Posted on 12/28/2006 4:36:20 PM PST by blam
Trans Fats Are Bad, Aren't They?
Janet Raloff
The media have been rife with reports on trans fats since New York City's Board of Health announced it would phase out these fats in restaurants and other food-service establishments. And that's good news for most consumers because trans fats can pose a double whammy for the heart. Not only can they hike a person's bad cholesterol even more than saturated fats can, but they also reduce concentrations of the good cholesterol in blood.
CHEESY EXCEPTION. The trans fats known as conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs), which form naturally in animals, show up in meats and dairy products, such as this cheese. It's not the type of fat that the New York City ban is targeting. Photodisc
Not surprisingly, these largely synthetic fats—designed to stay solid at room temperature, as saturated fats do, and typically used in fried foods and bakery items—have been linked to ailments ranging from coronary heart disease to diabetes (SN: 11/10/01, p. 300).
So, good riddance. Right?
Well, as with so much in science, there are caveats. And there's a big one with the trans fats. Although the vast majority of these fats are unhealthy, there is a minority that are fine to eat and may even prove beneficial.
Known as conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs), some of these trans fats occur naturally in dairy products and meat, especially milk and butter. Others form as a result of chemical processing or cooking. A growing number of studies have demonstrated that, at least in animals, these unusual fats fight a host of chronic health conditions from heart disease to diabetes to cancer (SN: 3/3/01, p. 136). Most recently, several CLAs have shown promise in moderating the runaway inflammation that underlies arthritis, asthma, and even lupus (see Inflammation-Fighting Fat).
A new line of research now aims at naturally increasing the concentrations of these unusual trans fats in foods such as milk and cheeses. Michael W. Pariza of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who discovered the beneficial alter ego of CLA trans fats more than 2 decades ago, suspects that one day they may even be added to foods to fortify their healthiness.
At present, however, most people take in minimal amounts of CLAs.
Nevertheless, data on the potential benefits of these unusual trans fats have been so compelling that the Food and Drug Administration exempted them from the new trans-fat labeling law that went into effect this year (see No Hiding Most Trans Fats). That law had been intended to steer people away from bad fats.
Meanwhile, research continues to malign the synthetic trans fats being targeted by New York City and other health departments. For instance, a major review of the health implications of current U.S. consumption patterns of trans fats appeared in the April 13 New England Journal of Medicine. Walter C. Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, and his colleagues reported that some 2 to 3 percent of people's daily calories typically come from the synthetic trans fats.
Willett's team found that largely eliminating bad trans fats in U.S. diets could improve people's blood cholesterol enough to cut heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems by 3 to 6 percent. That would be up to 72,000 fewer such adverse events per year, the team said. Even better, other advantages from such a dietary shift, such as improved immune systems, could eliminate another 150,000 or so adverse heart events per year.
The team's report also briefly addresses CLAs and notes that they aren't the kind of trans fats that researchers are worried about.
There is one more important caveat about CLAs: As fats, they're high in calories. That means that, as with all energy-dense foods, consumption of their food sources should be kept within moderation.
The National Academy of Science siad that hydrogenated oil is unsafe at any level. I defer to this august body. I don't second guess scientists who have no agenda.
Back to the lard tortillas?
Dr. Melik: ... wheat germ, organic honey and... tiger's milk.
Dr. Aragon: Oh, yes. Those are the charmed substances that some years ago were thought to contain life-preserving properties.
Dr. Melik: You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies or... hot fudge?
[chuckling] Dr. Aragon: Those were thought to be unhealthy... precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.
Dr. Melik: Incredible!
Mmmmmmmm.....sounds yummy!
When I ate at my best friend's house .. son of a doctor ... and had real butter ... I vowed .. when I grow up, I'm eating nothing but butter.
I get whole milk from a local farm and love it cold all year 'round and I buy mothing but butter for cooling, spreading and getting gum out of my granddaughter's hair.
I recently had triple hernias corrections and while they did the intake they asked all the usual ... high blood pressure? Nope. Diabetes? Nope ... etc.
All I take is a multi-vitamin.
Do years of butter and whole milk have anything to do with this? I don't know, but there ain't nuthin' like a couple of slices of warm toast slathered in butter and a glass of cold milk.
Oh yeah, I'm 59.
I read a book in the 1970 titled EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT NUTRITION by David Reuben MD....
He said you shouldn't eat margarine, but should eat butter.
He said cholesterol is not the poison we all think it is.
I am waiting for that point to be proven true, too.
From my cold dead hands will they pry my street-cart Salty Pretzel .........
....calling mayor bloomy.....calling mayor bloomy....someone is saying 'trans fat'....calling mayor bloomy.
Ha, I'm 63 and I went to a urologist for a urinary problem and it turns out my urinary problem was my cholestoral lowering medicine. He said the 'cholestoral problem' was way over-blown.
I dumped the cholestoral medicine and I'm peeing like a race horse again, ahem.
Meantime, health periodicals have been decrying 'trans fats' for years. And then the McDonald's brouha(ha) years ago whereby they were coerced into changing the fat used for their french-fries - a trans-fat combination no doubt.. .
The whole thing is stupid; and worse; dangerous, as we allow Government more power to decide what we can have for dinner. . .lunch or breakfast, for that matter.
"whereby they were coerced into changing the fat used for their french-fries"
So coerced they never even changed as they promised they would.
I like Ted's kill it n' grill it technique with the meat.
All the science does not agree. Shame on Bloomberg pushing this no trans-fat thing in NYC. The idea will take off. Our Politicians will push this through everywhere. Why?
Thinking maybe a lawsuit against big trans-fat makers everywhere. Lots of money to be made. Lawyers wil start class action suits for anyone who ate anything with trans-fats before 2006 and cities, towns and lawyers will all be rich. Cynical- yes. One more point, what about personal choice? Freedoms lost, one issue at a time.
" Freedoms lost"
Waaah. Oh wait, you can still eat Crisco straight from the jar.
( Or did they drop some fallow in there for flavoring. . .do not remember details; save McDonalds 'gifted' a number of vegetarian religious organizations for their 'mistake'. as they lost the lawsuit or maybe they mediated. . . )
they have used for the past three-four years, a a trans-fat reduced formula
Sorry, you are mistaken. They promised to but never did.
LOL! And don't forget to inhale the smoke deep into the lungs...
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