Trans fats or trans fats (English trans fat acids, TFA) are a type of unsaturated fatty acid found mainly in processed foods that have been subjected to hydrogenation such as margarine or baked as cakes and others. It is also found naturally in small amounts in milk and body fat of ruminants.
Trans fats not only increase levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) in blood but decreased high density lipoproteins (HDL what we call the "good cholesterol"), causing an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Trans fatty acids are formed in the hydrogenation process is performed on fats for use in various foods, in order to solidify. One example is the solidification of liquid vegetable oil for making margarine. It also promotes freshness, gives texture and improves stability.
These fatty acids can be particularly dangerous for the heart and are associated with increased risk of developing some cancers. Recent studies show that higher levels of trans fats may increase risk of type II diabetes. Hydrogenated fats are used in margarine, fast foods, commercial products, pastries, processed foods and fried foods. Trans fats are solid fats produced artificially by heating liquid vegetable oils and have the following adverse effects:
Inhibit some transformations of other essential fatty acids
* It slows the growth and maturation of the brain.
* They tend to build hormones and defective cell wall while increasing levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol and lower HDL "good cholesterol".
* Also quickly increase the size of the waist of the people and triglyceride blood levels, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
For example, when cooked, and we made a fry, often using the oil well is a high quality vegetable oil such as corn or soybeans, the oil oxidizes, decomposes and changes its structure.
We often wonder if the margarine is healthier than butter because it is from plant sources, and that the butter does not work because it is cholesterol free. While the butter is rich in cholesterol and saturated fat, no worse than margarine because this is done partially hydrogenated vegetable oils by metal catalysts and hydrogen, and becomes more saturated and trans fats.
Current regulations require nutrition labeling; contain the amount of saturated fat, but not the trans fats. It is important to require this information in the various products, and educate the public about its consumption.
When it comes to reducing the risk of heart disease, what should pay more attention to: total fats, saturated fats or trans fats? What that means for choosing among the many different types of foods available today?
Below you will find answers to frequently asked questions about trans fats, why are there in food and what effect they have on our health? "These answers may help you understand the role of trans fats in food.
Studies on the health impact
Trans fats appear to increase the risk of coronary heart disease than any other macronutrient, conferring a substantially increased risk at low levels of consumption (1 to 3 percent of total output of energy). In a meta-analysis of four prospective studies of the court involving nearly 140,000 subjects, including updated analysis of the two larger studies, an increase of 2 percent energy from trans fatty acids was associated with an increase of 23 per percent in the incidence of coronary heart disease.
Most of the terminology of the ingredients and nutrients from food is pretty simple and straightforward
However, it is sometimes more complicated, or use a scientific vocabulary, which makes it somewhat confusing to the average consumer. It is important to familiarize yourself with these words and terms, so you can make the best decisions when you go grocery shopping and plan to prepare healthy meals.
Trans fats or trans fatty acids are components that became a major theme for the media in early 2000. This is because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was considering adding information about the content of this fatty acid in all food labels. The decision, which came into force on 1 January 2006, was that the fatty acid be added to the information required on the label for nutritional information labels and some supplements information.
The importance of providing information on labels of food products to consumers due to the fact that trans fatty acids may influence the increased levels of blood cholesterol, particularly LDL (or "bad" cholesterol), which is the largest contributor to the blockage of the arteries and can cause heart attacks and strokes.
According to many experts, trans fats are worse than saturated fatty acids in relation to the ability to damage arteries. They result from a process that uses the food industry, called "hydrogenation, which converts vegetable oils into solids.
The problem became more serious when it was discovered that the most commonly used shortenings worldwide were obtained from palm and coconut oils, which are rich in saturated fatty acids. These acids are what make shortenings that remain solid at room temperature. The food industry was forced to withdraw from the market shortenings derived from palm and coconut oil, because people do not buy it. They decided to "hydrogenate" liquid oils are less harmful (such as soybean oil and corn) to create solid like shortening and margarine.
The hydrogenation process is used also to give special features to certain oils that stay liquid. Many of them are used in the production of fast foods, like potato chips and donuts.
The benefits of regulations on labeling trans fats including
The law requires food manufacturers to include information on trans fatty acid content in the nutritional information on labels of some supplementary information benefits the people, forcing the big food companies to join the movement to limit the amount of harmful fats and sugars that are used in their products. Also generate a greater effort to improve the quality of fat used in food manufacturing.
If you're using processed foods that contain fat, you should try to choose those that contain less total fat, but more specifically, saturated fat and trans fatty acids. Now is the food industry that must comply with FDA regulations and inform us about the exact amount of these ingredients in their products.
