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Step 1
Bake your cakes and cookies from scratch using butter or trans fat free margarine. Commercially prepared baked goods provide the highest percentage of trans fats in American diets.
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Step 2
Look for the word "hydrogenated" on the ingredient list. If the amount of trans fats in a product is less than ½ g, manufacturers aren't required to list it on the nutrition facts. The word hydrogenated provides a clue that small amounts of trans fats are present.
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Step 3
Buy frozen vegetables without sauces or gravies. Unadorned vegetables do not contain fat. Flavor your vegetables with a splash of herb infused olive oil.
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Step 4
Choose plain varieties of beans, rice and pasta. Season them yourself with vegetable oils, liquid margarine and herbs.
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Step 5
Create your own salad dressings with heart healthy oils. Commercial salad dressings depend on hydrogenated oils to stabilize the product. Soybean oil and olive oil are better choices.
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Step 6
Use cooking spray to grease pans instead of shortening. Hydrogenation turns a fat that would normally be a liquid into a solid fat by packing hydrogen atoms onto the fatty chains.
