#trans-fat

Six #countries #restricted #industrially #produced #trans #fat and 24 countries recently #adopted trans fat #regulations. 110 countries still have no regulations against this harmful #compound, putting 5 #billion #people at risk.

A new report REPLACE summarizes country actions to ban industrially produced trans fat and makes recommendations for action to achieve the 2023 goal for global elimination.

Six countries restricted industrially produced trans fat since 2018, and another 24 countries, including the European Union, recently adopted trans fat regulations that will come into effect over the next two years. Yet,…

Is butter not as bad as we thought? (Photo: Getty Images)

Few nutritional topics have been buzzier in recent years than fats — but according to a new study in the British Medical Journal, while trans fats are still as bad as we all thought, saturated fats aren’t linked to an increased risk of death and heart disease.

First, let’s quickly review the fats that have been making headlines lately:

There’s been a movement to increase our healthy, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat intake, found in superfoods like avocados, almonds and olive oil. 

There’s been a push to eliminate all unhealthy, artificial trans fats from our diets, found mainly in processed goods. The FDA announced a plan this summer to nix all trans fats from store shelves by 2018. 

And then, there’s the somewhat murkier territory of saturated fats, found in items like cow’s milk, butter, burgers and fried foods.

The current research combined systematic review and meta-analysis, with a goal of analyzing higher consumption of saturated and trans fats as opposed to lower consumption. Scientists combed through all observational studies published in medical journals about the effects of these two fats on death, diabetes, and forms of heart disease, including thousands of participants’ data. The research was graded to give more weight to the larger, more-precise studies.

Researchers confirmed that trans fat is indeed detrimental. Intake was associated with a 34 percent greater risk of all-cause mortality, a 28 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality, and a 21 percent higher risk of developing heart disease in general. However, the scientists didn’t see a clear link between saturated fat and increased risk of mortality, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, ischemic stroke or type-2 diabetes.

So, does that mean we get a free pass on the fried foods and full-fat dairy? 

Not at this time, according to study author Russell de Souza, ScD, an assistant professor of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, Canada, as still more research on fats is required. He says that a large body of evidence shows us there are negative effects associated with excess saturated fat in the diet—which the American Heart Association says should remain at less than five or six percent of total calories consumed, by the way.

“We could not confidently rule out an increased risk of death from heart disease with higher amounts of saturated fat,” de Souza tells Yahoo health. “We should also not ignore stronger and consistent evidence from better-designed studies that eating less saturated fat and more polyunsaturated fat from vegetable oils reduces ‘bad’ cholesterol levels, and that diets that replace saturated fat with these fats, as well as whole grains, reduces the chance of developing or dying from heart disease.”

De Souza says we should still be sticking to low amounts of saturated fat overall, adding in alternatives to reduce intake—items high in plant fats, like olive oils and nuts, as well as whole grains and legumes.

That said, the ultimate message of this research, says de Souza, is that no one nutrient or food is responsible for all heart disease, diabetes, or death. “The whole diet matters,” he explains. “Dietary patterns consistently associated with good health — like the Mediterranean diet, plant-based diets, or the DASH diet — tend to be low in saturated fat, but their healthfulness is not due solely to the fact that they are low in saturated fat.”

Good health is as much about what you do eat as what you don’t, says de Souza, who suggests the well-rounded and highly-nutritious approach. Opt for variety, including whole grains, fruits, legumes, vegetables and nuts, while laying off the refined starches, sugars and processed trans fats.  

Food companies are asking to keep unhealthy artificial trans fats in hundreds of foods, from tiny amounts in breakfast cereals to larger amounts in shortening and pie crusts. (Photo: Getty Images)

Shortening, pie crusts, brownies and microwave popcorn could be partially exempt from a government phase out of artificial trans fats - if the food industry gets its way.

The Food and Drug Administration announced in June that it is requiring food companies to largely rid their foods of the artery-clogging fats over the next three years, calling them a threat to public health. But food companies can still petition to use them sparingly.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the leading industry group for the food industry, said Wednesday that it is petitioning the FDA to continue the use of artificial trans fats in hundreds of foods, from tiny amounts in breakfast cereals to larger amounts in shortening and pie crusts.

The food industry argues that the levels would not increase heart disease risk any more than naturally occurring trans fats from meat and dairy products.

Food companies “have already voluntarily lowered the amount of trans fat added to food products by more than 86 percent and will continue lowering (partially hydrogenated oil) use to levels similar to naturally occurring trans fat found in the diet,” said Leon Bruner of the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

The fats are created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it more solid, which is why they are often called partially hydrogenated oils. Scientists say there are no health benefits to the fats, which are used in processing food and in restaurants, usually to improve texture, shelf life or flavor. They can raise levels of “bad” cholesterol and lower “good” cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.

Many of the amounts requested in the group’s petition would be less than a gram of trans fat per serving - a move that public health groups see as positive.

“Their proposed limits would get rid of almost all of the very high trans fat levels, and that’s very good,” said Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Jacobson said the amounts petitioned by the industry are still too high, however, since even low levels can be a public health risk.

For shortening, for example, the industry is asking for 3 grams of trans fat per 100 grams of shortening. When translated into a typical serving size, that’s less than half a gram per serving. The industry group is asking for a similar amount for microwave popcorn, one of the worst trans fat offenders.

To phase the fats out, the FDA made a preliminary determination in 2013 that partially hydrogenated oils no longer fall in the agency’s “generally recognized as safe” category, which covers thousands of additives that manufacturers can add to foods without FDA review. The agency gave food companies until June 2018 to phase them out.

Trans fats are widely considered the worst kind of fats for your heart, even worse than saturated fats, which also can contribute to heart disease. Over the years, they have been used in foods that need solid fat for texture, or in those that need a longer shelf life or flavor enhancement.

Processed foods are essentially any foods that undergo any sort of alteration before they are made available to us for consumption.

Processed foods are essentially any foods that undergo any sort of alteration before they are made available to us for consumption.

Processed foods are essentially any foods that undergo any sort of alteration before they are made available to us for consumption.