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Washington: Trans fatty acids, found in many of the fast, baked, and processed, may contribute to heart disease, according to mounting evidence that is capped off by a new European study. The risk is so great that the FDA is considering mandatory labeling of trans fatty acid content on food items.
Food manufacturers often put oils through a process called "hydrogenation" to make them solid. This process is sometimes used, for instance, to make solid margarine out of oils that are normally liquid at room temperature, called unsaturated fats. The problem is that this process produces a type of fat made up of trans fatty acids. These are similar to saturated fats (or fats that are solid at room temperature, like butter or lard) but are still chemically distinct. Trans fatty acids also are found naturally in some animal fats.
Increasingly, scientific evidence is demonstrating that eating foods containing trans fatty acids contributes to increases in LDL or "bad" cholesterol and decreases in HDL or "good" cholesterol. They also may have other negative effects on heart health. This is a major concern in North America, where intake of trans fatty acids, which are found not only in margarines but also in many baked goods as well as processed and fast foods, is high and where heart disease is the leading cause of death.
A new study out of the Netherlands adds fuel to the fire. "Until now ... evidence of the relation between trans fatty acid intake and coronary heart disease was limited," researcher Claudia M. Oomen, MS, tells WebMD.
Researchers led by Oomen, a doctoral student at the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, examined the diet and health of almost 700 Dutch men aged 64 to 84 who initially did not have any heart disease. They were followed from 1985 to 1995, during which time consumption of trans fatty acids decreased markedly in the Netherlands. They found that not only did dietary intake of trans fatty acids decrease among the participants during this time period, but also that a decrease in consumption of these fats was associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.
Furthermore, the study, published in the March 10 issue of the British medical journal The Lancet, shows that just a 2% increase in trans fatty acid intake causes a 25% jump in the risk of heart disease.
"People at risk for coronary heart disease are advised to reduce their intake of trans fatty acids by selecting foods with no or low contents of trans fatty acids," Oomen tells WebMD. "Furthermore, this study illustrates that with respect to the trans fatty acid content in foods, food manufacturers can play an important role in population-based strategies to reduce coronary heart disease risk.
"In the Netherlands," she continues, "the intake of trans fatty acids decreased substantially, due to progress in food technology and changes in nutritional habits. Also in other European countries, a reduction in the trans fatty acid content of margarines contributed to a reduction in trans fatty acid intake. In the U.S., until now, the trans fatty acid intake has remained stable because a decrease in trans fatty acids from margarines was counterbalanced by an increase in trans fatty acids from commercially baked products and fast foods. Probably, further reduction in the trans fatty acid content of baked products and fast foods would reduce the risk of coronary heart disease also in the U.S."
So you know you should reduce the amount of trans fatty acids you eat, but how do you know when you're eating them? The FDA may have a solution. It is considering changing regulations regarding food labeling to require that the amount of trans fatty acids be included.
It completed the collection of public comments on this proposal in January, but a final decision remains to be made. A spokesman for the FDA tells WebMD that this decision has been given "A" list priority, meaning that it should be finalized by the end of the agency's fiscal year, which is at the end of September.
Antti Aro, MD, a research professor at the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland, wrote a commentary that accompanied Oomen's study in The Lancet. He warns that you are not doing yourself any favors by substituting trans fatty acids for saturated fats, however, as both probably pose similar risks to your heart. Unfortunately, many baked, processed, and fast foods must contain either trans fatty acids or saturated fats in order to maintain the long shelf life that makes them so popular among supermarkets and consumers alike.
So keeping your heart healthy may require steering clear of the fast food aisle altogether.