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The Communicator - February 2005

What's Wrong With

Trans Fats ?

By Sharon Palmer, RD

voiding saturated fat and cholesterol is already mainstream practice for health-minded

shoppers. But there's a new villain in town: trans fats. Ubiquitous in processed foods, trans

fats increase heart-disease risk and may contribute to diabetes, stroke and cancer.

"People are just starting to get that trans fats are bad, but they don't know why," says Kim Severson,

food reporter and author of The Trans Fat Solution (Ten Speed Press, 2003). Food labels increasingly

cluttered by health claims often confound the problem. Here, we break down what trans fats are and

offer tips on how to avoid them in your diet.

How Trans Fats Form

Trans fatty acids are created when hydrogen is added to a liquid fat, forcibly changing its melting properties

so it remains solid at room temperature a desirable quality for products such as margarine and

shortening. Te prefix "trans" refers to carbon bonds that, during hydrogenation, are folded against their

natural direction, forming a fat that's artificially saturated. Hydrogenation improves shelf life, flavor

stability and "mouthfeel," but it's the birthplace of trans fats.

Like saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, trans fats raise LDL (bad) cholesterol, which accumulates on

artery walls. Even worse, trans fats may lower HDL (good) cholesterol, which transports cholesterol

back to the liver for disposal. In fact, compared with saturated fats, trans fats consumption correlates to

a considerable higher risk for heart problems caused by narrowed arteries (Annals of Nutrition and

Metabolism, 2004, vol.48, no.2).

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