Hydrogenated Fats

[mickey]

Are they dangerous? I know that in humans hydrogenated fats HAVE been shown to correlate with the incidence of some cancers. I have to say, although this does not say that hydrogenated fats cause cancer, I have always been reluctant to feed cheap vegetable oils that contain a high amount of this type of fat.
Which type of oil would be best given that I would prefer to avoid those high in hydrogenated fat? Probably just me being fussy/paranoid, but there we go!

 

[TGM]

I won't buy any food with hydrogenated fats in and am an avid label checker these days, as these trans fats have been linked with a whole host of health problems, not just cancer.

For cooking purposes and for feeding the horses I use Sainsbury's vegetable oil, which is actually rapeseed oil. Rapeseed oil is one of the oils recommended by the British Heart Foundation for inclusion in a healthy diet, because it is high in monosaturates, polyunsaturates and has a good ration of Omega 3s to Omega 6s. I presume as Sainsburys has a policy of no hydrogenated fats in any of their own brand foods, then it is pretty safe, but I haven't actually checked this. (Might email them actually!)

The sort of oil I would be wary about is the ones produced for commercial catering purposes - I understand that takeaway outlets in particular favour hydrogenated frying oils due to the higher temperatures that they can reach without burning and the fact that they last longer than other products.

 

[hollyandivy123]

if you hydrogenate fat, it become thicker and eventually end up like margarine which is hydrogenated vegetable oil any veg oil that moves is not hydrogenated

 

[JenHunt]

I spent 6 months looking at fats and oils (lipids) in the horses diet - and i never found any evidence that hydrogenated fats cause any problems with horses.

The main source of these fats is margarines and animal fats (eg lard). there are some parts of the world where dripping and lard are fed to horses, and even with long term high level exposure horses that are kept active (turnout, hacking or more exercise) do not show any advers effects.

Generally any liquid vegetable oil is not going to cause your horse any problem at all as long as you do not feed over 1 cup per meal as more than this can cause diarrhoea as the oil coats the intestinal contents and prevents proper digestion.

hope this helps. pm me if you need more info or help.