Trans fats: Labeled but Lurking
Is one trans fat, CLC, better than the others?
by J. Strax
PSA Rising September 9, 2003; updated April 20, 2006. You've probably heard by now: beware trans
fatty acids. In dietary guidelines last year the U.S. government warned citizens to consume as little trans fat as possible. New labeling regulations for foods came into force this year (2006) and total trans fats must now be listed on food labels. However, many processed foods high in trans fats remain unlabelled and some labels have been found to under-report the level of trans fats in the product.
As one who was raised in W. W. II on British national margarine ("axle grease") -- and preferred it to butter -- I guess trans fats are solidly packed into my body, part of the inner lethal weapon that will bring me down. I was interested to learn a couple fo year ago that the "chemical recipe" for a trans fatty acid, according to Brian Olshansky, M.D., a cardiologist and University of Iowa Health Care professor of internal medicine, "involves putting hydrogen atoms in the wrong place. It's like making a plastic."
"The problem with trans fatty acids is that your body doesn't know what to do with them," Olshansky said in a press release in 2003 which we carried on this page. "Trans fatty acids may help preserve food so that it tastes good, but your body can't break them down and use them correctly," Olshansky said. "Normal fats are very supple and pliable, but the trans fatty acid is a stiff fat that can build up in the body and create havoc."
If trans fats seem to have zoomed into consumer awareness, remember, for decades food manufacturers and processors cloaked them in the kind of lingo you skip over when you're scanning a label on a package of Oreos. Trans fats are the "hydrogenated" and "partially hydrogenated" fat ingredients in cake mixes, store baked cookies, pie crusts and donuts, in chewy candies, and in supermarket peanut butter. Hydrogenation is the process of turning liquid vegetable oils into hardened fats -- as in classic shortening and margarine par excellence. Hydrogenation increases shelf life and saves big bucks by making it possible to store fats longer at room temperature. And it gives cakes, cookies and pie crusts a fake buttery texture and moist "mouth feel," which consumers like. Trans fats are the Twinkie of fats.
Trans fats in foods like french fries, fried chicken, and unwrapped donuts have a free pass as far as labeling goes, although large restaurant chains do practice voluntary disclosure. McDonald's, the world's largest restaurant chain, said in February, 2006 that after adopting a new testing method management discovered that its fries contain a third more trans fats than previously known and listed on the label.
As reported by MSNC, ("McDonald's french fries just got fatter") "a portion of large fries is eight grams, up from six, with total fat increasing to 30 grams from 25.
And now it turns out that fast food at McDonald's franchises varies by country. As Free Republic picked up from AP Yahoo News:
Trans fats are harmful in tiny quantities. Trans fats can clog linings of blood
vessels and surfaces in the brain.
Trans fatty acids are linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high
cholesterol and even to sudden cardiac death.
Prostate cancer is not on this list. Is this one food worry that
men who are primarily concerned about prostate cancer can shrug off?
No.
Mark Moyad, a University of Michigan specialist in nutrition for men
with prostate cancer prostate cancer, says prostate cancer patients should follow
advice for a healthy heart.
Hormonal suppression for prostate cancer
may elevate cardiovascular risk. Researchers in London, UK report that
loss of androgens in men leads to stiffer arteries and elevated insulin
level.
Heart disease is of course the number one cause of death. Mark Moyad says: "The number one or number two cause of
death in prostate cancer patients is also cardiovascular disease." Keeping
this in mind, Moyad says, does not "belittle the impact of prostate
cancer," it helps men and their doctors to remember that "the
ultimate goal of healthy lifestyle recommendations is to reduce the burden
of both of these major causes of death, especially after definitive prostate
therapy. Patients need to be encouraged to know their cholesterol levels
and other cardiovascular markers including blood pressure, as well as being
aware of their prostate-specific antigen values."
Moyad says: "Patients should not smoke, they should reduce their
intake of saturated and trans fats, increase their consumption of a diversity
of fruit and vegetables, consume moderate quantities of dietary soy or
flaxseed, increase their consumption of fish or fish oils and other omega-3
fatty acids, as well as maintaining a healthy weight, getting at least
30 min/day of physical activity, and lifting weights several times a week." What
is good for the heart, he says, is "generally found to be healthy
for the prostate."
Is any trans fatty acid good?
"I'm recommending to my patients not to eat products with trans fatty
acids and to keep away from processed foods and fast foods until they improve,", Olshansky
said.
Go for what's fresh instead, he said, citing a study published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association that showed eating fresh food
can lower your cholesterol as much as taking a statin medication.
"Good" fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated
fats, including olive, canola and peanut oils. They should
be stored in a cool dark place to keep them from going rancid. You can
also supplement your diet with omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, nuts
and some grains.
To make things more complex, some scientists and health advocates say that some naturally occurring trans fats, found in the meat and especially the milk of ruminant animals and in some plant oils are actually healthy. In grass-eating animals, these trans fats are formed as a normal part of the digestive processes by bio-hydrogenation of dietary fatty acids by microbial enzymes in the rumen.
Olshansky says one good trans fat is CLA (conjugated linoleic
acid). CLA actually improves the immune system and reduces the risk of
cancer. Most of the reported evidence for anti-cancer benefits
of CLA is about colon cancer. Recent research puts the brakes on enthusiasm. A team of researchers in Aberdeen, writing in 2004, said: "Recent reports, albeit in the minority, that CLAs, particularly the trans-10, cis-12 isomer, can elicit pro-carcinogenic effects in animal models of colon and prostate cancer and can increase prostaglandin production in cells . . . warrant further investigation and critical evaluation in relation to the many published anti-cancer and anti-prostaglandin effects of CLAs."
Posted September 9, 2003 by J. Strax. Updated and re-edited April 20, 2006. Sources: University of Iowa Health Center; Mark Moyad; PUBMED.
References
Prog Lipid Res. 2004 Nov;43(6):553-87. Conjugated linoleic acids: are they beneficial or detrimental to health? Wahle KW, Heys SD, Rotondo D. School of Life Sciences, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK
J. Nutr. 136(4):893Â898 (2006). Trans-10,cis-12, not cis-9,trans-11, conjugated linoleic acid inhibits G1-S progression in HT-29 human colon cancer cells. Cho HJ, et al.
Carcinogenesis. 2004 Jul;25(7):1185-91. Conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) decrease prostate cancer cell proliferation: different molecular mechanisms for cis-9, trans-11 and trans-10, cis-12 isomers. Occhoa JJ et al.
Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, Department of Physiology, University of Granada, C/Ramon y Cajal 4, 18071, Granada, Spain.
Fatty Acids ... The Lipid Library
Analysis of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) The Lipid Library
Curr Opin Urol. 2003 Mar;13(2):137-45. The
use of complementary/preventive medicine to prevent prostate cancer recurrence/progression
following definitive therapy: part I--lifestyle changes. Moyad MA.
Department of Urology, University of Michigan Medical Center, 1500 East
Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI
Clin Sci (Lond). 2003 Feb;104(2):195-201. Testosterone
suppression in men with prostate cancer leads to an increase in arterial
stiffness and hyperinsulinaemia. Dockery F, Bulpitt CJ, Agarwal S,
Donaldson M, Rajkumar C. Section of Geriatric Medicine, Imperial College
Faculty of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0NN, UK.
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