Question about transfats
 

So I started using FitDay today and came to a food I wanted to add in as a custom food.

On the nutrition label for my food it lists trans fats, but on fitday there is no option for trasnfats, but there is an option for polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Forgive me if this sounds silly [I just started this all today and don't really have much experience with this in the past] but is there a way to figure out the polyunsaturated/monounsaturated fats with transfats? Or should I put the transfats in someplace else on the fitday custom food?

Thanks!

I use the PC version of Fitday. It doesn't have a place for transfats. But my personal rule of thumb is that if it has transfats, I just don't eat it :dizzy:

Trans fats would be part of the total fat, and I think they are also part of the saturated fat count. It's definitely not a silly question :)

Thanks Suzanne!

I'm glad I have you guys here to help me through this ;)

:yes: If it has trans fats, I don't eat it either!

According to Wikipedia,
trans fats are a kind of unsaturated fat created from the partial hydrogenation of plant oils (thus, I guess why they are unsaturated). They may be either mono or polyunsaturated. I don't think there's a way to tease it out.

Transfats are supposed to be even worse for us than saturated fat, because they are supposed to not only make the 'bad' cholesterol higher, but make the 'good' cholesterol lower too, so are implicated in heart disease.

There is no place in older nutrition labels for transfats, thus I guess why fitday doesn't have a place for them.

I'm with Suzanne. I try to avoid them!

Finally, not a silly question. I looked up this info and learned something tonight!

Come to think of it, I used to have a book on trans fats that suggested you take the total fat count and deduct the sat fats and unsaturated fats, and if there was anything left it was likely a trans fat.

Yes, that's the general rule.

As for fitday not giving an option to include trans fats, I wouldn't worry about that too much. Just avoid foods without them, if possible.

Another thing I wish fitday would include is sugars. It would be nice to count sugar grams when customizing foods.

I just tend to read the label and look for hydrogenated oil of any sort. That tells me that this product is a no no. What annoys me to no end is the FDA's rule that as long as something has under .5 grams of transfats per serving, the label itself can show zero transfats! So let's say something has .4 grams, and you eat 2 servings. That is .8 grams of transfats which is half of the limit I should be getting as addressed by the American heart Association! And unless you read the ingredients, you will think you are getting none! :mad:

Nutridiary lets you count sugar grams!

I hate that rule! Actually, the FDA annoys me in general. They never go far enough and they listen to "big business" instead of listening to the public and independent health studies/practitioners.

I do the same thing. If a product has the word hydrogenated in the ingredient list I won't eat it!

I've been meaning to check that site out ;)

I use nutridiary and really love it, but I think the site is going to die at some point. :(

The guy who managed the site is basically mia and there's no longer a way to upgrade to a membership that lets you have access to the larger food database (which is what I have).

So, if you do check it out, just know that!

I still love it. And of course, all my records are there, including custom meals, which are like my recipes!

I've been desperately looking for a butter substitute, but all the ones I've tried taste like crap. I bought Promise thinking "Heart Smart." Yeah, guess what? It contains trans fats. Yes, small amounts that according to FDA don't count, but I still don't want them in my body. I guess I'll have to stay away from butter except for special occasions.:p

I also avoid anything with the word "hydrogenated" in the ingredient lists. I also hate that anything less than .5 g gets counted as "0". I think the FDA is pretty lame and wouldn't trust most of the "advice" and "guidelines" they put out there. I prefer to do my own research and always read the ingredients since the nutrition information panel doesn't always give a complete picture.

Earth Balance is 100% non-hydrogenated and 100% delicious! It's all I use for "butter".

The daily plate counts sugars too.