Is It “Good” Fat or “Bad” Fat?

VIDEO

 

With the announcement in December 2006 that New York City had banned trans fats from its 

restaurants, most citizens responded “trans – what”?1  In an effort to shed some light on the 

situation, our last Health Politics program reviewed the three major types of fats and their chemical 

structures. In case you missed it -- saturated fats are carbon chains with hydrogen bonds 

everywhere; unsaturated fats are carbon chains with one or more double bonds and two hydrogens 

dropped for each double bond; and trans fats are manufactured fats that turn from liquid to solid 

when hydrogen is added to a heated unsaturated fat.  I also reviewed the role these various fats play 

in cholesterol circulation and how they affect rates of heart disease and stroke.  To sum it up: Trans 

fats – very bad.  Saturated fats – bad. Unsaturated fats – good.2 

 

Understanding the different types of fat will help you be a better label reader, shopper and 

eater. In general, when you think about saturated fats, think meats, butter, creams, milk chocolate 

and coconut. For monounsaturated fats – the fats with 1 double bond -- think olive oil, nut oils and 

avocados.  And for polyunsaturated fats – the fats with more than 1 double bond -- think soy, 

cottonseed, corn, sunflower and fish.3 

 

We’re almost ready to take this knowledge into the supermarket and start using it, but there’s 

still one other important question to discuss: the butter vs. margarine debate. There appears to be a 

lot of confusion among consumers about which we should use. The confusion started in the second 

half of the 20th century when concern over saturated fats came to a head. During that period of time, 

margarine was chosen as a heart-healthy alternative to butter – because butter was known to be 

filled with cholesterol and saturated fat. But as years passed, research showed that this wasn’t 

necessarily the case. Some forms of margarine, specifically the hard-stick kind, were worse for the 

heart than butter. We now know that a tablespoon of butter has 7.2 grams of saturated fat, but only 

.3 grams of trans fat. Hard-stick margarine has less than a third of the saturated fat of butter, but nine 

times the amount of trans fat.  Which is better? Neither. Liquid vegetable oils are the better way to go 

overall, but if your choices are butter or margarine, use soft-tub margarine. It has 1.2 grams of 

saturated fat and only .6 grams of trans fat.3,4    

 

And that takes us to shopping in the typical American supermarket.  When food manufacturers 

first made the jump from butter to margarine, or from saturated fat to trans fat, they liked what they 

saw.  Not only did the products sell well as “healthy alternatives,” they also had longer shelf life and 

flavor stability.5  Trans fat’s impact on commercial baked goods was enormous.  Everything from 

vegetable shortening to crackers, cookies to candies, snack foods to cake goods, went “trans.”  In 

fact, today, about 40% of the products in the supermarket contain trans fats and most of these 

products are not in the peripheral aisles, but rather in the center aisles where the heavy traffic is.5  If 

it’s processed, baked or fried, there’s a good chance it contains trans fat. 

 

It’s no surprise, then, that coinciding with the move from saturated fats to trans fats in the foods 

we buy, obesity has been on the rise. Clearly, America’s unusual approach to portion sizes and 

mountains of solid and liquid calories, along with our sedentary lifestyles, are part of the story.6  But 

 

what we eat is as important as how much.  In the average American’s 2000-calorie diet, nearly 3% 

are “trans calories.”4  The American Heart Association says this should be less than 1%.7  And nearly 

13% of our daily diet is saturated fats -- way beyond healthy limits.  Since 2000, the Institute of 

Medicine, the National Academies of Science, the National Cholesterol Education Program, the 

Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have found 

consensus around 3 fat messages; eliminate trans fats, limit saturated fats, and replace them with 

unsaturated fats.4,8 

 

This message has been reinforced by new labeling requirements that went into effect on 

January 1, 2006. The FDA now requires that the amount of trans fat in a serving be listed on a 

separate line under saturated fat.4  

 

Do you know how to read a food label? Let’s be healthy consumers and practice with a sample 

label from a common American food – macaroni and cheese.  

 

The first thing we notice is that the recommended serving size is 1 cup and the container has 3 

cups.  So if you eat the whole thing, you’ve triple-dosed.  Second, a 1-cup serving, once it’s 

prepared, delivers 380 calories, 140 of which, or 37%, are from fat.9  That’s high, considering the 

American Heart Association’s recommendation of 30% or less. But perhaps we’ll counter-balance 

with another item that day.   

 

On to the types of fats in our mac and cheese.  First of all, total fats of this one item represent 

23% of the recommended daily value for a 2000-calorie diet.9  Well, that’s a no-brainer -- the FDA 

says items that are 20% of the daily fat value are high and should be avoided.    

 

As for saturated fat, 20% of the fats here are saturated, which is about 15% of the daily value. 

And while the box may list 0 grams of trans fat, you’re supposed to make mac and cheese with milk, 

right? Using 2% milk adds 1 gram of trans fat per serving. Using whole milk adds 3 grams per 

serving. 9 Which brings us to an important point. Food labels currently do not show percent daily 

value for trans fat. The competing corporate, governmental and consumer advocacy interests haven’t 

agreed on that yet, so it’s not 100% clear how much trans fat is too much.  But remember, the 

average out-of-control American diet includes about 6 grams of trans fats a day.  So using whole milk 

and eating the whole box shouldn’t even be an option. Use reduced fat or fat-free milk, and you’re 

back in the safe zone. But then you throw in 31% of your percent daily value of salt and 17% of your 

carbohydrates  -- all for one serving of mac and cheese -- and you’ll see a clear bottom line: you may 

love it, and you may even choose to eat it and then balance it with other healthy selections, but if you 

eat more than one cup of mac and cheese, it’s trouble.9 

 

The point is, labels matter and should be read carefully. The most recent label change 

regarding trans fats is predicted to prevent 1,200 heart attacks and 500 deaths over the next three 

years with $5.4 billion in savings in health care costs and lost productivity.4 

 

Here are a few simple suggestions to help you take what you now know about fats and use the 

knowledge. First, spend more time and buy more of the products on the outside aisles of your 

supermarket.  Most of the trans fat-containing processed and baked goods are in the center aisles.  

Second, read the labels.  Items with total fat per serving in the 20% of daily value range should be 

avoided, as should items with more than 1% of the daily value of saturated fats or trans fats.  Three, 

 

 

portions, portions, portions.  Most Americans need to cut them in half.  Fourth, substitute unsaturated 

fats for saturated fats. Use olive oil to sauté or in salad dressing; nuts for cracker snacks; avocado 

for cheese in sandwiches; and fish instead of meat twice a week.  And fifth, even if you’re a New 

Yorker experiencing the restaurant ban on trans fats, try to dedicate time to preparing meals at 

home.  It’s a better way of living, in so many ways, for you and your family. 

 

For Health Politics, I’m Mike Magee. 

 

 

 

References 

 

1. Jones C, Hellmich N. NYC bans trans fats in restaurants. USA Today. December 6, 2005. 

2. Health Politics with Dr. Mike Magee. “How Trans Fats Became Our Enemy.” January 10, 2007. 

Available at: http://www.healthpolitics.org/archives.asp?previous=about_trans_fat. 

3. Harvard School of Public Health. “Fats and Cholesterol.” Available at: 

www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats.html.  

4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Questions 

and Answers about Trans Fat Nutrition Labeling.” Available at: 

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qatrans2.html. 

5. Mann D. Trans Fats: The Science and the Risks. WebMD. Available at: 

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/71/81217.htm. 

6. Health Politics with Dr. Mike Magee. “The Real Story Behind Obesity.” November 10, 2004. 

Available at: http://www.healthpolitics.org/archives.asp?previous=prog_71. 

7. American Heart Association. “Fat.” Available at: 

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4582. 

8. MayoClinic.com. “Dietary fats: Know which types to choose.” Available at: 

http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/fat/NU00262. 

9. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. January 2, 2007.