Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil... Mmm, mmm, NO!

You may be asking yourself, "What the heck is hydrogenatatatatatted.... oil?"  Well, I have an answer for you.  In short, it's gross!  Disgusting!  Repulsive! 

Definition time:  Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil is a solid substance created when hydrogen and another catalyst (such as nickel or platinum, sometimes palladium or rhodium... yeah METALS...) are forced into vegetable oil.  After filtering out the metal, a lovely (SARCASM) solid substance is formed known as hydrogenated vegetable oil.  This substance helps to solidify food that normally wouldn't be solid.  It also prolongs the shelf life of food.  It's added to everyday common foods!  COMMON foods!  It's the TRANS fat in food!  And we all know TRANS fat is NOT good for us!  It's a cheap way to flavor foods, too.  This hydrogenated vegetable oil when consumed over time has been linked to degenerative diseases which may affect the central nervous system!  Degenerative diseases include: heart disease, osteoporosis. 

That sounds pretty bad to me.  Bad enough, I won't touch the stuff.  Want to know how to avoid this "created" trans, bad for you oil!?  OK, let me begin with peanut butter.  Yes, peanut butter.  Many store brands of peanut butter contain this substance to help maintain it's solid form and keep it from going rancid.  Have you ever bought the all natural, stir-it-yourself  type of peanut butter?  That DOES NOT contain hydrogenated vegetable oil or any other form of hydrogenated oils.  It only contain peanuts and their natural oil, which separate and you stir it each time you use it or place in the refrigerator after opening.  This is your best buy!  This is pure peanut butter.  And, another added bonus when you buy the stir-it-yourself peanut butter is that there is only natural sugars (found in peanuts) rather than added sugars.

Another food containing this foul substance is shortening, donuts, snack cakes (like Twinkies), french fries, margarine, cookies, cracker, pie crusts. It's everywhere!  To avoid this you need to look at the ingredient list and purchase food that has omitted that from it. 

It's just another ingredient added to the list of ingredients you need to steer clear of when purchasing food.  Just like monosodium glutamate or high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils should be avoided or consumed as little as possible. 

So, steeeeer clear of this foul substance and eat better to live longer!  Cheers!