Interesterified Fat — Is it Worse Than Trans Fat?
It was inevitable that food manufacturers and the edible oil industry would find a substitute for trans fats, now that consumer backlash is forcing the issue.
After all, we’re talking big business here. Over 90 percent of the money Americans spend on food is spent on the processed stuff.
Now that the health dangers of trans fats have been clearly exposed, the food industry would do you a great favor by returning to the use of natural saturated fats for frying and in baked goods. But that would mean reversing their entirely unscientific, 50-year campaign to vilify saturated fats, and would bring an end to the enormously powerful edible oil industry.
Since that’s not about to happen, it’s time for a quick review of the bad news about trans fats, followed by an investigation into what seems to be a fast-growing substitute: interesterified fats.
Why Trans Fats are Being Replaced in Processed Foods
Trans fats cause a host of health problems. Among the most serious, trans fats:
- Raise your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels and lower HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels
- Are believed to contribute to auto-immune disease, cancer, heart disease, fertility problems, and bone degeneration
- Inhibit insulin receptors in your cell membranes and are the main cause of type 2 diabetes, characterized by high levels of insulin and glucose in your blood
The Trans Fat Replacement — Interesterified Fat
Interesterified fats have been an ingredient in foods in the U.S. since the 1950s. They were introduced in Europe even earlier — in the 1920s — and have been in widespread use there for the last 15 years as a substitute for partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats).
These fats are oils that have been chemically altered. They are hydrogenated and then rearranged on a molecular level.
Although technically not the same as partially hydrogenated oils, the unnatural manipulation of lipid molecules in interesterified fats raises similar health concerns to those caused by trans fats.
The Process of Interesterification
The interesterification process hardens fat, similar to the hydrogenation process, but without producing oils that contain trans fats. The end product, like trans fat, is less likely to go rancid and is stable enough to use to fry foods.
There are three ways to modify natural fat:
- Fractionation
- Hydrogenation (the process used in trans fat production)
- Inter-ester-ification
Interesterification acts on compounds in oil known as esters. The process combines a natural vegetable oil with stearic acid and alkylinic catalysts. Either enzymes or chemicals are used to modify the molecular structure of the oil in order to make it perform like a fat. The end result is a fat rich in stearic acid.
Interesterification is similar to the process that creates trans fats. Like hydrogenation, which generates unnatural trans fats, interesterification also produces molecules that do not exist in nature.
The highly industrialized process of interesterification may result in a product that is trans-free, but that product will still contain chemical residues, hexanes, and other hazardous waste products full of free radicals that cause cell damage.
The Use of Interesterified Fat is Already Raising Health Concerns
Studies show that interesterified fat raises your blood glucose and depresses insulin production. These conditions are common precursors to diabetes, and can present an even more immediate danger if you already have the disease.
After only four weeks consuming these fats, study volunteers’ blood glucose levels rose sharply – by 20 percent. This is a much worse result than is seen with trans fats.
Insulin levels dropped 10 percent on the trans fat diet used in the studies, and twice that on the interesterified fat diet. Study results conclude interesterified fat affects the production of insulin by your pancreas, as opposed to the insulin receptors in your cell membranes.
Interesterified fat also reduces levels of good (HDL) cholesterol.
The Problem with All Processed Vegetable Oils
Natural vegetable oils that have been altered create problems for your body at the cellular level. These fats are no longer in their natural state, and your body doesn’t know how to handle them. Your system will try to make use of them and in the process, these fats end up in cell membranes and other locations where they can wreak havoc with your health.
If you are male, the danger of these man-made fats is an increased risk of heart disease. In men, these unnatural oils trigger an immune response as they enter your artery walls. As your body attacks this unknown intruder, your arteries become inflamed, leading to a dangerous build-up of plaque.
If you are a woman, your body will react somewhat differently. Processed vegetable oils don’t appear to trigger an immune response in the arteries of women. Rather, they get deeper into your body and into fatty tissues like those of the breast, increasing your cancer risk.
Finally, a problem with processed vegetable oils no matter what your gender is the accumulation of the toxic byproducts of the catalysts used to change the oils from their natural state. These catalysts are created from metals like aluminum and nickel. They build up in your nervous system, are difficult to eliminate, and can lead to neurological problems and other health concerns.
How to Recognize Interesterified Fats in Your Food
You’ll find interesterified fats in the same types of processed foods that use trans fats. Products such as:
- margarine and shortening
- fried foods like French fries and fried chicken
- doughnuts
- cookies
- pastries
- crackers
- processed foods like cereal and waffles
- salad dressings
- mayonnaise
Interesterified Fat Will Likely NOT Be on List of Ingredients
If you’re in the habit of reading product labels, you may or may not see the word “interesterified” fat among the list of ingredients, even if it’s in there.
The FDA has ruled that food manufacturers can use terms like high stearate or stearic rich fats in place of “interesterified.” To confuse things even further, if you see the terms fully hydrogenated vegetable oil, palm oil and/or palm kernel oil on labeling, the product may or may not contain interesterified fat.
And beware eating out, because while restaurants and their suppliers are touting removal of trans fats from the foods they serve, very little is being said about the fats that are replacing them.
The bottom line is that if a processed food label includes “vegetable oil” as an ingredient, you can be absolutely sure you’re about to consume either interesterified fats, or trans fats.
And if a processed food product is labeled “0% trans fats” or “no trans fats” but is made from vegetable oils, you can be certain it contains either interesterified fats or fully hydrogenated vegetable oils.
My Position on Interesterified Fats
Regular readers of my newsletter know that I’m a firm believer in eating foods in the most natural unprocessed state possible.
Foods that have been altered by an industrial process do not metabolize in your body the same way natural foods do, and eating them is an invitation to serious health problems.
My firm position is that you shouldn’t knowingly put interesterified fats into your body. You can be virtually assured that no one knows at this time what the long-term health concerns of this product will be.
It took the mainstream medical community and food manufacturers 30 years to determine and admit that trans fats are dangerous to your health. It could take another 30 years for the truth to come out about interesterified fats — or any other substitute fat that does not exist in nature.
Options to Consider
Fortunately avoiding these fats is relatively easy as they are in virtually all the foods that trans fats are, so by avoiding trans fat you will also avoid interesterified fats.
If you’re like most Americans, your diet consists predominantly of processed food. And eating processed foods, especially those with a long shelf life, means you’re consuming interesterified fats, trans fats, or some other type of man-made ingredient that your body was not designed to metabolize.
- If you want to avoid dangerous fats of all kinds, your best bet is to eliminate processed foods from your diet.
- Use butter instead of margarines and vegetable oil spreads. Butter is a healthy whole food that has received an unwarranted bad rap.
- Use coconut oil for cooking. It is far superior to any other cooking oil and is loaded with health benefits.
- Following my nutrition plan will automatically reduce your modified fat intake, as it will teach you to focus on healthy whole foods instead of processed junk food.
By now you probably know that strength training is one of the most important things you need to do for yourself. It is the one thing that will help you through everything you do in your life…for your entire life. The changes we make to our bodies now, will reflect in our overall health later in life.
Strength training(www.mayoclinic.com/health/strength-training/) is achieved many different ways; none being more important than muscle strengthening. Your muscles must be worked for you to see results. Use it or loose it has never rang more true. With the Soloflex Whole Body Vibration (WBV), you’ll be able to implement the next step to your exercise routine that will effectively change the way you workout.
Strength training is not isolated to any one type of muscle building;(www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews-story/) from climbing stairs, to lifting weights and stretching. These are all parts of a training program. Your program should include opening with a light stretch for flexibility and mobility, and then lead into lifting weights or resistance training to build muscle and endurance. Finishing up with a cardio routine, as this will get your heart rate elevated, making your heart healtheir while buring calories at the same time.
A good workout program will be done 5 days a week, with traditional training taking up to 1-2 hours per day. This is a lot of time! There is an answer to this problem; the Soloflex Whole Body Vibration (WBV) (www.wbv.net.au/documents/wbv.pdf/)
When you add WBV to your routine you can cut your workout time down to only 10-15 minutes per day and do all of the important exercises on your routine. Nothing needs to be missed. WBV will add benefits to any exercise; stretching, weight lifting, or resistance training, or cardio. Vibration technology forces the muscles to react by contracting and relaxing involuntarily; causing an enormous increase in blood flow to muscles, tendons, ligaments, and tissues.
NASA and the Russian Space Program(www.vibrationz-thelawofattraction.blogspot.com/) started using WBV years ago to help pilots muscles from atrophying while in space. Soon after, trainers and doctors began to see the great benefits WBV could offer professional athletes(www.thefreelibrary.com/whole-body-vibration-helps-athletes/). Professional sport franchises have widely and enthusiastically embraced the concept, including the:
Not only can WBV help reduce the time a workout takes it also aids in faster muscle growth, better flexibility, better blood circulation, reduction of sore muscles, improved balance, even help heal athletic related injuries. The Soloflex WBV gives you less time working out, better results, it’s easy to use , and safe: what more could you want?
Affordability?
Price has, until now, been the most difficult thing about a WBV Platform. They have only been available to professional athletes, government industries, and celebrities like Madonna and George Clooney because they cost so much to purchase. Commercial units can run as high as $12,000! The average person can’t afford that.
We proudly offer the Soloflex WBV Platform at an affordable price so this very important conditioning can be available to all. The Soloflex WBV Platform is only $445. Yes, Soloflex had done it again. We have brought home weight lifting and resistance training to homes for over 30 years with the best built, safest home equipment on the market. With over one million Classic Soloflex machines, one hundred thousand Rockits, and two hundred-and-fifty thousand Adjustable Hand Weight Systems sold to date, Soloflex has given people the best opportunities for strength training on their terms and time. Now with the WBV you can continue with your Soloflex routine or any other routine you may have in a lot less time with better results that only WBV can offer.
When you begin using WBV you will find the vibration levels that best suit your needs. The range of vibration should run between 25hz – 60 hz(www.gymequipmentssports.blogspot.com/) for optimum results. The Soloflex WBV comes with an adjustable rheostat so you can find your perfect level. Over time you may up the hertz or always remain comfortable with the level you are at.
The Soloflex WBV Platform is built to last. Made of 3″ steel tubing legs, thick urethane molded foam pad over 15 ply wood that can hold up to 1200lbs, the highest quality motor and rheostat; just like the Classic Soloflex, you’ll be using your WBV for years to come!
The size of the platform is another reason to look at Soloflex. The platform is 41″ long, 10″ wide, 5″ high, and weighs 31lbs. This is much larger than most other vibration units on the market, which allows you to perform a wide range of exercises including Pilates, Yoga, general stretching.
A weight resistance routine, as mentioned earlier, is the most important addition to your strength training. Soloflex sells the very best Adjustable Hand Weights on the market to aid in your goals. They have a very comfortable soft rubber hand grip with rubber plating on the weights themselves to help with safety and sound as well as overall visual quality.
Soloflex is also the only company to offer the vibration motor separately so it can be attached to almost any surface you choose. If you already own equipment and want to increase gains and benefits from that equipment that is not a problem. The WBV attachment motor can be attached to workout benches, chairs, any workout equipment. Soloflex sell the motor to many existing Soloflex product owners. The Classic Soloflex, The Rockit, and the Soloflex workout bench are all perfect candidates for a WBV attachment motor.
Any of the Soloflex products available can be purchased www.soloflex.com or call 1-800-547-8802. Also, please check out our new blog at http://soloflex.com.
Listed below are just a few links and testimonials for you to read from our blog…..
Video: Dr. Oz http://soloflex.com/archives/muscles-burn-50-times-more-calories-than-fat/
http://soloflex.com/archive/a-short-cut-to-fitness/
http://soloflex.com/archive/weight-lifting-is-nature’s-fountain-of-youth/
http://soloflex.com/archives/exercise-increases-serotonin-to-fight-depression/
http://soloflex.com/archives/what-are-celebrities-doing-to-stay-in-shape/
http://soloflex.com/arachives/my-home-gym/
http://soloflex.com/archives/how-did-the-soloflex-kid-get-fat-then-fit/
http://soloflex.com/archives/various-techniques-and-equipment-used-with-vibration-training/
Testimonials:
C.
January 29th, 2009
I am very much pleased with the results after using your WBV platform. One word to sum it up? Improvement. Yes the difference between how I used to feel and how I feel right now, I own a Concept 2 Model D Rowing machine (which sometimes used as a “men’s valet”) your WBV platform and dumb bells. Your price is excellent, quality so far is great. My rating as of today has to be EXCELLENT. Thank you! You got it right with this product.
Richard
February 5th 2009
I purchased this machine and the results are amazing. I recommended it to a friend, a judge, and the results were the same. Thank you for being a customer friendly business and making your product not only remarkable but affordable. God bless you and your families.
Aging is not age alone. It’s also a person’s lifestyle, and that is true for the mind as well as the body.
Studies show that exercise maintains your thinking agility and cuts your risk of osteoporosis, heart disease and diabetes.
The American College of Sports Medicine urges older people to do strength training. Walking is simply not enough.
Soloflex has, for years, urged customers and future customers to “use if or lose it”. If you sit around and do nothing , you will become weak, no matter what your age.
Strength training is good medicine for depression and improving your life. Yes, exercise can help you feel and look better, no matter what your age.
What are you waiting for?
For more great information on this please read Colin Hoobler’s article from The Oregonian here.
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Have you, just like most of us, thought about the standard New Years Resolution? The one that we all tell ourselves every year and still often miss the mark. Getting fit, healthy, skinny, muscly, faster, stronger, just over all happier with our weight and appearance. So many of us are at it again. Well there are many dos and don’ts. Lets start with the don’ts….
1. Do not think it all happens over night. It can take even an entire year to loose weight healthfully. So much depends on what you think you need to loose and if you go about it in the right way. Which is number 2.
2. Do not crash diet. It has been proven over and over again that you will almost always put the weight back on and often more than you had when you started. Your body goes into shock. It thinks you are not going to give it the nutrients it needs to survive and will store what ever it can once it feels some is being provided again. This does not mean you should not change your eating habits- just do not stop eating.
3. Do not think the change in your diet alone will ever give you the results you are hoping for. Exercise and Eat Right. They go hand in hand. Exercise is equally as important as the food intake. Couch potatoes eating only rice cakes are sure to be unhealthy.
4. Do not give up. Anything worth doing is usually hard. Find friends that may be trying to change their life styles and hang with them more. Make sure that everyone close to you is aware of what you are trying to do so they encourage you and understand why you say “no” to many evenings out. You will learn to eat right when you go but it will take some time.
Let’s get to the fun stuff…The Dos.
1. Do have fun with the new changes in your life. Just because you are changing your eating habits and your exercise routine does not mean you have to dread it. Particularly working out. So many different types of exercise out there that you can take advantage of muscle confusion as well as cardiovascular levels.
Let me explain what muscle confusion is first. Simple. Do not perform the same exercise on the same muscles and do not do them at the same time everyday or in the same order. Lift weights, climb, bike, walk, run, swim, dance, do it all. Just make sure you exercise. They say at least 30 minutes for 3-4 days a week. With all of the options and levels I say you can easily build up to as much as you are healthy to do.
2. Do watch your calorie intake. Not only do you want to watch the calorie in take you also want to watch where you are getting your calories from. Do eat healthful, fresh, local, organic, produce and meats. Try to avoid what comes in a box. Not very natural. Try to avoid the over load of carbs. You have heard this as much as you have heard eat right and exercise. It is true. It is hard too. So much of the really great tasting foods are in the carb zone. With all of this said- be sure and treat yourself to very small bites now and then. Just like starving you may give in too easily and go over board. A small treat now and then will actually help you stay on track.
3. Do Exercise, Exercise, Exercise. I can not talk enough about the immediate benefits as well as the long term benefits. Your entire life will change forever if you exercise on a regular basis for as long as you can. Bones will be stronger, blood flows better, skin is even healthier. Muscles are important and they can only get better and stronger if you work them. Once you work them they will work for you. Just like all good relationships you must work together.
I have not said anything that you probable do not already know I am just reminding you again. Have fun and have a healthful life. You will be so much happier when you feel better.
Thank you for reading. I hope you feel inspired.
This article was written by Lenny Bernstein with the Washington Post-Bloomberg. He has written about the urgency for older folk to exercise. He has hit the nail on the head. It is so important for everyone to exercise especially when we get up in years as our lives naturally become more sedentary. I feel this is a very important article. Please read the article in full here
The classic black Soloflex is the fitness machine which made home weightlifting socially acceptable in America.
From a meager beginning, Soloflex has become a model of business success–admired and copied in the fitness industry for its product and marketing techniques.
However, the phenomenal success of Soloflex, Inc. seemed remote in 1976, when Jerry Wilson first applied for a patent for his muscle machine.
Jerry Wilson’s idea was to create an exercise machine that would be attractive, convenient and easy to use in the privacy of one’s own home. Wilson’s commitment was to combine all the advantages of free weight lifting with the safety of machines. Over a period of one year, Jerry built 10 prototypes in his garage, doing the welding himself.
Initial Financing: Mortgage Everything
Although financial institutions were skeptical of the idea of a home weightlifting machine, the Wilsons believed in the Soloflex.
To borrow the $60,000 needed to get their fitness machine business started, the Wilsons mortgaged their house, three cars, a motorcycle and the patent on the Soloflex. Jerry quit his job as a Lear Jet charter pilot and began to concentrate full-time on the development of the L-shaped machine.
Following his invention and patent application, Soloflex, Inc., was formed in Texas, in July 1978.
One month later, the husband and wife team of Jerry and Marilyn Wilson opened the their first office in Roswell, New Mexico, to begin marketing directly to the consumer, not to health clubs as past weight machine manufacturers had.
“There were 5,000 health clubs in America and 75 million homes. We knew were we wanted to be,” said Jerry Wilson.
Manufacturing of the first Soloflex machines was on a much smaller scale than it is today. The frames were constructed in the Wilson’s garage and the wooden benches were cut in the barn. The finished machine was then painted in the driveway and packaged for delivery in the living room of the Wilson’s Roswell home. As orders reached into the hundreds, the Wilson’s hired the company’s first employee.
In March of 1979, the manufacturing of Soloflex was moved from home-based to a close Air Force base–in a rented building once used as a veterinary hospital.
First Magazine Advertising Paid Off
Their first advertising effort began in September on 1979, with a $3,300 print ad in a South West-regional edition of Playboy magazine. Orders flooded in.
Sales for the first year of operations totaled $80,000 with the sale of 228 machines. The second year, sales increased to $1.2 million.
Sales continued to grow, and in August 1980, Soloflex operations were moved moved to Hillsboro, Oregon, 20 miles outside of Portland. The move was made for several reasons, including the availability of raw materials and the need for a larger work force.
Space was first rented in the Hawthorn Farm Business Park complex, the largest industrial park in Oregon at the time. In June 1983, the corporate offices and manufacturing center moved to 570 N.E. 53rd Street in Hillsboro, Oregon.
By 1989 sales had reached all the way to $98 million.
Soloflex print ads, designed to sell America “better birthday suites,” became award winners after their appearance in such national markets as Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, GQ and Esquire.
The black-and-white magazine advertising, featuring hard-bodied, warmly photographed male models, made such slogans as “No Pain, No Gain” and “Body By Soloflex,” literally household phrases. Soloflex brochures included endorsements by sports luminaries such as body building great Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olympic gymnast Mitch Gaylord and football star Gale Sayers.
Soloflex Became TV’s “Infomercial” Innovator
Around 1986, Jerry and Marilyn recognized the advantages of using 30-minute sales videos in the rapidly growing cable television market. Eighty percent and more of the Soloflex advertising budget was going directly into television, taking advantage of huge blocks of surprisingly affordable cable-TV time, at a period when such “space-buying” was virtually unheard of.
This spurred an increase in sales, surpassing a quarter of a million machines sold by mid 1988.
Soloflex also was one of America’s greatest success stories in selling through “videotape brochures”, 20 to 30 minute cassette tapes mailed directly to potential cstomers who’d seen Soloflex TV commercials and dialed a 1-800 telephone number seeking more information on the machine.
In Jerry Wilson’s opinion, the video brochures demonstrate the Soloflex machine better than any salesman and can be watched repeatedly and passed on to other potential customers.
The astonishing growth of Soloflex led to Jerry and Marilyn creating the company’s own advertising firm, 53rd Street Advertising, in 1987. The firm handles all advertising and video productions, as well as media placement for Soloflex’s innovative TV advertising campaign.
Soloflex has always been sold exclusively through advertising, not in stores or mail order catalogs. Consumers still can call the toll free number for a brochure of what the machines can do. Then, the consumer follows up with and order if they want to purchase. It is that simple.
By 1990, Soloflex was the home weightlifting standard by which all other machines were measured. Over half a million machines were sold.
Stay tuned for part two of the Soloflex History story. Coming soon.
Health magazine contributing editor, Dr. Roshini Raj gives some simple tips for keeping your mind, body and soul youthful on the Today Show on NBC. To watch this great video and interview click here.
I bought my first Soloflex over 25 years ago after working out on a friends’s unit with the wood bench and the Shock Rings. I’ve loved it from the start. I gained muscle, lost inches and became stronger. I have never thought about buying a competitor’s brand in all of these years. Recently, I went back and read ALL of the blogs on the Soloflex website and became interested in Jerry Wilson’s (inventor of the Soloflex) assertion that using shock rings WITH weight plates on the end of the Soloflex lever arm gives the best and smoothest feedback to the body in his opinion.
I don’t have the Shock Rings yet but I have just begun to workout using Weight Plates with my Straps(a 50/50 percentage approximately) on many of the exercises and let me tell you, I am nearly as EXCITED as I was when I first got my Soloflex. I feel that I am working out on a NEW, IMPROVED Soloflex muscle machine. Here are the advantages from my perspective:
1. Using weight plates with the straps(or shock rings which I intend to buy as my straps wear out) add a new dimension of smoothness to the reps when doing the exercises. I don’t know why but I know that they DO! Jerry Wilson could probably explain it.
2. One reason many “free weight” believers including some fitness experts like free weights over machines is that it makes you focus on balance which is important especially as you get older. Adding Weight Plates to the Soloflex lever arm by using their free weight attachmant rods along with the straps/shock rings gives one the best of both worlds: You can still work out by yourself without a spotter but you still get the feel of balancing the weight plates.
Finally, how many products have you bought in your life that you can honestly say “almost” NEVER requires maintenance or repairs? For 25 years, the only thing I have had to do to my Soloflex is keep it clean and replace the straps as they wear out. It’s built so solid and well. So, here I am after all of this time, still enthused about a product I bought 25 years ago. THANKS SOLOFLEX.
Tennis Teacher(a.k.a. Richard Shirley)
Recently, First Lady, Michelle Obama, has begun a campaign that is so very important to all of our futures. Physical fitness. She is trying to spread the word about the state we are in when it comes to our kids and really ourselves. Physical fitness is a lifetime commitment. If we start out healthy than we are more likely to stay healthy. Soloflex has been saying this for the past 33 years.
Eating right and exercising is all it takes. This sounds easy but really it requires time and thought. It is so easy to sit down and eat fatty processed foods that that is what we have naturally fallen into. Exercise takes time and forces us to get up and try. If we do not do something we will be in serious trouble. The obesity levels in the United States are off the charts. Our kids and most of our adults are shortening their lives by as much as 20 years. Not to mention the burden on health care.
If you want to live a fun productive life exercise and balanced eating will have to be your number 1 and number 2 priorities. Lifting weights and well as cardio need to go hand in hand. Muscle strength is the key to so many other functions of your body. If kids want to play organized sports, jump, run, ski, skate board or do any activity muscles are required to do the work.
Take the time that is needed to stay healthy and share that with your kids. Michelle Obama notes that families need to get involved too. Go play with your kids. Get them off the sofa and get them moving. Get healthy together.
You can find this valuable information from Michelle Obama at Letsmove.org You can find our valuable information at soloflex.com. There is nothing new in all of this information just reminders of how very important it is and is for everyone. 
“I never had the opportunity to meet Jack but knew well his counterpart here in Portland, Joe Loprenzi. Joe had a similar TV show here locally for decades, inspiring and teaching people how to live better, and was close friends with Jack. Joe died last year, healthy way past ninety just like Jack. Nobody lives forever but I was so impressed that Joe kept his wits and charm about him until the end. Kept his compassion, his love for others too. He really cared about people, knew that his example would make other lives better so was totally dedicated to setting the right example by teaching what he’d learned. Can’t think of a better way to earn a soul than that! These men were “happy.” It was infectious and they knew it. My shortcoming was their ace in the hole, they could motivate people to get off their asses to exercise and eat right! I did build a better mousetrap, own the federal trademark on “exercise and eat right” but never came close to being able to motivate people like these men did. It’s never too late to start. I’ll work on that.”
