What are trans fats?

Transformed veg. oil: Trans fat is what one gets by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil. The trans fat is more solid, less "oily", and makes junk food more stable for a longer time. Trans fat is bad because it raises a person's bad cholesterol, and lowers his good cholesterol, so it blocks up arteries worse than saturated fats do. Food labels that say "0 grams" trans fat mean "less than half a gram", not necessarily zero!

Bad for you: Meats have some transfats, but most are manmade. Transfats are made by hydrogenating oils, which turns them into solids (shortening). Transfats are used in processed foods b/c they last longer on shelf that way -- cookies/pie crusts/chips/popcorn/donuts/creamer/margarine. They raise LDL (bad) and lower HDL (good) cholesterol, which leads to heart disease. Saturated fats are just as bad!