Trans fat is considered the worst type of fat you can eat. The more trans fat you eat, the greater your risk of heart and blood vessel disease. Trans fat is so unhealthy that both EU and FDA recently prohibited food manufacturers from adding the artificial trans fat to foods and beverages. However, the road to eliminating trans fat is not so straightforward, and in many developing nations trans fat intake remains high. The inexpensive partially hydrogenated oils have become staples not only for the food industry, but also for home use.
Trans fats may still be in some of these foods:
But what is trans fat? Trans fat is formed through an industrial process discovered in 1901 by German chemist Wilhelm Normann that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil, which causes the oil to become solid at room temperature. The first food product developed that contained trans fat was Crisco vegetable shortening, introduced in 1911 by Procter & Gamble Company. This partially hydrogenated oil is less likely to spoil, so foods made with it have a longer shelf life. But longer shelf life wasn’t the only reason trans fat became so popular in the 1980s. Especially margarine. By the late 1950s scientists had demonstrated a clear link between the intake of saturated fat and heart disease. Although this founding was contested by subsequent studies that found that the consumption of fats was healthy, the confusion over which types of fat were healthy and which types were unhealthy resulted in numerous lengthy studies designed to identify the physiological effects of each type of fat. In the late 1980s, an association between high intake of saturated fat and increased risk of heart disease was finally firmly established, and saturated fat became "the bad guy". As a result, the consumption of trans fats soared, since they were used in favour of all products containing saturated fats, including lard and butter. By the 1980s, many food manufacturers and restaurants started replacing lard and butter and vegetable oils with trans-fat based products, which had similar smoke points and were thought to be healthier. It wasn’t until a decade later in the 1990s that evidence started to emerge that trans fats carried a higher risk for heart disease than the saturated fats. But then it took nearly another decade for health agencies in various countries worldwide to recognize the need to introduce regulations controlling the amount of trans fats used in manufactured foods. So what are the health risks associated with trans fat? Most importantly, trans fat has an unhealthy effect on the cholesterol levels: it increases the “bad” LDL cholesterol and decreases the “good” HDL cholesterol. Why does it matter? Because HDL, or "good," cholesterol picks up excess of the LDL cholesterol and takes it back to the liver. The excess of LDL, or "bad," cholesterol can build up in the walls of the arteries, making them hard and narrow. If those fatty deposits within the arteries tear or rupture, a blood clot may form and block blood flow to a part of the heart, causing a heart attack; or to a part of the brain, causing a stroke. Grim stuff. How can you avoid trans fat in your diet?
Start by reading the labels, especially the list of ingredients. Don’t be fooled by “Tran fat free” labels. Even if it says the product has 0 grams of trans fats per serving, there may still be up to half a gram of trans fats per serving. Look for words such as vegetable shortening, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil on the list of the ingredients. Those are the trans fats.
Foods free of trans fats aren't automatically good for you. Food makers may substitute other ingredients for trans fat that may not be healthy either. Some of these ingredients, such as tropical oils — coconut, palm kernel and palm oils — contain a lot of saturated fat. Coconut oil is 92%, palm kernel oil 82% and palm oil 50% saturated fat. So try to minimize their consumption as well. Use naturally occurring, unhydrogenated vegetable oils such as canola, safflower, sunflower or olive oil instead.
References:
Ganguly, R., & Pierce, G. N. (2012). Trans fat involvement in cardiovascular disease.Molecular nutrition & food research,56(7), 1090-1096.
Elson CE. Tropical oils: nutritional and scientific issues.Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 1992;31(1-2):79-102
Katan MB, Zock PL, Mensink RP. Trans fatty acids and their effects on lipoproteins in humans. Annual Review of Nutrition. 1995 Jul;15(1):473-93
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2003). “Food Labeling: Trans.” Retrieved from: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2003/07/11/03-17525/food-labeling-trans.
Kara RogersTrans Fat: food product. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/trans-fat
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