Pay attention to the hidden dangers of coffee partners affecting their health.

If you ask what a coffee partner is, most people might say: it's milk that makes coffee white and thick. In fact, if you carefully look at the instructions on the coffee partner, I am afraid you will find that the truth is thousands of miles away. In fact, the "trans fatty acids" contained in it have been recognized by the nutrition community to be harmful to cardiovascular health.

On the front of the coffee companion, there are three small characters: "plant fat powder". What is it? The ingredient says: the first ingredient is "glucose syrup", a slightly sweet mixture that thickens the solution after hydrolysis of starch. The second ingredient is "hydrogenated vegetable oil", a semi-solid oil formed by artificial catalytic hydrogenation of soybean oil or rapeseed oil. The third component is sodium caseinate, the soluble protein salt formed by the processing of casein in milk. Then there are three types of food additives: stabilizers, emulsifiers and anti-caking agents.

Dangerous "trans fatty acids" do not exist in food additives, but are brought about by "hydrogenated vegetable oils". After artificial catalytic hydrogenation, most of the natural unsaturated fatty acids in vegetable oil become saturated fatty acids, and the unsaturated fatty acids may lose their natural cis structure and produce unnatural "trans fatty acids".

As early as 1981, scientists found that people who died of coronary heart disease had higher levels of trans fatty acids in body fat than normal people. In recent years, a number of studies have confirmed that trans fatty acids can increase serum total cholesterol, serum total fat and low density lipoprotein cholesterol, and reduce high density lipoprotein cholesterol. Moreover, the more trans fatty acids in the diet, the higher the mortality rate of coronary heart disease. The nutrition community is convinced that trans fatty acids are more dangerous than saturated fatty acids because saturated fatty acids only raise blood lipids but do not lower beneficial high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Some new studies have initially shown that trans fatty acids may also increase the incidence of breast cancer and diabetes, and may affect the growth and development of children and the health of the nervous system.

However, with the continuous westernization of diet, trans fatty acids have penetrated into Chinese life. In addition to coffee companions, vegetable cream, ice cream and pastries in supermarkets may contain hydrogenated vegetable oils. Crispy pastries, Danish buns, Indian cakes and loose "pies" taste unique because of hydrogenated vegetable oil, while fried chicken and French fries in American fast food are crispy because of hydrogenated vegetable oil. Today, foods such as butterscotch, chocolate, peach pastry, biscuits, cakes, cookies, egg rolls, ice cream and even fast food soup may contain hydrogenated vegetable oils.

For the sake of public health, many countries are studying to limit the content of trans fatty acids in food, at least to inform the public that the food contains trans fatty acids. If the words "hydrogenated vegetable oil", "plant cream", "plant butter", "plant fat", "plant fat powder", "shortening", "plant cream" and "margarine" are found in the list of ingredients, such as "hydrogenated vegetable oil", "plant cream", "plant butter", "vegetable fat", "vegetable cream", "margarine" and so on, we must be vigilant, because that means the product may contain trans fatty acids.

So what should I do if I drink coffee without a coffee companion? The best way is to add hot whole milk directly. Milk coffee is not only equally fragrant, but also has higher nutritional value.