Editor’s note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published on June 7, 2017.
For the past 60 years, saturated fat and cholesterol have been wrongly blamed as the main culprits of heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. But research shows that the real enemy is actually trans fats and processed vegetable oils found in many processed foods.
After decades of demonizing saturated fats, the food industry responded by replacing them with trans fats, which can be stored longer at room temperature, creating a new market for low-fat (high-sugar) foods.
Since then, the health of Americans has plummeted, and millions have died prematurely because of this mistake. To make matters worse, genetically modified soybean oil, a major source of trans fats, can oxidize in the body and cause damage to the heart and brain.
One of the first articles to exonerate saturated fat was written in 1957 by the late Dr. Fred Kummerow.One A man who has spent 80 years studying lipids and heart disease. In 2013, Kummerow sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for not removing trans fats from the market.2 It was Kummero’s lifelong research that revealed the dangers of trans fats and oxidized cholesterol and their link to heart disease.
Not surprisingly, trans fats have also been linked to dementia, as the arterial changes that occur in the heart muscle can also occur in the brain, causing neurological damage. Studies have shown that eating a diet that includes trans fats is dangerous to health and poses a significant financial burden to the American people.
The Rise and Fall of Trans Fats
In 1912, Paul Sabatier was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of hydrogenation, a process that produced partially hydrogenated oils, or trans fats.three Procter & Gamble first introduced Crisco to the public in 1911 as an economical alternative to beef lard and butter.
Unfortunately, this has cost billions of dollars in medical bills and caused hundreds of thousands of premature deaths over the past 80 years. During World War II, butter was rationed to control supply, and manufacturing plants were used to support the war effort, which led to the popularity of margarine containing trans fats. In 1957, the U.S. government recommended that people limit their saturated fat intake, which boosted margarine sales.4
In the 1980s, sales of partially hydrogenated oils snowballed as saturated fat opponents campaigned to ban beef fat and tropical oils for frying and in fast-food restaurants. In the early 1990s, several studies received media attention, showing a link between increased trans fat intake and heart disease. In 1993, advocacy groups called on fast-food chains to eliminate trans fats from their cooking oils.5
At the time, Americans consumed 4 to 7 percent of their calories from trans fat.6 In 2004, Denmark made it illegal for any food to contain more than 2% trans fat.7 According to the World Health Organization, policies restricting trans fats have proven effective in other countries, and the organization is now calling for their complete elimination from the global food supply.8
In 2007, New York City became the first city to ban partially hydrogenated oils in food and spreads at restaurants. A five-year follow-up study found that the average trans fat calories in a customer’s meal dropped from 3% to 0.5%.9
What are trans fats?
Partially hydrogenated oils can withstand repeated heating without decomposing, can turn liquid oils into solids, and are less expensive than animal fats, making them attractive to food manufacturers.10 Baked goods and snacks had a longer shelf life, and manufacturers enjoyed higher profit margins. Trans fats are different from unsaturated fats in that they have only one hydrogen molecule on the opposite side of each carbon bond.11
This one locational change is what causes the differences in fat properties and increased health risks. Most trans fats are manufactured in factories, but some occur naturally in ruminants such as cows, sheep, and goats. These trans fats are produced when bacteria digest grass in the stomachs of animals. They can make up 2% to 5% of the fat in dairy products and 3% to 9% of the fat in beef and lamb.
However, despite their similar molecular properties, several review studies have shown that these types of naturally occurring trans fats do not pose a health risk.12,13,14 This comprehensive review found that while manufactured trans fats pose significant health risks, trans fats from ruminants pose much more limited risks.
One of the more well-known ruminant trans fats is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is known to be very beneficial and is used as a supplement to improve glucose tolerance and lipid metabolism.15,16 CLA is found in high amounts in dairy products from pastured cows and has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease.
New York residents’ health improves after restrictions
When New York strictly limited the amount of trans fat served in restaurants, researchers had a unique opportunity to study the impact on residents and compare heart attack and stroke rates before and after the restriction.17
Researchers found that more than three years after restrictions were imposed in certain New York City counties, there was a 6.2 percent decrease in heart attacks and strokes in those counties compared to areas where trans fat restrictions were not imposed.
Considering that trans fats have been prevalent in the American diet since the late 1950s, the number of unnecessary deaths caused by trans fats is likely to be in the millions nationwide each year for the next 60 years. As author Dr. Eric Brandt, a clinical fellow in cardiovascular medicine at Yale School of Medicine, points out:18
“That’s a pretty big reduction. Our study highlights the power of public policy to influence the cardiovascular health of a population. Trans fats are detrimental to cardiovascular health, and minimizing or eliminating them from the diet can significantly reduce the rates of heart attacks and strokes.”
A similar study from Denmark, which was the first to take action following the studies that demonstrated the dangerous health effects of trans fats, found that after years of restricting trans fats in food production, cardiovascular disease in the population decreased.19 Another study concluded that just a 2 percent increase in calories from trans fat could double the risk of a heart attack.20 This means that even very small amounts of trans fat can have significant health effects.
Trans fats have been linked to nerve damage, heart disease, and diabetes.
In fact, even small amounts of manufactured trans fats can have dangerous effects on your heart, insulin sensitivity, and nervous system. Dr. Jean Bowman, an assistant professor of neurology at Oregon Health & Science University, found a strong correlation between trans fats and cognitive performance in a unique study.21
People with higher levels of trans fat in their blood performed significantly worse on cognitive tests and had smaller brain volumes. Bowman commented on these results:22
“It’s clear that trans fats are bad for your heart, bad for your brain. So I would encourage people to avoid all trans fats. If you’re not sure if something has trans fats in it, look at the ingredients… If you see vegetable shortening, partially hydrogenated… just throw it out. That’s the big message here.”
Trans fats damage the heart muscle and arteries and are linked to coronary heart disease and sudden death from heart disease.23 Researchers have found a link between trans fats and cardiovascular disease through observational and clinical studies.24 A large study of more than 80,000 women found that those who ate a diet high in trans fats—found in processed foods, bakery products, and junk food—had a 40 percent increased risk of diabetes.25
Other studies are inconsistent about whether it causes diabetes or insulin sensitivity. However, while studies on trans fats and glucose control are inconclusive, there is a link between eating foods containing trans fats and weight gain, which is an important risk factor for diabetes and heart disease.
In one animal study, researchers showed increased abdominal obesity.26 And there were cases where weight was gained in the group that ate a diet rich in trans fat and the group that ate a diet without trans fat, even though calorie intake was the same.27
What about vegetable oil?
In response to research and public opinion, many restaurants have switched from partially hydrogenated oils to 100% vegetable oils. However, while these oils are free of trans fats, they can break down when heated into much more dangerous toxic oxidation products, including cyclic aldehydes.
Vegetable oils are high in omega-6 fats, which can cause an imbalance in the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, which can cause or contribute to cardiovascular problems, diabetes, arthritis, cognitive decline, and certain cancers.28 Linoleic acid is the source of all harmful biochemical reactions that occur in vegetable oils.
Linoleic acid (LA) is the main omega-6 fat found in vegetable oils, making up about 80% of the total composition. I believe this is the most damaging toxin in our modern diet. For more on this topic, read my article “Linoleic Acid – The Most Destructive Component in Our Diet”.
Additionally, many vegetable oils produced today (peanut, corn, soy) are genetically engineered and are a significant source of glyphosate exposure. This is another reason to eliminate these oils from your diet.
Vegetable oils cannot be extracted from corn, soybeans, or peanuts, but instead must be chemically extracted, deodorized, and modified to be considered safe to eat. These types of oils are found in most processed foods, from salad dressings and mayonnaise to conventionally cooked nuts and seeds.29,30
Fat is essential for the body to produce hormones and rebuild cells, but it is important that the body can use the fat it consumes. The problem with vegetable oils is that they are unstable, easily oxidized in the body or during production, and cause cell mutations and inflammation.
Decipher food labels
As you can see in this short video, it’s pretty easy to consume more than 1 gram of trans fat every day. Under FDA labeling rules, manufacturers can list the amount of trans fat as 0% if the product has less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving.31 While this may seem like a reasonable idea, manufacturers can vary their serving sizes to meet this rule.
By reducing the serving size, they reduce the amount of trans fat found in each serving, thus meeting FDA rules for “no trans fat” labeling. In fact, they can even advertise no trans fat on the front of the product label.32 So, make it a habit to read the labels on the processed foods you buy. If the serving size is ridiculously small, that’s a sign that you may be consuming trans fats.
Partially hydrogenated oils are the main source of trans fats in processed foods and are listed as partially hydrogenated oils on the ingredients list. These oils can be partially hydrogenated palm oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, vegetable oil, and canola oil. Unfortunately, this is hidden in many processed foods that you can eat at home.33
The thin crust of a pie is often made with vegetable shortening, which is loaded with partially hydrogenated oils. Artificial creamers, frozen dairy desserts, and cake icings are just a few places where partially hydrogenated oils lurk, giving thoroughly processed foods a “creamy” feel.
