Understanding the Danger of Trans Fat

Have you heard about the negative effects of trans fat (trans fatty acid) in our daily food? Do you know where does this trans fat comes into our food? Have you considered the safe level of trans fat that you can consume?

What is it?
Trans fatty acid is produced during the process of hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids. The process of addition of hydrogen to the unsaturated fatty acids is carried out mainly to increase the life of the food, which contains this fatty acid, and to make the food item taste better.

The likely dangers of trans fat

• Trans fat present in the food items we consume is said to increase the LDL (Low-density lipoprotein) in the human body. LDL carries fat to arteries and hence the raise in LDL (bad cholesterol) is dangerous to the human body.
• In addition to the above, the trans fat also lowers the HDL (High-density lipoprotein) in the human body. HDL carries excess fat from arteries back to the liver and hence the reduction of HDL (good cholesterol) is said to be dangerous.

Did you know?

• You might be surprised to know that trans fat is essentially present in most baked and processed food items, commercially baked food, puddings, doughnut, margarine and also in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. In other words, it’s very common.
• You might be even more surprised to know that the reports from FDA reveal that the average consumption of trans fat by an American daily is around 2.6% of calories of their daily diet.
• As an initiative to create more awareness about the presence of trans fat in food items, FDA has made the display of the trans fat content contained in packaged food mandatory as of Jan 01, 2006.
• You should also be aware that there is no minimum amount of trans fat that can be safely consumed by a man/woman. Even the slightest bit of trans fat entering into the human body is highly dangerous and increases the risk of coronary heart diseases (CHD) within humans as it accumulates.

What should you do?

• Have a look at the ingredients contained in the food item that you eat. Beware of “partially hydrogenated”, “trans-fat” and “saturated fat” present in packed food items.
• If you happen to eat at a restaurant, try to make sure that the food that you eat is free from trans fat.
• Understand the fact that Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated fat intake at moderate levels does not harm the human body. They do not take part in the reduction of HDL unlike trans fat. So consider these for fat intake instead of the saturated and trans fat, which make you prone to CHD.
• Non-vegetarian food like fish and lean meat have the lowest saturated fat contained in them
• Make sure you consume food with minimum saturated fat and food free from trans fat and to decrease risk of CHD!

Editor’s note: As always, when it comes to health issues, please consult with your qualified health practitioner. The information on this site is only to raise awareness and should not be considered medical advice. You use the information here with that agreement and may not hold us responsible for any errors.