Risks of Hydrogenated Fats
(Part 2 of a series on trans fats)
by Heidi Stevenson
9 January 2010
Hydrogenated fats result in a deranged metabolism, which affects every aspect of health. The risks to health are immense. Indeed, one must wonder if most people nowadays have any idea of how it feels to be healthy.
Every aspect of the body is affected by fats. Because trans fats, also known as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats, replace normal fats in the body, they can create an enormous range of harm. It is more appropriate to refer to them as poison than as food. If we did, though, the vast majority of so-called foods in supermarkets would require the poison symbol.
As explained in Why Hydrogenated Fat Is So Bad, cell walls are badly harmed by trans fats. Hormonal signals, such as adrenalin in the fight-or-flight response, may not be properly received and acted upon. In a real emergency, one's reflexes and ability to run can be jeopardised. In the modern world's typical high-stress environment, the body's inability to respond to adrenalin may result in the adrenal glands pushing even harder to produce more and more adrenalin. A common problem today is adrenal fatigue, which can lead to thyroid malfunction. It's certainly not surprising that women are experiencing an epidemic of thyroid burnout.
Immune System Dysfunction
Excessive systemic inflammation is indicative of an immune system gone awry and leads to chronic conditions like coronary heart disease and diabetes, and cancer. A study of 823 healthy women reported in 2004 showed a correlation between high trans fat intake and tumor necrosis factors 1 and 2, interleukin 6, and C-reactive protein, markers for systemic inflammation(1).
Cancer
Melanoma, a particularly virulent skin cancer, is usually blamed on the sun. However, in this day of people working indoors and using sunscreens outside, the incidence of melanoma is six times greater than it was in 1935(2). In the Shetland and Orkney islands north of Scotland, melanoma is ten times more common than in the sun-drenched Mediterranean. It's more common on unexposed areas of skin, with five times more melanoma on feet than hands in Scotland. This obviously debunks the paradigm that the problem is sun exposure. It also brings into question a number of other modern practices, including the foods we eat. The widespread use of trans fats must surely be considered a suspicious factor for the huge increase in melanoma. Several links between cancer and trans fats have been made:
- A 2008 report from the University of Paris in France found a connection between breast cancer and trans fats(3).
- A report in the American Journal of Epidemiology found direct evidence to connect trans fats to colon polyps, which are noted to be precursors of cancer(4).
Heart Disease
Hydrogenated fats have been clearly linked with heart disease. In 2007, a report in the Journal of the American Heart Association concluded that there is a clear connection between trans fats and coronary heart disease. In a stury of more than 32,000 women, those in the top 25% of trans fat consumers had more than three times as much heart disease(5).
Diabetes
A study printed in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2001 followed 84,204 women without diabetes, cancer, or heart disease for ten years. The authors found that the average intake of trans fats in the United States is approximately 3% of energy from food. They estimated that, if 2% of dietary energy from trans fats could be replaced with good fats, then "the incidence of type 2 diabetes could be reduced by ≥40% if these oils were consumed in their original, unhydrogenated form(6)." An editorial in the same publication states, "If the authors' conclusion that a decrease in trans fatty acid consumption will substantially reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes is correct, the implications for the food supply are serious."
Overview of Harm from Trans Fats
Rather than bore you with details, here's an overview of other harm done by trans fats:
- Neurological problems may develop or be aggravated. These can include attention deficit disorder, autism, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis.
- The lungs may be damaged.
- Reproductive organs and other areas that are affected by their hormones can be harmed.
- Arthritis risk and other immune system disorders may be increased.
- Aging may be speeded up.
- Glandular function is harmed, which can have knock-on effects throughout the body.
- Energy levels may be depressed.
- Digestion can be deranged.
- The ability to think clearly may be damaged.
- Liver function can be harmed.
- The obesity epidemic is likely caused, in part, by trans fats.
The known harms from trans fats are so extensive that governments have started to limit them. Denmark has banned them completely.
What should you do?
The three most common and feared medical conditions are all directly related to trans fats! The question is, what should you do about it? The answer is deceptively simple in appearance, but can be difficult to implement in real life. The simple approach is to avoid prepared foods. However, lifestyles today can make this fairly difficult.
It's estimated that approximately 90% of foods eaten by Americans are prepared before purchase. Go to any supermarket and you can see the truth of that. The percentage of the store with non-packaged foods is tiny—usually just sections around the edges. Crackers are prepared foods. Bread is a prepared food. All canned foods are in the same category. The bottom line is that, if it's in a package or has already been cooked, it's prepared. The odds that any prepared food does not contain trans fats is remarkably low.
Why Hydrogenated Fat Is So Bad (Part 1) is the first of this series. It explains what hydrogenated fat is and what makes it so dangerous.
How to Identify and Avoid Trans Fats in Foods (Part 3) discusses how you can spot trans fats when you shop.
