We've all heard about trans fats and how horrific they are for your body. One thing I had been confused about was what exactly they were in. We were told that if the ingredients of a food included "partially hydrogenated" oil, then the food contained trans fats. However I have several items in my pantry that list this in the ingredients, but then also say "0" under the "trans fats" column. So which is it? A friend of mine who is a nutritionist told me that legally, the product can tell us it is trans fat free as long as there is a low enough amount in the serving size. So basically the foods DO have trans fats, just a small enough amount to where they can claim they don't. I asked her if, since it is such a small amount, we needed to even worry about it. Her answer? ANY trans fat is bad, no matter the amount. Darn it.
So what is your take on this? Do you allow your kids foods with small amounts? If Cameron had to give up his absolute favorite cracker (as seen below), I would have an unhappy camper!! But graham crackers have a tiny bit of trans fats. Is it obsessing too much to cut all of these out of our diets???
9 comments:
We had a nutritionalist come and speak at MOPS - it was very helpful info. However with that said, it's too much to worry about : ) Within reason I pick a few things like wheat bread and organic peanut butter, oh and healthy breakfast cereal like Special K as must haves for the kids and then Im slack in other areas. A lot of things are labeled funny though so there are still "bad things" in most foods - uhg...
Oh and this is Cousin Cindy :)FINALLY!!!!
Everything in Moderation!!! I have found that if you look at different groceries stores you may find a snack that is comparable. It is a lot of work to read so many labels but you eventually just learn what you like and don't. It isn't for everyone but I feel so much better knowing that my kids aren't eating junk : )
I just found some crackers from Pepperidge Farms that are DELICIOUS and don't have any junk in them!!
I've certainly gotten more & more aware of junk in foods & how HUGELY our diet affects our health over the years--and it's even moreso in little developing bodies. They need all the nutrition they can get--& as little of the bad stuff as possible.
It seems like you're doing a good job with Cameron's diet, given what he'll eat. And I agree with Team Harry that even though the label-reading is time-consuming, once you identify a healthy product, the reading is over for that one. :o)
Put some peanut butter on those graham crackers, and you have the most amazing snack of all time, trans fat or not.
-Ross
So, Team Harry, what are the Pepperidge Farms crackers?
Hi again, One thing I should add too is that Im a firm believer in vegies - dark green kinds and my kids do eat them or they dont enjoy a snack or "treat". So Im slack in some foods but only because they are getting their healthy servings in first. I realise thats hard to explain to a 2 year old thouh :0 ) My parents were VERY strick with snacks and candy growing up and it back fired when we were older. I wish i had been taught WHY certain foods like sugars wernt healthy choices rather than just telling me "NO". Those with older kids, it has been helpful to teach my 8 year old how to do simple label reading so she can learn to make healthy choices on her own.
They are Pepperidge Farm Baked Naturals...
We don't have the Trans-fat free options here. I guess I just need to figure out what "partially hydrogenated oil" is in German.... =)
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