessary for body to grow well and are important for proper working of immune system .and as fat free eatables contain olestra which have some side effects . so , try to eat natural fruits and vegetables as they contains proper amount of fats , protein which are sufficient for human body to work properly for maintaining good health.