Margarines and Transfats

[Guest guest]

By now it is to be hoped that most people know that you should always choose

your margarines and butter-substitutes very carefully, because the

" transfats " in many margarines, food spreads, fast foods, French fries, salad

dressings, snacks, energy bars and cereals have been shown by research to be

potentially more harmful than fresh butter and cream.

If you do not already do this, read all food labels carefully and if you come

across ingredients that are listed in very small print as " hydrogenated " or

" partially hydrogenated " , leave that food on the shelf and forget any fears

about consuming products which contain the much-maligned butters and other

unprocessed oils.

For more on this topic, read this article from the Natural Pharmacist

(09-26-2001):

Trans Fatty Acids, Margarine, and Heart Disease

<http://www.tnp.com/news/article/353/>

By Bratman, M.D.

For several decades, organizations such as the American Heart Association

have made reducing intake of saturated fat and cholesterol the cornerstone of

heart disease prevention. In order to accomplish this, the fat must be

replaced with something else in the diet. Potential healthy substitutes

include carbohydrates, monounsaturated fats (such as olive oil or canola

oil), omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil), and polyunsaturated fats (most

vegetable-source fats).

Margarine and other hydrogenated vegetable oils are another option. However,

margarine contains substances called trans fatty acids. According to many but

not all studies, these substances may be just as unhealthy as saturated

fats.1–14

The biggest problem with trans fatty acids is that, unlike saturated fats,

they reduce levels of

HDL ( " good " cholesterol).

A recent study lends support to concerns that margarine is not a healthy

substitute for saturated fat.15 In this study, 32 individuals were placed on

either a diet high in saturated fats or a diet high in trans fatty acids;

participants were then followed for 4 weeks. At the end of this period, the

diets were switched.

The results at the end of each 4-week period showed that levels of HDL were

better when participants were on the saturated fat diet than on the trans

fatty acids diet. Other cholesterol scores were similar between diets. In

addition, trans fatty acids impaired the dilating ability of participants'

arteries. This suggests increased risk of heart disease.

The bottom line: From the perspective of preventing heart disease, using

margarine as a substitute for butter may not be a wise idea.

References

1. Lichtenstein AH, Ausman LM, Carrasco W, et al. Hydrogenation impairs the

hypolipidemic effect of corn

oil in humans. Hydrogenation, trans fatty acids, and plasma lipids.

Arterioscler Thromb. 1993;13:154–161.

2. Mensink RP, Zock PL, Katan MB, et al. Effect of dietary cis and trans

fatty acids on serum lipoprotein[a] levels in humans. J Lipid Res.

1992;33:1493–1501.

3. Nestel P, Noakes M, Belling B, et al. Plasma lipoprotein lipid and Lp[a]

changes with substitution of

elaidic acid for oleic acid in the diet. J Lipid Res. 1992;33:1029–1036.

4. Wood R, Kubena K, O'Brien B, et al. Effect of butter, mono- and

polyunsaturated fatty acid-enriched butter, trans fatty acid margarine, and

zero trans fatty acid margarine on serum lipids and lipoproteins in healthy

men. J Lipid Res. 1993;34:1–11.

5. Wood R, Kubena K, Tseng S, et al. Effect of palm oil, margarine, butter

and sunflower oil on the serum lipids and lipoproteins of

normocholesterolemic middle-aged men. J Nutr Biochem. 1993;4:286–297.

6. Zock PL, Katan MB. Hydrogenation alternatives: effects of trans fatty

acids and stearic acid versus linoleic acid on serum lipids and lipoproteins

in humans. J Lipid Res. 1992;33:399–410.

7. Judd JT, Clevidence BA, Muesing RA, et al. Dietary trans fatty acids:

effects on plasma lipids and lipoproteins of healthy men and women. Am J Clin

Nutr. 1994;59:861–868.

8. Clevidence BA, Judd JT, Schaefer EJ, et al. Plasma lipoprotein (a) levels

in men and women consuming diets enriched in saturated, cis-, or

trans-monounsaturated fatty acids. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 1997; 17:

1657–1661.

9. Nestel PJ, Noakes M, Belling GB, et al. Plasma cholesterol-lowering

potential of edible-oil blends suitable for commercial use. Am J Clin Nutr.

1992;55:46–50.

10. [No authors listed]. Trans fatty acids and coronary heart disease risk.

Report of the expert panel on

trans fatty acids and coronary heart disease. Am J Clin Nutr.

1995;62:655S–708S.

11. Laine DC, Snodgrass CM, Dawson EA, et al. Lightly hydrogenated soy oil

versus other vegetable oils

as a lipid-lowering dietary constituent. Am J Clin Nutr. 1982;35:683–690.

12. Mensink RP, Katan MB. Effect of dietary trans fatty acids on high-density

and low-density lipoprotein

cholesterol levels in healthy subjects. N Engl J Med. 1990;323:439–445.

13. Clevidence BA, Judd JT, Schaefer EJ, et al. Plasma lipoprotein (a) levels

in subjects consuming trans

fatty acids [abstract]. FASEB J. 1995;9:A579.

14. Oomen CM, Ocke MC, Feskens EJM, et al. Association between trans fatty

acid intake and 10-year risk of coronary heart disease in the Zutphen Elderly

Study: a prospective population-based study. Lancet. 2001;357:746–751.

15. de Roos NM, Bots ML, Katan MB. Replacement of dietary saturated fatty

acids by trans fatty acids lowers serum HDL cholesterol and impairs

endothelial function in healthy men and women. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol.

2001;21:1233–1237.

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Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

Supertraining/