Aaron Hartman, MDFunctional Medicine Specialist | Clinical Researcher

REAL Fat vs FAKE Fat: The Problem With Hydrogenated Oils #shorts

9 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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0:49

In this short, Dr. Aaron Hartman explains the concept of plasticization—how liquid oils can be turned into solid forms, a process also used to make plastics. He describes how hydrogenating oils partially plasticizes them, creating semi‑solid fats like margarine and Crisco. This hydrogenation adds extra hydrogen atoms, producing trans fats, which are less biologically active and harder to digest. While hydrogenated oils have the advantage of longer shelf life, their altered molecular structure makes them detrimental to health, contributing to the problems associated with trans fats and other processed junk foods.

Chapters

So one concept I talk to people about is the idea of plasticization. It's taking an oil liquid and turning it into a solid object. Plastic, for example, comes from oil, comes from crude oil. It used to be solid, it used to be liquid at one point in time, now it's solid. That's the exact process we do with making margarine, making Crisco. And when you take oils and you hydrogenate them, you partially plasticize them. Not enough that you see it, but they are at the molecular level. That's ultimately what turns trans fats are, which is one of the reasons they're so detrimental to your health. Hydrogenated oils are oils that get extra hydrogen added onto them, shortening, junk food. One of the advantages of the hydrogenation product is this process that extends the shelf life, so these, these oils will last longer, but makes them not biologically active and not digestible. Same thing with trans fats, they become not biologically active and not digestible, so that can cause some issues.