Reduce trans fat intake
Nowadays people are conscious about not eating fatty foods as they increase bad cholesterol or LDL cholesterol in blood. Our body needs some fat and we get it mainly from animal and plant. We consume fats in two forms, saturated and unsaturated. Vegetable oils contain unsaturated fatty acids while animal products like butter, meat contain saturated fatty acids. Saturated fat raises LDL and lowers good cholesterol (HDL) in human body. LDL increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease.
Trans fat is being produced by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil through a process called hydrogenation. Trans fat like margarine is actually more harmful than butter because it increases the LDL or bad cholesterol. In our country, hotels and restaurants use Banaspati ghee to cook which is a trans fat and so harmful to human health. Commercially baked food products such as crackers, cookies and cakes as well as many fried foods, such as French fries contain trans fat which should be avoided to keep our LDL level lower. We should use vegetable oils like olive, soybean, and sunflower oils which are rich in unsaturated fatty acids and good for health.
Professor M Zahidul Haque,
Department of Agricultural Extension & Information System,
SAU, Dhaka
