Food - Inspired Living SA

Children, Family, Food, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Lifestyle

The Low Down on Trans-Fats

I have always been aware of maintaining a healthy body weight, what foods I eat and making sure I exercise regularly. Don’t get me wrong I like a delicious fillet steak and chips as much as the next person but that does not mean that I am oblivious to the health implications of eating something deep-fried in oil!

With an alarming percentage of women in SA being overweight, obese or inactive we cannot ignore the fact that consumption of unhealthy foods, is not helping the situation. With these factors in mind it is not surprising that Trans-Fats have been banned in South Africa.

What exactly are Trans-Fats?

Trans-fats are formed, when converting liquid plant oils into a semi-solid spread, like margarine, a so-called industrial hydrogenation process whereby the vegetable oil is exposed to high pressure and heat with hydrogen gas bubbling through it, in the presence of a nickel catalyst.

Under these conditions hydrogen atoms open up double bonds converting unsaturated fats, in liquid oils into hardened saturated fats. Unfortunately some (+/- 40%) of the newly created saturated fats are not 100% identical to pre-existing natural saturated fats. This is due to the fact that they have a “kink” caused by the molecule undergoing a structural change from cis-configuration to a trans-configuration at a double bond usually in the middle of the molecule. Chemically trans fats may be identical to certain natural fats but structurally they are different due to a “kink” in the middle of the molecule. You are basically taking something natural and making it unnatural! The double bonds in unsaturated fats make them less stable and more vulnerable to oxidative damage (e.g. they go rancid very quickly)

What are the health risks of eating Trans-fats?

Eating trans-fats provides no known benefit to human health, however there is definitive correlation between a diet that is high in trans-fat content and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels. High cholesterol levels can translate into an increased risk of coronary heart disease, which can be fatal?

Serum trans-fatty acids are associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer and there is also an association between fat stores of trans fatty acids and breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

Other emerging risk factors are coronary artery disease, insulin resistance, diabetes, dyslipidemia and heart failure.

Last and certainly not least, trans fatty acids contribute more to weight gain than monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Where can we find these nasty’s?

Trans fatty acids can be found in items like certain margarines, baking shortening, oil used for deep-frying chips and chicken, confectionary items such as rusks, croissants, pies, crackers, cookies, doughnuts etc.

So how can we avoid these potentially risk causing fats?

Well the only way to avoid these risks would be to avoid eating food containing trans fatty acids, as I said previously it could be difficult to avoid them altogether, it does however require you to make more informed decisions on what food products you buy and or eat.

What does the new legislation in SA say about Trans-fats?

The basic low down on the law, is that food products are only allowed to contain a maximum of 2% of trans fats. Major fast food outlets such as KFC, Steers and Wimpy have already aligned themselves with legislation and changed their fats to be trans-fat free. Other major retails chain are in the process of ensuring that the products they sell fall into line with these new laws.

Ultimately the law can only dictate policy, it is up to us as the consumer to be aware of the products we are buying or consuming and exercise a healthy, wholesome approach to food. Especially when it comes to the health and well-being of our children! 😀

Images: ©FAR Photography & Pinterest

Featured Posts, Food, My Family Table, Recipes, Taste

Chicken, Avo & Rocket Tortilla Wraps

I have been thinking that a recipe is long overdue. Chicken, Avo & Rocket Tortilla Wraps are a regular feature on our dinner menu. The kids love it and best of all it is easy! You really can adapt it to your own personal taste but I find that this recipe is both tasty and healthy! [Read more…]

Children, Family, Parenting

Healthy Lunch Box Challenge

As parents we all know how important it is to ensure that your children eat a healthy balanced diet and how difficult it can be to achieve, especially when you have fussy eaters in your family! When it comes to packing a healthy lunch box, we can all relate as to how frustrating it can be to continually come up with new, healthy lunch box ideas! I know that I find packing lunch boxes a challenging task, especially when you children become bored with what you are offering them. So it’s fair to say that we could all use a bit of help when it comes to “lunch box ideas.”

Just the other day a rather clever “idea” popped into my inbox, in the form of the “Healthy Lunch Box Challenge” being run by “Little Cooks Club”. Interesting – that’s what I thought, so what does this entail?

[quote style=”1″]Our “Challenge” this year is to get children eating healthy food at school during school times (08h00 – 13h00). We are only concentrating on during school, not after school. If all children are getting good, healthy food, they will all be forced to eat healthy food with their peers. – Little Cooks Club [/quote]

What are the benefits of your child eating a healthy school lunch:

As there is a rather high rate of obesity in young children, it goes a long way to eliminate this problem by excluding unhealthy options from your child’s diet.
Eating a healthy well balanced, nutritious diet is vital for good concentration and avoiding learning issues.
Certain unhealthy foods can negatively affect behaviour; some children are allergic to the preservatives in these foods which can lead to inattentive or bad behaviour in class.

How to join the Healthy Lunch Box Challenge:

First register for the Challenge. By doing so it will then allow Little Cooks Club to send you a new monthly schedule with recipes for that month, tips and ideas. It also gives us an idea to see if parents are interested in the Challenge. Click here to register.

Print out the monthly schedule and stick it onto your fridge. (This is what it looks like.) If your child doesn’t like certain things on the list then choose from the other options – everything is healthy on my list and acceptable for children. If your child has specific food allergies then please give them something else; you all know your own children – this is a guideline only.

To read more about this awesome challenge click here to visit the Little Cooks Club website.

Image source: Pinterest

Celebrities, Featured Posts, Food, Lifestyle, Recipe Books

The Gorgeous Sophie Dahl

The gorgeous Sophie Dahl was born in London on the 15 September 1977. Born Sophie Holloway, she is the daughter of actor Julian Holloway and writer Tessa Dahl. Her maternal grandparents were author Roald Dahl and actress Patricia Neal. Her paternal grandparents were actor Stanley Holloway and actress and chorus dancer Violet Lane. Sophie was the inspiration for the main character, Sophie, in her grandfather, Roald Dahl’s book The BFG.

Sophie began her career as a fashion model, but writing has always been her first love. In 2003 she published her first book, an illustrated novella and Times bestseller, “The Man with the Dancing Eyes”. Following this she wrote “Playing With The Grownups” – published in 2007.

As a devoted food lover and cook she published two cook books: “Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights”, published by Harper Collins (2009) and “From Season To Season” (2011). Sophie is a contributing editor at British Vogue. She has also written for others publications such as: American Vogue, Waitrose Kitchen, The Observer, The Guardian, and The Saturday Times Magazine.

Dahl then went on to write and present her six-part cookery series, currently airing on BBC (South Africa), entitled “The Delicious Miss Dahl” – which I am loving. It features some great recipes, for more on the series visit the BBC Food website. She also wrote and presented a television programme about the Victorian cook, Isabella Beeton which was aired on BBC2, in September 2011.

Sophie with husband Jamie Cullum

Sophie currently lives with her husband, Jamie Cullum and daughter, Lyra in England where she continues write and is a regular contributor to both fashion and food magazines. To find out more about this amazing woman visit her website – Sophie Dahl.

Design & Decor, Entertaining, Featured Posts, Food, Lifestyle

African Inspired Table Decor

I recently ordered some beautiful African inspired placemats from Black Puppy Design. I was really excited when I received them and decided to create an African Inspired table decor setting for dinner that night. The placemats are “Afro Art” inspired – I ordered three placemats featuring the glorious Protea and three featuring Zebra hide – as I said true African Inspiration.

[Read more…]