The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

Now I am quite sure that I have covered this topic before in the past, but it is certainly worth repeating. I read an article today that I found very disturbing as it pertains to some soft gel vitamins. Before I share that information, I must provide for you a definition of these oils and how they slowly kill us.

What is Hydrogenation?

Hydrogenation is the process of heating an oil and passing hydrogen bubbles through it. The fatty acids in the oil then acquire some of the hydrogen, which makes it more dense. If you fully hydrogenate, you create a solid (a fat) out of the oil. But if you stop part way, you a semi-solid partially hydrogenated oil that has a consistency like butter, only it’s a lot cheaper.

Because of that consistency, and because it is cheap, it is a big favorite as a butter-substitute among “food” producers. It gives their products a richer flavor and texture, but doesn’t cost near as much as it would to add butter.

What’s Wrong with Hydrogenation?

Unlike butter or virgin coconut oil, hydrogenated oils contain high levels of trans fats. A trans fat is an otherwise normal fatty acid that has been “transmogrified”, by high-heat processing of a free oil. The fatty acids can be double-linked, cross-linked, bond-shifted, twisted, or messed up in a variety of other ways.

The problem with trans fats is that while the “business end” (the chemically active part) is messed up, the “anchor end” (the part that is attached to the cell wall) is unchanged. So they take up their position in the cell wall, like a guard on the fortress wall. But like a bad guard, they don’t do their job! They let foreign invaders pass unchallenged, and they stop supplies at the gates instead of letting them in.

In short, trans fats are poisons, just like arsenic or cyanide. They interfere with the metabolic processes of life by taking the place of a natural substance that performs a critical function. And that is the definition of a poison. Your body has no defense against them, because they never even existed in our two billion years of evolution — so we’ve never had the need or the opportunity to evolve a defense against them. (more…)

The following is from Mike Adams for health news site NewsTarget.com. This is a list of the negative effects of hydrogenated oils:

* Directly promotes heart disease

* Promotes cancers: breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer

* Results in low birth weight infants

* Raises LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower HDL (good) cholesterol

* Raises blood sugar levels and promotes weight gain

* Interferes with the absorption of essential fatty acids and DHA

* Impairs brain function and damages brain cells

* Accelerates tumor growth

* Accelerates the progress of type-2 diabetes

* Raises serum cholesterol

* Impairs immune system function

* Promotes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

* Impairs development of the brains of fetuses

* Causes gallbladder disease

* Causes liver disease

* Causes 30,000 deaths per year in the United States alone

* Clogs blood, makes blood cells stick together

* Blocks the body’s creation of natural pain-reducing hormones (eicosanoids)

* Causes the creation of free radicals that promote inflammation

* Creates nutritional deficiencies of healthy oils and essential fatty acids (EFAs)

* Promotes cystic fibrosis

* Lowers essential fatty acids in the breast milk of nursing mothers

* Clogs artery walls and promotes atherosclerosis

* Cause gum disease and rotted teeth

* Lowers tissue oxygen intake

* Causes infertility

* Directly damages blood vessels

* Causes high blood pressure

* Weaken cell walls and compromises cellular structure

* Causes dandruff and acne

(more…)

I personally believe that most of the sicknesses and diseases that plague the black community can be traced to this deadly ingredient. With several studies showing that fast food consumption is higher in the black community than white, this makes us prime candidates for the ill effects of these oils.

Now some companies are putting this product in soft gel vitamins…

And yet, vitamin companies – the cheap ones – are taking this ingredient and putting it in soft gels as filler. And that’s not the only ingredient they’re putting in, either. Some vitamin companies are taking artificial colors – that’s right, chemicals extracted from coal tar – and putting them in not only soft gels but in tablets and capsules, too. (more…)