Nexus - 0602 - New Times Magazine-pages

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polyunsaturates are highly subject to rancidity, they increase the —_ increased coronary heart disease risk factors.” The industry—and body's need for vitamin E and other antioxidants. the press—responded by promoting tub spreads which contain Excess consumption of vegetable oils is especially damaging to —_ reduced amounts of trans compared to stick margarine. the reproductive organs and the lun, both of which are sites for For the general population, these trans reductions have been huge increases in cancer in Americans. In test animals, diets high more than offset by changes in the types of fat used by the fast- in polyunsaturates from vegetable oils inhibit the ability to learn, food industry. In the early 1980s, the Center for Science in the especially under conditions of stress; they are toxic to the liver; Public Interest campaigned against the use of beef tallow for fry- they compromise the integrity of the immune system; they ing potatoes. Before that, it campaigned against the use of tallow depress the mental and physical growth of infants; they increase _ for frying chicken and fish. Most fast-food concerns switched to levels of uric acid in the blood; they cause abnormal fatty acid partially hydrogenated soybean oil for all fried foods. Some profiles in the adipose tissues; they have been linked to mental deep-fried foods have been tested at almost 50 per cent trans.* decline and chromosomal damage; and they accelerate ageing. The industry continues to argue that American trans consump- Excess consumption of polyunsaturates is associated with tion is a low 6 to 8 grams per person per day—not enough to con- increasing rates of cancer, heart disease and weight gain. The tribute to today's epidemic of chronic disease. Total per-capita excessive use of commercial vegetable oils interferes with the consumption of margarine and shortening hovers around 40 grams production of prostaglandins, leading to an array of complaints per person per day. If these products contain 30 per cent trans ranging from autoimmune disease to premenstrual syndrome (many shortenings contain more), then average consumption is (PMS). Disruption of prostaglandin production leads to an about 12 grams per person per day. increased tendency to form blood clots, and hence to myocardial In reality, consumption figures can be dramatically higher for infarction—which has reached epidemic levels in the US.* some individuals. A 1989 Washington Post article documented Those who have most actively promoted the use of polyunsatu- the diet of a teenage girl who ate 12 doughnuts and 24 cookies rated vegetable oils as part of a Prudent Diet are well aware of over a three-day period; her total trans intake worked out to at their dangers. In 1971, William B. Kannel, former Director of the least 30 grams per day, and possibly much more. The fat in the Framingham Study, warned against including too many polyun- chips that teenagers consume in abundance may contain up to 48 saturates in the diet. A year earlier, per cent trans, which translates into Dr William Connor of the American 45.6 grams of trans fat in a small, 10- Heart Association issued a similar ounce (284-gram) bag of snack chips warning, and Frederick Stare which a hungry teenager can gobble reviewed an article which reported Cholesterol, like saturated fats, up in a few minutes. High school sex that the use of polyunsaturated oils education classes do not teach caused an increase in breast tumours. stands unfairly accused. It has a American teenagers that the altered And Kritchevsky, way back in 1969, . 7 fats in their snack foods may severe! discovered that the use of corn oil number of important functions compromise their ability to have non caused an increase in in the body. mal sex, to conceive, to give birth to atherosclerosis.* healthy babies and successfully nurse As for the trans fats produced in their infants. vegetable oils when they are partially Foods containing trans fat sell hydrogenated, the results that are because the American public is afraid now in the literature more than justi- of the alternative: saturated fats fy the concerns of early investigators about the relation between found in tallow, lard, butter, palm oil and coconut oil—fats tradi- trans fats and both heart disease and cancer. tionally used for frying and baking. Yet the scientific literature The research group at the University of Maryland found that delineates a number of vital roles for dietary saturated fats: they trans fatty acids not only alter enzymes that neutralise carcino- enhance the immune system,“ are necessary for healthy bones,* gens and increase enzymes that potentiate carcinogens, but in provide energy and structural integrity to the cells,“ protect the nursing mothers they also depress milk-fat production and liver,” and enhance the body's use of essential fatty acids. * decrease insulin binding.* In other words, trans fatty acids in the Stearic acid, found in beef tallow and butter, has cholesterol-low- diets of new mothers interfere with their ability to nurse success- ering properties and is a preferred food for the heart.” As saturat- fully and increase their likelihood of developing diabetes. ed fats are stable, they do not become rancid easily, they do not Unpublished work indicates that trans fats contribute to osteo- call upon the body's reserves of antioxidants, they do not initiate porosis. Hanis, a Czechoslovakian researcher, found that trans cancer, and they do not irritate the artery walls. consumption decreased testosterone, caused the production of Your body makes saturated fats, and your body makes choles- abnormal sperm and altered gestation.” Koletzko, a German pae- terol—about 2,000 mg per day. In general, cholesterol that the diatrics researcher, found that excess trans consumption in preg- average American absorbs from food amounts to about 100 mg nant women predisposed them to having low-birth-weight per day. So, in theory, even reducing animal foods to zero will babies.* Trans consumption interferes with the body's use of result in only a five per cent decrease in the total amount of cho- omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish oils, grains and green vegeta- lesterol available to the blood and tissues. In practice, such a diet bles), leading to impaired prostaglandin production.* George _ is likely to deprive the body of the substrates it needs to manufac- Mann confirmed that trans consumption increases the incidence ture enough of this vital substance. of heart disease.’ In 1995, European researchers found a positive Cholesterol, like saturated fats, stands unfairly accused. It acts correlation between breast cancer rates and trans consumption."! as a precursor to vital corticosteroids (hormones that help us deal Until the 1993 studies, only the disturbing revelations of Dutch with stress and protect the body against heart disease and cancer) researchers Mensink and Katan in 1990 received front-page cov- and to the sex hormones like androgen, testosterone, oestrogen erage. Mensink and Katan found that margarine consumption and progesterone. It is a precursor to vitamin D, a very important NEXUS - 39 FEBRUARY — MARCH 1999