Why should I be concerned about my trans-fat intake?
Trans fats are formed through industrial processes where hydrogen is added to the vegetable oils, which makes the liquid oils to become solid at room temperature. Foods that are cooked with hydrogenated oil are less likely to spoil, and thus thy have a longer shelf life. In some restaurants, there is the use of particularly hydrogenated oils in their deep fryers because it does not have to be changed as quickly as oils. It is believed that in some meat, there are trans-fat that are naturally occurring, but it has not been established whether the trans-fat have any benefit or harm. Trans fats can be found in a variety of foods such as cakes, cookies, pies, frozen pizza, stick margarine, among others. Even though dairy products contain trans fats, the eaters need to be considered because such fats appear not to be harmful. For example, one of the best known ruminant trans-fat is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which can be found in dairy fats has been found to be useful to the body. It is being marketed as a supplement (Ryder et al. 2001). The ones that are risky for the health of individuals are the t, which is artificial that is made from industries.
Trans-fats, also called trans-fatty acids, are considered you be one of the worst types of fats that a person can eat. These types of fats have been known to increase the level of bad cholesterol in the body while lowering the level of good cholesterol. It is though that trans-fats have problems in causing heart diseases. Consumption of artificial fats has been found to increase the chances of having heart diseases. Clinical investigation has established that people consuming trans-fats instead of other oils are more prone to heart problems because of the increasing bad cholesterol (LDL) without a corresponding increase in the good cholesterol (HDL) (Oh et al., 2005). It has been established that fats increase both the god and the bad cholesterol. Thus, by replacing the dietary fats with trans-fats affects the ratio of the total to good cholesterol. The deteriorating ratio has been found to affect the lipoproteins negatively. This is a significant risk factor for heart diseases.
The relationship between trans-fat and insulin sensitivity is not completely clear. However, some studies have found out that the consumption of trans fats increases the chances of a person getting diabetes by over 40%. Yet, other researchers have found no connection between trans fats and diabetes. Others show inconsistent results concerning this relationship. That said, research conducted in animals has established that large amounts of trans fats have been found to harm the insulin and the glucose function in the body. In a six years’ research that was conducted in monkeys, a high trans-fat diet caused resistance to insulin and also significantly increase the fats at the belly and the fructosamine, which is the maker of high blood sugar (Kavanagh et al., 2007). Therefore, it can be seen that the intake of massive amounts of trans fats increases the chances of an individual getting diabetes.
Therefore, a person needs to be concerned about the consumption of the artificial trans-fat that results from hydrogenation in industries which impacts negatively on the health of an individual. Trans fats have been known to cause heart problems and diabetes.