What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Trans Fat?
December 02, 2014
Story at-a-glance
By Dr. Mercola There are a number of dietary links between dementia and heart disease. Excessive sugar/processed fructose, grains, and trans fat consumption are three factors that promote both. Not surprisingly, recent research1 has pointed out that heart disease also increases your odds of developing Alzheimer's disease, which is a serious and deadly form of dementia. According to the authors, vascular damage may predispose your brain to increased amyloid plaque buildup, which is a hallmark of this degenerative brain disease. Plaque buildup worsens with stiffer arteries, so preventing arterial plaque formation may be a critical factor in the prevention of dementia. For decades, saturated fats have been demonized as the cause of heart disease. The food industry, responding to such health concerns replaced saturated fats with trans fats, and a whole new market of low-fat (but high-sugar) foods was born. Americans' health has plummeted ever since, and millions have been prematurely killed by this mistake... Making matters worse, genetically engineered soy oil, which is a major source of trans fats, can oxidize inside your body, thereby causing damage to both your heart and your brain. Trans Fat Clogs Your Arteries, Not Saturated FatAs it turns out, saturated fat was never the culprit in heart disease. That assumption was based on flawed research, the conclusions of which were entirely erroneous. Dr. Fred Kummerow, author of Cholesterol Is Not the Culprit, has researched fats and heart disease for eight decades, and he was the first researcher to identify which fats actually cause clogged arteries. Last December, The New York Times2 featured Dr. Kummerow's research on fats, which shows that trans fats (found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils) are to blame for rising heart disease rates. Dr. Kummerow was the first to publish a scientific article on this association, back in 1957. Preliminary study findings3 presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014 also reveal that trans fat is linked to a higher risk of memory impairment. This isn't surprising when you consider the links between dementia and heart disease. According to Time Magazine:4
One of the authors, Dr. Beatrice Golomb, noted that since the average number of words correctly recalled was 86, a loss of about a dozen words represents "a pretty big detriment to function."5 The research, while unable to establish cause and effect, suggests trans fats may act as a pro-oxidant, contributing to oxidative stress that causes cellular damage. This is similar to Dr. Kummerow's earlier findings, which show that vegetable oils oxidize when heated, and when oxidized cholesterol and trans fat enter into your LDL particles, they become destructive. Trans Fats 101Dr. Kummerow, now 100 years old, is still an active researcher and writer. He published four papers in the past couple of years alone. Some of his most recent research6 shows that there are two types of fats in our diet responsible for the formation of heart disease: 1. Trans fat found in partially hydrogenated oil. Structurally, trans fats are synthetic fatty acids; 14 of them are produced during the hydrogenation process. (They are not present in either animal or vegetable fats.) Trans fats prevent the synthesis of prostacyclin,7 which is necessary to keep your blood flowing. When your arteries cannot produce prostacyclin, blood clots form, and you may succumb to sudden death. 2. Oxidized cholesterol forms when polyunsaturated vegetable oils (such as soybean, corn and sunflower oils) are heated. This oxidized cholesterol (not dietary cholesterol in and of itself) causes increased thromboxane formation—a factor that clots your blood. Two of Dr. Kummerow's papers pertain to how these oils harden your arteries and play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis. As reported by The New York Times:8 "The problem, [Dr. Kummerow] says, is not LDL, the "bad cholesterol"... What matters is whether the cholesterol and fat residing in those LDL particles have been oxidized... [He] contends that the high temperatures used in commercial frying cause inherently unstable polyunsaturated oils to oxidize, and that these oxidized fatty acids become a destructive part of LDL particles. Even when not oxidized by frying, soybean and corn oils can oxidize inside the body." You Need Saturated Fats for Healthy Brain FunctionOur ancestral diet was very high in saturated fats and virtually void of sugar and non-vegetable carbohydrates. Today, not only do most of us eat excessive amounts of carbohydrates, these carbs are refined and highly processed. In the last decade, we've also shifted over to genetically engineered (GE) grains and sugar (GE sugar beets and corn), the long-term health effects of which have never been established. This mistaken fat phobia has undoubtedly played a significant role in the dramatic rise in dementia and other neurological disorders, because your brain cannot function properly without fats. In fact, most people benefit from up to 50-85 percent of their daily calories in the form of fats for optimal health (for listing of healthy fats, see end of article) while they are seeking to resolve their insulin resistance. For comparison, the American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fat to between five to six percent of total calories!9 There's no doubt in my mind that this grossly sub-optimal recommendation level is contributing to the poor health of Americans, and promoting both heart disease and dementia. While trans fat consumption decreased by about one-third between 1980-2009,10 many are still getting far too much trans fat in their diet. The problem is that it's oftentimes hidden. Even products boasting a "zero trans fat" label can contain trans fat, because food manufacturers are not required to list trans fat if it falls below a certain amount per serving. Using ridiculously tiny serving portion is a legal loophole that permits food manufacturers to mislead you about the trans fat in their products. As a general rule, to avoid trans fats, you need to avoid any and all foods containing or cooked in partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, so be sure to check the list of ingredients. Two Additional Concerns: Cyclic Aldehydes and AcrylamideBesides the damage from trans fats, vegetable oils such as peanut, corn, and soy oil degrade into highly toxic oxidation products called cyclic aldehydes when heated, and these byproducts may actually do more harm than trans fat. But because this is so new, very few are aware of this problem. In animals, even low levels of cyclic aldehydes oxidize LDL cholesterol and cause high levels of inflammation associated with heart disease. Cyclic aldehydes have also been shown to cause toxic shock in animals through gastric damage, which is consistent with the rise in immune problems and gastrointestinal-related diseases in the human population. To learn more about this, please listen to my interview with investigative journalist Nina Teicholz.11 Acrylamide12, 13 is another highly toxic byproduct produced when starchy or carbohydrate-rich foods such as potatoes and grains are fried or cooked at high temperatures. French fries, chips, cookies, crackers, and cereals tend to have some of the highest levels of acrylamide, courtesy of the processing they've been put through. Acrylamide is a known neurotoxin, and animal research has revealed clear evidence of carcinogenic activity.14 While there's no official data on what cooking oils may contribute to or prevent acrylamide formation, I believe it's quite clear that processed vegetable oils increase the health hazards of foods processed or cooked at high temperatures. Speaking of acrylamide, on November 7, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved genetically engineered varieties of potato,15 engineered to generate less acrylamide when cooked than regular potatoes. In my view, this madness is only going to make matter worse. The problem of trans fats and cyclic aldehydes can largely be addressed by reverting to using saturated fats like butter, coconut oil and lard—the latter two of which are very stable and excellent for high temperature cooking. The problem of acrylamide is solved by cooking foods at lower temperatures. This, of course, would be a severe blow to the processed food industry. So instead of making some much needed changes to our food system (such as reverting away from processed foods and promoting more whole foods), a potato is genetically engineered that will not develop as much acrylamide—this way the food industry can continue making chips and French fries cooked in heart-, brain-, and gut-damaging vegetables oils, most of which are also genetically engineered (corn, soy), while pretending—and probably boasting—that they've "done something" to make our foods safer... Avoiding Processed Food Is the Easiest Way to Protect Your HealthAccording to Dr. Kummerow, your body can eliminate trans fats in about a month, which is encouraging. The tragic reality, of course, is that 95 percent of the food that most Americans eat is processed—and processed food is where all this trans fat lies—and the cyclic aldehydes, and the acrylamide, and the genetically engineered ingredients, and the pesticides... So, if you want to protect your health, particularly your heart, brain, and gut, you need to avoid as many processed foods (including most restaurant food) as much as possible, and start cooking at home, using fresh, whole, unadulterated ingredients. In summary, I recommend:
Additional Dietary Guidelines for Maintaining Healthy Brain FunctionWhen it comes to protecting your brain and preventing memory loss and dementia, your diet and lifestyle are your most important allies. My optimized nutrition plan can set you on the right path in this regard. As explained by neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter, author of the book, Grain Brain, Alzheimer's is a disease predicated primarily on lifestyle choices; the two main culprits being excessive sugar and gluten consumption. You want to be especially wary of genetically engineered ingredients, as they are heavily contaminated with glyphosate—a herbicide thought to be worse than DDT, and DDT has already been linked to the development of Alzheimer's. In terms of your diet and other lifestyle factors, the following suggestions may be among the most important for preserving your brain function as you age:
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