/oss/taxonomy/term/441/all en /oss/article/history-general-science/word-cisgender-has-scientific-roots <p>In 2015, the Oxford English Dictionary<a href="https://public.oed.com/blog/december-2015-update-new-words-notes/"> </a><a href="https://public.oed.com/blog/december-2015-update-new-words-notes/">added the word “cisgender”</a> to its ever-evolving listing. It defines the adjective as “designating a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds to his or her sex at birth” and is contrasted with “transgender.”</p> Fri, 12 Nov 2021 17:15:12 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8920 at /oss /oss/article/food-health/4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal <p>If you feed varying amounts of trans-4-hydroxy-2-nonenal to rats, they develop kidney and liver problems and some may even die. So why should anyone care? Because this substance, which we will call HNE for short, forms in our body when free radicals react with fats. We can’t avoid exposure to free radicals because they are generated when our body uses oxygen. Luckily though, we are equipped with antioxidant defenses in the form of vitamins and that can deal with these rogue substances. However, when these defenses falter, oxidative damage occurs.</p> Sun, 18 Aug 2013 14:20:23 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2001 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-food-health-news/stoned-food <p>The effort to eliminate trans fats from our diet may have more benefits than expected. There is near unanimous agreement that trans fats increase the risk of heart disease but eliminating them may even have an effect on the obesity epidemic. It isn’t because trans fats are any higher in calories than other fats, it’s a question of the company they keep, namely specific polyunsaturated fats. Vegetable oils such as corn, cottonseed and soybean cannot be repeatedly reheated without decomposing, so they are not a good choice for frying in commercial food production.</p> Fri, 14 Feb 2014 12:56:14 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2097 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-diets-food-health-news/it-looks-there-something-atkins-diet-after-all <p>Who would have guessed that a song by the Guess Who would become a health anthem? “Silent footsteps crowding me, Sudden darkness but I can see, No sugar tonight in my coffee, No sugar tonight in my tea, No sugar to stand beside me, No sugar to run with me.” Not exactly the most brilliant lyrics, but not a bad message.</p> Tue, 22 Apr 2014 13:01:53 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2131 at /oss /oss/article/science-science-everywhere/junk-food-addiction <p>We like sweets and we like fats. That’s why we serve cheesecake for dessert instead of carrot sticks. Great for the taste buds but not for the waistline. And when the belt starts to become too tight, we try to forget the dessert. But some people just can’t. They have all the best intentions to shed those extra pounds, but they just can’t give up eating the sweetened fatty stuff. It is as if they were addicted to junk food. And they may well be, at least based on an interesting study carried out at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida. Let’s make something clear right off the bat here.</p> Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:04:07 +0000 Joe Schwarcz 1663 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know-you-asked/are-all-fats-created-equal <p>Not all saturated fats are created equal. They have a different effect on blood cholesterol depending on the number of carbon atoms in their molecular structure. Lauric acid, the predominant fatty acid in coconut oil has twelve carbons and unlike longer chain fatty acids does not raise LDL the "bad cholesterol" significantly but does elevate HDL, the "good cholesterol."  This does not make it into any sort of "miracle fat" because like any other fat, it is high in calories (9 calories per gram).</p> Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:25:22 +0000 OSS 1726 at /oss /oss/article/science-science-everywhere/making-trans-fat-free-margarine <p>Margarine originally was a cheap butter substitute made by emulsifying beef fat with water or milk. Eventually animal fat was replaced by partially saturated vegetable fats, hardened by the process of hydrogenation, mainly for economic reasons. When saturated fats were linked with increased blood levels of cholesterol, margarine became a quasi-drug, at least until trans fats, byproducts of the hydrogenation process reared their ugly heads.</p> Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:25:18 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1632 at /oss