It started with peanut butter.
January 26, 2007
About six months ago, I happened to flip past the Oprah show. Dr. Mehmet Oz was discussing what we should be eating versus what we actually are eating as well as the dangers of transfat and partially hydrogenated oils. During his discussion, he showed what partially hydrogenated oils look like (think a big heaping helping of Crisco. No, think huge.) Then he asked if we knew what it was doing in our arteries and demonstrated the clog by squeezing the fat through his hands.
Then they profiled one woman who slept 18 hours a day and spent her waking hours either eating, usually fried fatty foods from a restaurant, or sitting sluggishly in front of the television.
Well, of course she’s sluggish! I thought. She’s eating fried junk all the time.
And then Dr. Oz and a fellow colleague visited her home and went through her cabinets. They put all of the food in her house on two tables. One to keep and one to toss. Most of what she had I didn’t have, so I thought I was doing pretty well. Go me!
And then he pulled out the peanut butter.
Peanut butter? What’s wrong with peanut butter? And is that my Jif? The peanut butter that I chose because I am a “choosy mom”?
Well, the peanut butter went in the discard pile. Not because it has a high fat content. Peanuts are actually a very good source of protein. It’s because of the partially hydrogenated oils that are put into the peanut butter. This causes the creamy effect we have come to love and it increases the shelf life.
So there’s your answer. That’s why I’m living transfat free. It all started with a jar of peanut butter.
