This is a critical distinction because the health benefits of these minimally-processed foods and ingredients are all but lost when a person turns to processed, manufactured foods. Worse yet, most processed foods are tainted with highly toxic chemical additives that are well known to promote brain tumors, colon cancer, endocrine system disorders, stubborn obesity, and other problems that are avoided outright when eating raw, fresh food ingredients.
Let me give you an example of this. The meat category shows beef, pork and fish, but nowhere in the meat category do you find bacon. Virtually all bacon at the grocery store contains a cancer-causing chemical ingredient known as sodium nitrite. It's listed right on the label. Sodium nitrite, when consumed, results in the formation of highly carcinogenic nitrosamines, which are so toxic that lab researchers actually use nitrosamines to give lab rats cancer as part of their experiments! (To learn the shocking facts about sodium nitrite, read the sodium nitrite section of Low-Carb Diet Warning.)
Trans fat is derived from a chemical process known as "partial hydrogenation." That's the process of converting liquid oils to a semi-solid form. It's what allows you to take a tub of margarine out of the fridge and spread it on your toast without ripping it apart, like you would with straight-from-the-fridge butter.
Food companies have tended to like trans fats because they allow their products to stay fresh on the shelves longer. And they're made from less expensive oils, keeping production costs down.
On Dec. 5, 2006, New York City's board of health approved a ban on trans fats in all restaurants across the city. The ban took effect in June 2008. A month later, the city's restaurants were further required to post calorie counts on menu boards in the same font size as the price or face fines of up to $2,000 US.
In March 2003, Denmark became the first country to pass legislation strictly regulating the sale of foods containing trans fats. No more than two per cent of the fats and oils in any food product can contain trans fats. The legislation effectively limits people's trans fat intake to less than one gram per day
Processed food like bacon bad for diet?
