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Lower Cholesterol Without Drugs
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Chapter 5: Trans Fatty Acids______________________________________________________ Hydrogenated vegetable oils actually warrant a separate chapter for many reasons. These are the worst possible fats you can eat and are even more harmful that the saturated animal fats. These are in so many of our foods and often well hidden that it is difficult to avoid them. Hydrogenated vegetable oils are unnatural and do not exist in nature, so our bodies simply do not know how to deal with them much less digest them. People just don’t realize how unhealthy these fats are, or they would quit eating countless tons of them every year. Read the labels of every food you buy and you’ll be amazed at just how common they really are in America. It is very difficult to avoid these in restaurants since it is not required to list them on the menu.
Margarine is not, “better than butter”, and never has been. Food manufacturers found they could extend the shelf life of foods and make them less subject to rancidity by using these cheap, artificial, manmade creations. This is done by subjecting inexpensive vegetable oils, especially cottonseed and soy, to extremely high pressure and heat, and saturating them with hydrogen gas using exotic metal catalysts like platinum. This “saturates” the vegetable oil molecule artificially with hydrogen atoms. This extends shelf life at the cost of your health. In this chapter we will prove to you beyond any doubt that these laboratory creations are hurting your health and shortening your life. Never again knowingly buy or eat any foods containing them. There are many, many studies on the negative effects of trans fatty acids, but we will only look at a few of the most informative human ones done at some of the most prominent clinics in the world.
At the University of Kuopio in Finland (Metab. Clin. Exper. v. 48, 1999) healthy women were studied in a randomized cross-over protocol by giving them the usual high saturated fat European diet or diets high in hydrogenated oil. A mere 5% hydrogenated oil in their diet caused higher total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels in just four weeks. They concluded the hydrogenated fat diet, “resulted in a higher total/ HDL cholesterol ratio, and an elevation in triglycerides and Apo B (which is a negative indicator for heart health) concentrations.”
At Tufts University in Boston (Metab. Clin. Exper. v. 45, 1996) elderly men and women were fed either diets of 30% fat calories from corn oil or hydrogenated corn oil margarine for a month. They then switched to the opposite diet for a month. They said, “Mean total cholesterol levels were lowest when subjects consumed the corn oil diet as compared with the margarine diet.” This is real world proof on real people that margarine raises your cholesterol levels, contributes to clogged arteries and heart disease, and causes poor quality of life ending in early death.
At the National Public Health Institute in Finland (Am. J. Clin. Nutr. v. 65, 1997) 80 healthy men were studied for their intake of trans fatty acids. Half the men were given diets high in saturated animal fats, and the other half diets equally high in trans fatty acids. They concluded that high amount of the trans fatty acids, “had more adverse effects on lipoproteins than did equal amounts of (animal fats).” The intake of trans fats also worsened the LDL/HDL ratio. This is proof that hydrogenated oils are even worse than saturated animal fats.
Quite a lot of work was done at Wegeningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands. One group of researchers there (Can. J. Physiol. v. 75, 1997) reviewed other major studies on the effects of trans fats on humans. They concluded that it is well established, “trans fatty acids raise serum LDL and lower HDL in humans.” They also concluded that trans fats raise lipoprotein A “Lp(a)” which is a basic indictor of heart disease. They warned that because of their adverse effects all foods containing them should have clear statements on the labels as to the amounts therein. In another study there (J. Lipid Res. V. 33, 1992) healthy men and women were given diets based on either vegetable oil, animal fat, or hydrogenated oils. The researchers said, “7.7% of energy from trans fatty acids in the diet significantly lowered HDL cholesterol and raised LDL cholesterol…” A third study at Wegeningen was another review of other major studies with a full 22 references (Curr. Opin. Lipidol. v. 7, 1996). The doctors came to the same conclusions as the others about the adverse effects of trans fatty acids in our diets. Europeans and Americans are eating about 5 to 15 grams a day and the amount is rising. It should be zero grams a day.
A really impressive study was done with 748 men (Am. J. Clin. Nutr. v. 56, 1992) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. This was a very in-depth and complex study that meas- ured many physiological parameters and biological markers. It was clear to the doctors that trans fats in our diets raise LDL levels, lower HDL levels, and raise total cholesterol. They said, “On the basis of results from other studies…this would correspond to a 27% increase in the risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack).” Trans fats in your diet equals outright heart attacks.
Some fine research was done at the University of Oslo in Norway (J. Lipid Res. 36, 1995) where young men were fed either margarine or butter in their diets. We’ve been told for many years now that, “margarine is better than butter” when, in fact, it is worse than butter. The men eating the margarine lowered their HDL levels and their HDL/LDL ratio was worsened. The researchers concluded, “consumption of partially hydrogenated fish oil may unfavorably affect lipid risk factors for coronary heart disease…” You don’t have to choose butter or margarine as you can use vegetable oils instead, but only in moderation.
At the famous Harvard Medical School (Lancet v. 341, 1993) doctors reviewed the very large and long term Nurses Study of 85,095 women and how much margarine and hydrogenated oil they reported consuming. It was obvious that the intake of these fats was, “directly related to risk of coronary heart disease”, and that “consumption of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils may contribute to the occurrence of CHD.” That’s pretty clear.
Some very alarming work was done collaboratively at several clinics around the world working together to study breast cancer (Cancer Epidem. Bio. Prev., v. 6, 1997) under the direction of EURAMIC. They studied 698 cases of breast cancer in European women and concluded that, “the adipose concentration of trans fatty acids showed a positive correlation with breast cancer.” This means they actually took biopsies (tissue samples) of breast tissue to analyze how much hydrogenated fats were actually in the bodies of the women from their dietary con- sumption. Now we have a proven link in humans to show the relation of eating these unnatural fats and higher cancer rates.
At Limburg University in the Netherlands (J. Lipid Res. 33, 1992) doctors studied the effects of trans fats on levels of lipoprotein A or Lp(a), which they called a strong risk factor for CHD. There were three strictly controlled experiments on healthy men and women fed either saturated fats, monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats, or hydrogenated oils. The people on the hydrogenated oil diet raised their Lp(a) levels to very dangerous levels in only a month. They concluded, “These short-term experiments suggest that diets high in trans-monosaturated fatty acids may increase serum levels of Lp(a).” If this was done in a month imagine what the effects are year after year.
From time to time you will see studies in medical journals, such as a recent 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, claiming that these hydrogenated oils are very safe or even preferable to natural fats and oils. Back to the old “margarine is better than butter” story. You will notice in small print in each of these so-called “studies” that they are funded and paid for by such organizations as the United Soybean Board and the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers. So much for objective science. Unfortunately you can purchase space for your advertising-posing-as-science in most medical journals.
Folks, read your labels. Stop buying any foods that contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Do not eat in fast food restaurants as nearly everything they serve is full of these. You can find such things as potato chips and corn chips that aren’t made with hydrogenated oils. You can buy non-hydrogenated margarines such as Smart Balance®/Earth Balance® in grocery stores. You will be surprised at just how many foods contain these unnatural and dangerous synthetic oils. In 2005 the FDA will require all food products to state prominently the trans fat content of their product on the front of the label. If a food has hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils in it don’t buy it and don’t eat it. When you eat out ask the manager why kind of oils they use in the kitchen. Actually trans fats shouldn’t even be allowed in our foods at all.
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