Where have all the trans fats gone?
When perusing the isles of the local grocery store, many people check the nutritional label before throwing the item in the cart. Various people look for different things. Some people check the calorie count, and decide based on that factor alone. Others check fat content alone, or maybe fat and calories. Those who read a lot probably check calories from fat, fiber, and sugar content. Most people nowadays don’t have to read the nutrition label to know that there is “Zero Trans Fat!” in their item. When information about the negative health effects of trans fatty acids became known to the public, a craze began that worked quickly and efficiently: trans fatty acids were removed from foods if the supplier wanted to avoid bankruptcy, and legislation in many states made this change unavoidable. A linear correlation of grams of trans fatty acids and risk of coronary heart disease combined with no possible health benefits of trans fatty acids made the culprit officially “bad for you.” This is all well and good, but a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week warns that those trans fatty acids have to be replaced somehow, and it is important that we understand what is replacing them.
When brands remove fatty acids from their products, something has to take their place. The study looked to research the compositions of popular foods by buying 19 items with a high trans fatty acid concentration, and 19 similar food items with a low concentration of trans fatty acids due to removal by the supplier (removal of trans fats means that the company who prepares the food uses different fats in place of trans fats when making the food). The researchers wanted to find out if removing trans fats was indeed beneficial to health. It was cautioned that perhaps by removing the trans fatty acids from a product, companies were just increasing saturated fatty acid content in its place, which is only minimally healthier. What they found was that thankfully, in most cases the trans fatty acids in popular foods were replaced with “a mixture of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids.” This mixture was found to be healthier and not overloaded with saturated fatty acids. For those of you who do not recall what that means, saturated fats are the most stable fatty acids because their molecular structure allows better packing (yep, fatty acids literally pack together as tightly as possible). The unsaturated variety have kinks in their molecular structure that makes packing more difficult, just like trying to stand close together in a group of people with your elbows out. Saturated fatty acids would be standing with your arms by your side, monounsaturated similar to one elbow out, and polyunsaturated similar to both elbows and a leg sticking out. You get the point, I think.
The conclusion? Well, the food industry actually hasn’t done a bad job in making sure the removal of trans fatty acids has not led to a similarly unhealthy option. Next time you look at the food label, check the composition of fats, and if you remember my analogy, go for the ones with the better fats. Avocados, peanut butter, nuts, all have these kinds.
Tags: coronary heart disease, fats, fatty acids, food, Health, heart, heart attack, metabolism, processed foods
August 18th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
[...] Where have all the trans fats gone? [...]
August 28th, 2009 at 1:27 am
[...] Where have all the trans fats gone? (1) [...]