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A podcast that helps you understand the fascinating chemistry hidden in your everyday life.
Have you ever wondered why onions make you cry? Or how soap gets your hands clean? What really is margarine, or why do trees change colors in the fall? Melissa is a chemist, and to answer these questions she started a podcast, called Chemistry for your life!
In each episode Melissa explains the chemistry behind one of life’s mysteries to Jam, who is definitely not a chemist, but she explains it in a way that is easy to understand, and totally fascinating.
If you’re someone who loves learning new things, or who wonders about the way the world works, then give us a listen.
Hey, y'all. You already got a sneak peek of this in last week's episode. But as a little part 2 to our butter series, we're gonna talk about what are trans fats and are they evil?
Jam:And this is an episode we did from a couple years ago. Mhmm. They're rebroadcasting because it's so on point, so related, so much so that we referenced it a bunch in that episode, like Melissa said. It's super interesting, so you're definitely gonna like it.
Melissa:And it's one of our 1st ever episode. It came out in the 1st month of the podcast just existing. So it might be a little dusty. Yeah.
Melissa:We might not be in our current groove.
Jam:Yeah. We probably sound a little different. That's one of the things that's so painful. So going back and listening to some of the earliest ones just for us, not hopefully, not for you guys. It's just like, oh, we sound so uncomfortable.
Jam:We sound so Overly self conscious. We're just weren't used to the, you know, everything of it all.
Melissa:It was scary. It was scary at that time.
Jam:And we Melissa used to also listen to herself while we recorded, which I always threw her off.
Melissa:Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.
Jam:We quickly figured out that was not a good idea.
Melissa:Anyway necessary.
Jam:From the past and if we're on a topic.
Melissa:Yeah. So enjoy this week's episode, and have fun learning about trans fats.
Jam:Happy listening.
Melissa:Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:I'm a chemist.
Jam:And I'm not.
Melissa:And this is chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast that helps you understand the chemistry of everyday life.
Melissa:So this week, we're going to be talking about trans fats. It's a callback from last week, so you might wanna go tune into that episode. But before we get into it, how are you doing today, Jim?
Jam:I'm doing well. I don't have any Real eventful stuff, I don't think, since last time we talked. But how about you?
Melissa:I'm listen. I'm craving a donut really badly.
Jam:Dude, I have been there probably every single day of my life is pretty much how I felt about donuts.
Melissa:Well, I'm in a no sweets challenge. Oh. Oh. And I can't have a dessert until Friday, and it's Tuesday right now.
Jam:Yeah. It's a long three and a half days or whatever.
Melissa:And I haven't had any sweets since Sunday night. Uh-huh. I usually have multiple sweets every day.
Jam:Oh, man.
Melissa:It's rough, but you know what? I'm already planning. I'm gonna have Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory on Friday, and I'm just holding on to that to get me through it.
Jam:But doesn't that make it more enjoyable? I mean, like, To have to wait for something?
Melissa:Yeah. And then you get it.
Jam:Like, if we did that with everything, I think we would, I guess, be happier people. It's like, we found a way to make ourselves have to limit stuff Until we could reach whatever date limit that is or whatever. And then whatever we get, that we planned for, that we waited for, would taste that much better or be much and more enjoyable.
Melissa:I'm fully convinced that TV was better when it was released episodically.
Jam:Oh, yeah.
Melissa:I remember talking on the phone to my friend about the season series finale of Gilmore Girls.
Jam:I even remember I mean, there's still a lot of TV that is released episodically, but I remember, like, even shows like The Office and stuff back when they were airing Mhmm. Then, The like, there was a whole deal about, like, watching it. Oh, it's gonna come out. Oh, yeah. The new episode of The Office is coming out today.
Jam:And it was, like, a bigger deal. Now we And
Melissa:we were all joined together in that.
Jam:Now we couldn't care less, like, when it actually comes out. We're just like, oh, is it gonna release the whole thing at once or not? Jeez. We're just so horny.
Melissa:Binge all of it. Yeah. I don't watch The new episodes of Brooklyn 99 episodically because I wanna binge them. Interesting.
Jam:But it
Melissa:would be more satisfying if I didn't. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway so, you know, that's Yeah. That's my thing this week is I just really want some dessert.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:What do you donuts and cheesecake and churros have in common? They're all better if you wait.
Melissa:They're all better if you wait
Melissa:a minute.
Melissa:Okay. So trans fats, are you ready? Yeah.
Jam:I've been on the edge of my seat. I'm like, what the heck? Like, I thought all this stuff was so good, is great, and then, like, There's like this little bit of a tinge of cliff hangingness like like a show. Mhmm. And it feels like, oh, no.
Jam:Like, I thought all this stuff was awesome. Scientists finally figured out how to get the stuff to be solid, And then, uh-oh, it unleashed some some horrible force into the world.
Melissa:Some horrible force into the world. Okay. So have you heard of trans fats?
Jam:Yes. I have.
Melissa:What have you like, what do you know about trans fats?
Jam:I have heard that trans fats are bad. Okay. And I think at some point in my life, it was explained to me what they were to some degree by someone who may maybe You know what they're talking about? Maybe didn't I don't remember well enough. So I don't have enough, like, stuff to call back on to really have any footing, Or even yeah.
Jam:It's not I don't I don't think I remember anything specifically enough at all.
Melissa:Okay. Well so
Melissa:we're gonna talk about what they are, what they are on a molecular level, and, give a brief idea about what doctors think about their impact on us. But Before we do that, I want to remind the listeners why we're talking about trans fats at all. So I want you to give a brief review of what we talked about last week. Like, what is the thing that brought us to this point?
Jam:Yes. Okay. So So we talked about the difference between butter and margarine and how, oil can be Made a solid at room temperature so that it can be used as a butter replacement, which we've all experienced in margarine. We just talked about how that takes place, and it's the hydrogenation. Mhmm.
Jam:Is that right?
Melissa:Yes. Way to remember the jargon.
Jam:And, so they add hydrogen to it, and, you'll have to listen to that whole episode to to hear all the details. But, basically, it makes it to where it can be used as a butter replacement because it's Solid at room temperature. And then if I recall, we're talking about that, and then you were like, yes. And there's some crazy things that can happen, and that is trans fat.
Melissa:That is trans fat. That's correct. Okay. So when that hydrogenation takes place
Melissa:Mhmm.
Melissa:Sometimes it doesn't delete all the double bond. I like to say delete, but hydrogenate all the double bonds.
Jam:Got it. I saw I delete as well. It helps me.
Melissa:Helps. Yeah. That I think it helps. It sounds less intimidating than hydrogenation or hydrogenate the double bonds. So sometimes it can make the double bonds, switch their forms or even migrate.
Melissa:And getting into the details of that, I don't think is worthwhile of how it migrates or how it makes them switch forms.
Jam:K.
Melissa:Not worthwhile for this episode, but I do wanna talk about the forms that the double bond can take.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So you hear about trans fats all the time. You never hear about cis fats. But there fats? Cis.
Jam:S y s?
Melissa:CIS. CIS. Okay. So there's trans and cis double bonds. Now I'm gonna try to make you imagine this.
Melissa:And if It's too hard for the listener to understand this. We'll also post pictures on Instagram.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Because I think sometimes It's too complex to describe shapes on a podcast. But I'm gonna try, but we'll also have visual aids posted on the Instagram, Twitter, or whatever.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So Imagine, if you will, a double bond as just 2 straight lines. Got it? Just 2 straight lines like railroad tracks parallel to each other. Okay.
Melissa:Now Usually, there's on either side of that two straight line shape.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:There's either going to be a hydrogen or a carbon. Okay. So the hydrogen will be sort of a non player in this description at the time. Okay. So imagine the other carbon is just a bond and that bond can either go up on both sides of the double bond that you've already imagined.
Melissa:So almost like a u with a flat bottom.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So it's a line that is on a diagonal downwards and then 2 bonds and then another line that's on a diagonal upwards. So they're
Jam:So u is kinda wide.
Melissa:Oh, a wide u.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Now the other option is to take the One side of the u and instead of it pointing up, flip it down as if it's almost an s or a z.
Jam:Okay. K.
Melissa:Okay. So when the 2 are on the same side and making the u shape, that's a cis double bond. The Major things bonded to it are on the same side, and that's why it's cis.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:If the You've got the flipped down version.
Jam:Like a z or a s?
Melissa:Like the z or the s. Uh-huh. The major things bonded to it are on opposite sides.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:That is called a trans double bond.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So in nature, most fats naturally occurring have the double bonds in the cis shape.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:When we hydrogenate, something happens, Don't get too worried about the details of what Okay. That will change those cis double bonds to trans double bonds.
Jam:Oh, no.
Melissa:Oh, no. And now we've messed with nature.
Jam:Man, nature has a way back at us. So here's my first question then, and maybe I'm It's too far head butt. Is that bad?
Melissa:So in chemistry, inorganic chemistry, Not really. For for my reactions, it's just a matter of what I desire. Do I want cis, or do I want trans? What is my end goal, what is my product. K.
Melissa:In our bodies, it seems like that is bad. So they haven't fully understood the health effects at this time. They're still studying them, but it does seem like having those trans bonds or trans fats
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Present in your margarine or whatever can increase risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Jam:Dang it. We thought we hacked the system. We thought we made a blood replacement. Those supposed to be better, and then we made it worse.
Melissa:And then you you Potentially. You potentially made it worse. Yeah. And so now you'll see a lot of, like, products for margarine, butter replacement, whatever, say no trans fats on them.
Jam:Okay. So they're able to prevent it or get rid of it?
Melissa:Once they realized that it was happening and it seemed to point to the fact that trans fats were not ideal for our bodies Uh-huh. They are now finding ways to avoid making them.
Jam:Got it. Okay. Cool. So there's a window of time where it was, like, open season. There was all kind of trans stuff going unchecked, and now It's more of a thing that they they they can prevent.
Melissa:Yes. I think initially, they just didn't realize that it posed any kind of negative health effects.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And this is sort of an interesting thing that happens in chemistry where things that look like they're the same to the blind eye or to a non chemist eye or even to some chemist, once they get in your body and start messing around, can have totally unanticipated effects.
Jam:So
Melissa:we can talk about this more in the future, but there are even left and right handed molecules that can have different impacts. Cis or chain bonds can have different impacts. Artificial sweeteners are play with that same thing where your body's not processing them the same way because Yeah. They're not exactly the way it occurs in nature.
Jam:I actually just yeah. It's a feature thing. I just read something about that that was kind of mind blowing about artificial sweeteners. It's kinda scary. Chemistry does have this dark side.
Jam:I'm like, do I know like, not that is inherent, but, I mean, like, In a lot of these explanations and looking under the surface of stuff that we either eat or drink or whatever Mhmm. Everyday stuff. Yeah. There could be a dark side to a lot of It sounds like.
Melissa:Yeah. Well and I think that's why we have to be careful about the language we use. In the food industry, especially, where people will say chemical free, nothing is really chemical free.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Everything is made up of chemicals. Do you mean dangerous chemical free?
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:How can we ensure that?
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Do you mean Trans fat free? Do you mean pesticide free? In science, the word organic essentially means carbon based.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:In the food industry, the word organic means who knows what.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So I think we have to be really careful about how we use that language and be respectful of the benefits and threats that science poses.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:So one example of that, of the being respectful and moving forward cautiously with messing too too much with nature and stuff. There was a morning sickness medication called Thalidomide. Uh-huh. And, Basically, there was a left handed version and a right handed version of that molecule. Mhmm.
Melissa:And I don't know which of it was the left or the right. You know, one of those versions, let's just say the left handed version, was a good suppressant of morning sickness. And Women could take it who are pregnant, and they would not have morning sickness. But the other version of the molecule caused very dangerous birth defects in babies. Version.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And they only sold the morning sickness one, the safe one. Mhmm. But in situ, in your body
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:It could convert back to the left and right handed version mixture.
Jam:Oh my gosh.
Melissa:And they didn't anticipate that happening.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And so there was the generation of babies born with defects as birth defects as a result of this medicine.
Jam:Wow. Gosh.
Melissa:Yeah. But, actually, the US FDA did not allow for the distribution of that in America. So that's part of why we have institutions like the FDA is to help protect us when it comes to messing with things that we're putting in our bodies and sciences, and they're regulating that. So that happened in Europe. We didn't have those same things here in America because It hadn't been cleared for distribution yet in America.
Jam:Wow. Man, that's crazy. Yeah. Dang. I'm thankful that we have those processes.
Jam:I mean, it makes sense. You'd I think we all would assume that they have that in place. Mhmm. But then you hear a story like that, and you're like, wow. We you are, like, one approval away from something Something that could cause a lot of harm for a lot of people.
Jam:Yeah. Especially especially something like that applicable, like, something that comes on the market that's for more sickness. Something that people, You know, immediately would want, oh, that's great. I'll I'll take that. Yeah.
Jam:And then immediately, it starts having effects on a large amount of people. Yeah. It was like It's like 1 decision in a way, 1 one signature away or whatever it is from potential harm to people. So
Melissa:So those are those are the different forms molecules can take that can have unanticipated impacts even though they seem to be the same from the naked eye. Like, what's a double bond, cis, or trans? It doesn't matter a ton, but it has way more impacts than you could realize.
Jam:Yeah. Man.
Melissa:Okay. Are you ready to explain that one back to me?
Jam:Yes. I am.
Melissa:You can just do it in the context of the trans fats if you want because The other one was sort of a tangent, but interesting.
Jam:So trans fats. So, in double bonds, They often have a shape that is that, like, open u thing.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And that's the most normal it occurring in nature. I mean, that's, like, the most common.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And for some reason, this one's kinda easy, but for some reason, when we hydrogenate
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Or make the oil to where it could be solid room temperature.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:When we do that and start messing with those bonds and stuff, For some reason I mean, some of there's there's information about it, but we didn't go that deep.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:But, An unintended consequence was that some of those that are the cis. Right? The u shape is the sish? Sish? Sis.
Jam:Yeah. The u shape is the sis. For some reason, those can change to being the z s shape Mhmm. Of trans Wait. What do you call it trans is it trans fat?
Jam:What's like the is there a
Melissa:It's a trans double bond. Okay. But if a fat contains trans double bonds, they are called trans fats in the vernacular, like, in everyday life.
Jam:And that can happen as an unintended consequence as of with messing with those bonds and introducing
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Hydrogen. And that simple change can have pretty big impact on our bodies as we ingest That substance.
Melissa:Yeah. You got it, man.
Jam:That that sounded a lot less like I think partly because you helped with the shapes from the beginning. Mhmm. I made it a lot less layman sounding because there weren't a ton of, like, crazy terms in the 1st place. Mhmm. But
Melissa:Yeah. This one's kind of a shorty. It's pretty straightforward, but you can't really do it without doing the the margarine one that we did first. So, it's kind of a short one. It's a little bit more straightforward, but I feel like it's important.
Melissa:It's not something you wanna miss out on if we've already are having that other conversation anyway.
Jam:Yeah. Wow. That's trans fat.
Melissa:That's it. So you got it. You're a regular expert. Well, thanks for listening and learning with us today.
Jam:Melissa and I have a lot of ideas for topics of chemistry in everyday life, but we wanna hear from you. You can reach out to us at Gmail or on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook At chem for your life, that's chem, f o r, your life, to share thoughts and ideas. And if you enjoy this podcast, you can subscribe on your favorite podcast app. And, also, if you really like it, you can write a review on Apple Podcasts. That'd really help.
Melissa:This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Colany and Jame Robinson. Jame Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to Autumn Kivasong and Grant Trotter who reviewed this episode.
Jam:Okay. It's time to find out.
Melissa:It's happening.
Jam:Who's winning t shirts?
Melissa:Yay. I'm so excited.
Jam:Okay. So we've got all the names In a random picker thing online. So you guys are gonna hear this as we're hearing. Obviously, you're you're hearing this later because recorded. But, like, You are finding out in that real time kind of way.
Melissa:Yay. I'm so excited.
Jam:Okay. The 1st winner these are the username, so you're gonna have to reach out to us and let us know who you are because we don't know who all these people are. A lot of us usernames are a little funky. No offense. Okay.
Jam:The 1st winner is Aurora Del Mar. That's Aurora yeah. Aurora Del Mar is the, username of the 1st winner.
Melissa:The title of that review, in case you don't remember your username, which I think can sometimes be the case as they save forever is a fun way to learn about the chemistry at work around us.
Jam:So, Aurora, reach out to us in through Email or Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, any of those, and we'll figure out how to get this shirt to you. Okay. Let's find out who's next.
Melissa:The next winner is Nikki dot new.
Jam:So, Nikki, reach out to us on any of the social media things or whatever. We could figure out how to get this shirt to you.
Melissa:And, Nikki, the name of your review is Fun and comprehensible. Even my baby likes it. Oh, that's cute, baby.
Jam:Okay. The 3rd winner we're doing 4 total. So the 3rd winner of a T shirt is baby baby.
Melissa:Baby. Reach out to us. And your The title of yours is so excited, exclamation point. So if you're a navy baby, reach out to us on Gmail, Twitter, whatever.
Jam:And, hopefully, you're even more excited now that you have a free t shirt.
Melissa:Yeah. Woo hoo.
Jam:Okay. And the final winner of a free t shirt is
Melissa:a squared 713. So if you're a squared 713, then you're our final winner, and you're gonna get a free chem for your life t shirt. And the title of your review is my friends think I'm smart. That's such a good title. Perfect.
Melissa:Well, those are our winners. So we have
Melissa:not ordered the shirts yet. We wanted to be able to get them in the size that each person chose to do.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So just reach out to us on email, Twitter, Instagram with your, name and your size, and we'll go ahead and get those ordered and find a way to get them shipped to you.
Jam:Guys, thanks so much for writing reviews. Everyone who did that, it was really, really helpful. We really appreciate Mhmm. You taking the time to do that. Yeah.
Jam:And, we just wanted to 1, it helps us a lot, but we wanna be find a way to give back to you by doing this this fun giveaway thing. So we'll probably do Do another one in the future at some point. So, keep your ears out for that.
Melissa:Keep your ears out, and keep those reviews coming, please.
Jam:Yes.