Spread the word: trans fats make you fat

Butter lovers everywhere will be pleased to learn that there is yet another reason to abandon margarine in favor of their dairy-derived spread. According to researchers at Wake Forest University, the trans fats found in margarines and other related processed vegetable oil products could lead to weight gain in some people even if different individuals ingest the same total calories; so lab studies show. The researchers suggest that the "apple" body shape, associated with an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, may actually be accelerated by eating trans fats including the partially hydrogenated vegetable oils used in margarine.

"Diets rich in trans fat cause a redistribution of fat tissue into the abdomen and lead to a higher body weight even when the total dietary calories are controlled," explains Lawrence Rudel. "What it says is that trans fat is worse than anticipated, I was surprised."

Trans fats have been on the health agenda for several years because of concerns about their effects on health compared with monounsaturated oils, such as those found in olive oil. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that eating saturated fat, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol raises the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol in the body, and this is closely correlated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease.

Rudel's colleague Kylie Kavanagh reported the team's latest findings at the 66^th annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in Washington, DC, on June 12^th. She explained that over six years, male monkeys fed a western-style diet that contains trans fat had a 7.2% increase in body weight, compared to a 1.8% increase in monkeys that ate monounsaturated fats. The researchers found, using computed tomography scans, that all the extra weight was added in and around the abdomen, and other body fat was even redistributed to this area. "We believed they couldn't get obese because we did not give them enough calories to get fat." But, the CAT scans did not bear out this prediction for the monkeys fed trans fats. "We conclude that in equivalent diets, trans fatty acid consumption increases weight gain," says Kavanagh.

http://www1.wfubmc.edu/pathresearch/faculty/rudel.htm

http://scientificsessions.diabetes.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Custom.Content&MenuID=1000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat