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Posted by bio_man   May 16, 2018   7803 views

Finally, the world is paying attention to the dangers of consuming trans-fatty acids in food.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called all nations to rid foods of artificial trans-fats in the next five years. Artificial trans-fat is made by converting healthy unsaturated oils (those that are fluid at room temperature) into ones that are chemically more stable through a process known as hydrogenation (illustrated below). The food industry began using this deceptive technique in the 1950s to increase the shelf-life of perishable grocery items such as pastries, and fried foods sold at restaurants.


Numerous studies have linked these fats to an increase in cholesterol levels, which can lead to cardiovascular diseases. One of the reasons for this is because our bodies were never designed to digest this substance, so it stays in the bloodstream longer than ordinary fats. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for people of most ethnicities in the United States, including African Americans, Hispanics, and whites. Last year, it accounted for 800,000 deaths in the United States, or one out of every three deaths. With a healthy lifestyle and proper dieting, this health concern is relatively avoidable.

The WHO is aiming to erase this chronic illness linked to this food additive. The first country to do so was Denmark nearly 15 years ago, but more than 40 other higher-income countries including the United States have been working on getting this heart-clogging additive out of their food supplies. Canada's ban on trans-fats, however will come into effect later this year after its health minister proposed a ban in September 2017.

One thing to note is that not all trans-fat listed on a food label is artificially produced in a lab. Dairy products such as cheese and milk, including beef naturally contains trans-fat at a level of 2–5% of total fat. These fats originate in the rumen of these animals where it is made by gut bacteria, and not the animal itself. So the next time you pick up a package of sliced ham and read that it contains trans-fat, you know it has been tampered with! Similarly, if you suspect a product to have trans-fat even if it's not mentioned in its nutrition label - such as a jar of peanut butter shown below - trans-fat levels of less than 0.5 grams per serving can be listed as 0 grams trans-fat in the United States. So make sure to skim through the ingredients for "hydrogenated", "modified palm oil", or "partially hydrogenated" as they practically mean the same thing.


diet trans-fat WHO World Health Organization cholesterol
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