Sport Trans-fat and social etiquette

[subdude]

As a rule, I avoid all trans-fat (as well as artificial sweeteners such as splenda and nutrasweet). It isn't good enough to be listed as "0 grams" when partially hydrogenated oil is listed as an ingredient. As a matter of principle, any hydrogenated oil is unacceptable to me. I'm guessing that many if not most people here avoid trans-fat as zealously as I do.

However, what do my fellow trans-fat haters do in social situations? When someone brings in a dessert or appetizer or some other food that you suspect/know to have hydrogenated oil in it and offers you some, do you (1) eat it like everyone else, (2) take some, eat a little, but let most of it go to waste, (3) ask for a tiny piece and eat it (4) ask how it was made/ask if it is hydrogenated oil-free, (5) say "no thanks, I don't eat anything with trans-fat in it" when you know it has trans-fat in it, (6) say "no thanks" without giving a reason, (7) have some other way of dealing with the situation? Naturally, some of these ways of dealing with it are more gracious than others.

(Of course, for those of you who eat only food so ultra-healthy that you reject pretty much any food you don't prepare yourself, this question is pretty much N/A, since I'm guessing you wouldn't consider eating a 100% trans-fat free dessert or appetizer anyway.)

 

[dswithers]

If you are in a "social situation" once or twice a month, and eat clean the rest of the time a little transfat or other less than perfect food won't hurt you, just don't go overboard and pig out on it or do it every day.

 

[malkore]

agree with dswithers.

that or just gnosh on the veggie platter while skipping the dip.

moderation is key, whether its sugar, splenda, saturated fat or trans-fat.

small levels of trans fats exist naturally in a lot of perfectly decent food items. its when you put a LOT of it in foods that the alarms start going off

 

[subdude]

Thanks for the thoughts.

About trans-fats naturally occurring, that's true of dairy and beef (and perhaps some other animal products although my understanding is that it's primarily something produced by cattle). In cattle, the fatty acid produced is called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has both trans and cis bonds, so it is bent and doesn't stack up nicely like trans-fat in hydrogenated oil. (And when it stacks up nicely, that's when fat solidifies easily and becomes more prone to clog arteries.) While CLA apparently has some health drawbacks, most of the evidence seems to point to it being, on balance, beneficial, enough that some nutrition stores sell it as a supplement. I'm not going out to buy it, but in any case, it's almost certainly a lot healthier than the type of trans-fat in hydrogenated oil. Nutrition labels aren't even required to include CLA as trans-fat, given that it is a much different molecule than hydrogenated oil trans-fat is.

Anyway, I do sometimes feel a bit jerkish not having any of someone's dessert, but I feel wrong consuming any trans-fat. It feels like I'm consciously choosing to poison my body. (Perhaps ironically, I don't have the same objection to moderate amounts of HFCS or alcohol. But I don't view HFCS or alcohol as bad as trans-fat.) It seems even small amounts of it make me break out, too. I wonder if anyone else gets acne from trans-fat. All I know is that after I gave up trans-fat-containing foods a few years ago, it's much, much rarer for me to get pimples, and when I do, it often seems to coincide with eating something that probably contained hydrogenated oil.

 

[joebedford]

I completely disagree. I choose what I eat, not other folks. Trans fats are HORRIBLE for you, in ANY amount. I wouldn't go into an explanation, though--"no thanks" is sufficient. My friends all know I don't eat crap anyway.

 

[evolutionX]

I'm not sure what social situations would dictate you being rude not eating desert. I don't have much of a sweet tooth so I tend to avoid sugar products anyway. Why don't you just excuse yourself and say that while it looks good, you're very extremely full?