Along with “New Cheesier flavor,” and “Now twice as much cream filling,” our favorite junk food is also boasting about having “0 grams of trans fat.”
In today’s society, it seems as if there is a new health trend every other day, how does one know what is important, and what isn’t? How can we possibly keep up with it all?
Rest assured that it is important to be aware of trans fats when choosing what to munch on. We’ve had it drilled into our heads that saturated fats and cholesterol are bad for us. They make us fat and more importantly, they cause heart disease. Trans fats, though they are much less known about, they are just as dangerous.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, scientific evidence shows that consumption of saturated fat, trans fat and dietary cholesterol raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, levels, which increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). In English, 500,000 people in the United States die from CHD each year, this makes CHD one of the leading causes of death, and saturated fat, cholesterol and trans fats are microscopic murderers that we chose to put into our body – or not to.
Trans fatty acids are found most often in some of our favorite foods, crackers, cookies, snack foods and deep fried foods. They are made when “we have liquid oils and we want them to act more like solids in products,” nutrition professor, Jennifer Lancaster explained. It is a process called hydrogenation, which also increases the shelf life and flavor in manufactured foods, Lancaster said.
As of January 2006 manufacturers, who are already required to list cholesterol and saturated fat levels on their products, will also be required to include trans fat levels on their nutrition labels.
“The things that you’ll find these trans-fatty acids are deep fried foods and those that are high in calories too, which an excessive amount (of calories) can lead to weight problems,” Lancaster said. “(We) want to limit the intake of foods containing trans fats, they haven’t set a standard as to how many you should take in, in a day. Just trying to limit them as much as you can is important, especially for those who have problems with cholesterol, who have family history of problems with cholesterol.”
Perhaps as the general public becomes more aware of risk these fatty acids are causing they will make a conscious shift away from foods which contain them. Hopefully, this in turn, will encourage manufacturers to produce products that are more nutritious and health-friendly.


Custodian Cleans up her Health
Tawana Prevost | Staff Reporter

Five minute warm up on the treadmill, followed by 20 minutes of running and ending with 5 minutes to cool down. It is Friday, so today she’s using free weights to work on her arms and upper body next, each with three sets of eight repetitions. She finishes lying on her back with the usual crunches, leg lifts and 100 sit-ups. Seventy-five, 76, 77, 78…the guys in the gym stare as she counts up to 100 each time pulling her abs in and reaching for her toes before lying  back on the floor and doing it again. This is the daily routine of 54-year-old Cindy Richards.
“I don’t really like exercising, but I like what it does to me when I get out that door," Richards said.
Richards, mother of two, has worked as an MSU custodian for five and a half years and has lost 114 pounds. Richards, 24-year resident of the town of Charlie, has been married for 34 years and has two children, Al and Carrie.
"I’m doing something for me. I’ve (taken) care of everyone else and now I’m taking care of me,” Richards said.
According to Richards, a light bulb came on at age 52. She met friends of hers who had recently retired and asked them how retirement was going.
"It's just going to the doctors," they would say, and from then on Richards made up her mind to become healthy.
Richards has been following her personal health regiment for two and a half years. She did her own research, and has kept herself motivated ever since.
"You will always find me at the Wellness Center from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. (on the weekdays)," Richards said.
She works out five days a week. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays she uses free weights, lifting 20 pounds in each hand. Tuesdays and Thursdays, she works on her legs. Each day she begins with a 30-minute cardiovascular workout and ends with crunches, leg lifts and 100 sit-ups.
"If I miss, I do aerobics at home. It's like church," Richards said.
She gets up earlier, around 4 a.m. and does aerobics with Richard Simmons' "Sweating to the Oldies" video, works out on the stability ball and lifts free weights.
She used to drive to school to work out on the weekends, but stopped when gas prices began rising. Now she exercises at home on the weekends as well.
Richards, an avid admirer of Oprah Winfrey, lives by Ten Commandments from the book "Making the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life" by Winfrey, and her personal trainee Bob Greene:
1.Exercise aerobically five to seven days a week.
2.Exercise in the zone (at a level seven or eight).
3.Exercise for 20 to 60 minutes each exercise session.
4.Eat a low fat, balanced diet each day.
5.Eat three meals and two snacks each day.
6.Limit or eliminate alcohol.
7.Stop eating two to three hours before bedtime.
8.Drink eight glasses of water each day.
9.Have at least two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables each day.
10.Renew your commitment to healthy living each day.

According to Richards, the steps are hard to follow through with, but they do work.
Richards eats lunch and supper during her breaks at work.
"I don't do diets. For me they are doomed to fail." Richards said, "I try to eat smaller portions and to eat right."
Her new eating habits took some adjusting to because according to Richards, she is a good cook and she loves to eat. Her husband had to adjust to the smaller meals. He also had to get used to eating supper alone because by the time he gets home at night, according to commandment seven, she can't eat that near to her bedtime.
Usually Richards goes to the gym on her own, but for a couple of months, she has been working out with her friend Kim Wilson who calls the weekly workout, "Cindy's boot camp".
According to Richards, she doesn't like working out in groups because everyone has a different pace. Facing her weight issue alone was a part of her motivation. She is proud to say that she has accomplished it on her own.
"People always want to know, "how do you lose the weight?" Richards said, "There are no shortcuts, just good ol’ hard work, exercise and proper diet. You've (got to) get out there and find out what works for you."
"All the (faculty and staff at Ferguson) support me," Richards said, "they are probably fed up of hearing me say, ‘Guess what? I lost weight.’ (Even) the guys in the gym stop and say nice things."
For a year, Richards' weight loss was stagnant at 102 pounds.
"I had to make it harder," Richards said. She increases the weights when the repetitions get easier.
"You can go forward or you can go backward," Richard said with pride. "The key to life (is) loving yourself."
According to Richards, the hardest part will be maintaining the weight.
"I was a size 24, and the other day I (put on) a size 10," Richards said. "Now you will find me in dresses and bling. I'm back!"
Although the 10’s were snug, she sees this as something to work forward to. Richards plans to lose 26 more pounds by New Years day.