Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Trans Fat Fight

Aired July 09, 2003 - 09:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with us.
Good morning, Sanjay, to you there.

Why use these trans fats in the first place?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a very interesting question. We look at it historically, people used to use animal fats, primarily, to cook their foods. Obviously, the nutrition group said that is just too bad for you, let's not use those saturated fats. So people went to unsaturated fats, actually the best kind of fats.

But then what they found was those unsaturated fats actually didn't keep as well, and they were more expensive. So no surprise, then, that they started to develop this other kind of fat, trans fats, that were cheaper. They were sort of getting a pass, because no one was actually requiring them to be labeled back then. And as you find out here, it actually ends up being bad for you as well. It actually lowers your good cholesterol and raises your bad cholesterol -- Bill.

HEMMER: What about a butter better than margarine then. How does it stack up?

GUPTA: Well, you know, that's an interesting question as well. For the most part, the margarine are going to be better, because you're talking about your -- the different sorts of fats. The butter has more of the saturated fats, whereas the margarine will have more of the trans fats, although as we just said, sometimes the trans fats can do both, actually lower your good cholesterol and raise your bad cholesterol. That's why these labels are going to be important. You'll be able to tell how many trans fats is in that margarine.

As a general rule of thumb, if a food stays more liquid at room temperature, that's probably going to be a better sort of oil for you than those that become solid at room temperature.

HEMMER: You said earlier today, January 2005, was it, before they start...

GUPTA: 2006.

HEMMER: 2006, even further than we previously thought. In the meantime, though, if you're a consumer, and you want to eat healthy, how do you avoid it, or how do you know it? GUPTA: Well, you know, there's all sorts of foods out there that people sort of have a general idea that are bad for you. There are foods that are high in saturated fats, and there are foods that are high in unsaturated fats. I think the clue is really educating yourself.

Again, canola, olive oils, unhydrogenated oils, Bill. A lot of products do label their products unhydrogenated. That's what you want to look for. And the soft margin, again, looking for those liquid- type foods more so than the solid type foods. Those are some general rules of thumb.

I think the labeling will help, though, but I think an important point as well is some of the critics are concerned that, in fact, it may be a little confusing. So I think it's important to constantly educate yourself on what the saturated fats are, what the unsaturated fats are and what, now, are these transfats as well.

HEMMER: That's why we keep you around. Thanks again, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Thank you, Bill. Take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired July 9, 2003 - 09:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with us.
Good morning, Sanjay, to you there.

Why use these trans fats in the first place?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's a very interesting question. We look at it historically, people used to use animal fats, primarily, to cook their foods. Obviously, the nutrition group said that is just too bad for you, let's not use those saturated fats. So people went to unsaturated fats, actually the best kind of fats.

But then what they found was those unsaturated fats actually didn't keep as well, and they were more expensive. So no surprise, then, that they started to develop this other kind of fat, trans fats, that were cheaper. They were sort of getting a pass, because no one was actually requiring them to be labeled back then. And as you find out here, it actually ends up being bad for you as well. It actually lowers your good cholesterol and raises your bad cholesterol -- Bill.

HEMMER: What about a butter better than margarine then. How does it stack up?

GUPTA: Well, you know, that's an interesting question as well. For the most part, the margarine are going to be better, because you're talking about your -- the different sorts of fats. The butter has more of the saturated fats, whereas the margarine will have more of the trans fats, although as we just said, sometimes the trans fats can do both, actually lower your good cholesterol and raise your bad cholesterol. That's why these labels are going to be important. You'll be able to tell how many trans fats is in that margarine.

As a general rule of thumb, if a food stays more liquid at room temperature, that's probably going to be a better sort of oil for you than those that become solid at room temperature.

HEMMER: You said earlier today, January 2005, was it, before they start...

GUPTA: 2006.

HEMMER: 2006, even further than we previously thought. In the meantime, though, if you're a consumer, and you want to eat healthy, how do you avoid it, or how do you know it? GUPTA: Well, you know, there's all sorts of foods out there that people sort of have a general idea that are bad for you. There are foods that are high in saturated fats, and there are foods that are high in unsaturated fats. I think the clue is really educating yourself.

Again, canola, olive oils, unhydrogenated oils, Bill. A lot of products do label their products unhydrogenated. That's what you want to look for. And the soft margin, again, looking for those liquid- type foods more so than the solid type foods. Those are some general rules of thumb.

I think the labeling will help, though, but I think an important point as well is some of the critics are concerned that, in fact, it may be a little confusing. So I think it's important to constantly educate yourself on what the saturated fats are, what the unsaturated fats are and what, now, are these transfats as well.

HEMMER: That's why we keep you around. Thanks again, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Thank you, Bill. Take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com