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 By: Christopher Mohr Folks have recently been concerned about trans fats in their bars, shakes, and other "health" products. Therefore, I thought a primer on fat and trans fats would be useful. Dietary fat is a vital nutrient that is essential for health. Like other macronutrients, dietary fat is an important energy source for the body. It is also the most concentrated energy source for the body, providing 9 calories/gram vs. 4 calories/gram for both carbohydrates and protein. Hence, while some dietary fat is essential to provide the essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins which include A, D, E, and K, too much fat can add a significant amount of energy, subsequently leading to weight gain.
There Are Three Main Types Of Fatty Acids:
All fats have the same basic structure; they are a chain of carbon atoms with varying amounts of hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon. This is important to understand the next piece to this article. Think of the structure of fats as a school bus; the bus itself is the carbon atom chain discussed above and all the seats are the hydrogen atoms. If all the carbon atoms are full of hydrogen atoms, the "seats on the bus" are full, and you have a saturated fat. No other atoms can fit onto the structure because there are no "empty seats."
 Carbon "Bus" Chains  Click To Enlarge.
Finally, if several of the "seats" are empty, you have a polyunsaturated fat (poly, meaning many). Polyunsaturated fats are also liquid at room temperature (flax oil, fish oil, etc).
Trans fats are another type of fat that occur naturally in some foods, such as dairy products and animal products, but are most commonly added artificially into a variety of commercial products (Table 1). Remember the monounsaturated fats from above; they had the one empty "seat" without a hydrogen atom. The process of hydrogenation or partial hydrogenation is when food manufacturers artificially add hydrogen to unsaturated fats to provide greater stability and, ultimately, longer shelf life; hydrogenation makes liquid fats solid at room temperature. The process of hydrogenation was developed in the early part of the last century. It is now used to increase the functionality of the specific food product (ability for margarines to spread easily, increases shelf life and stability, contributes to the creaminess of certain foods, etc).
This is obviously beneficial for the food companies because it enhances the palatability of foods, increases their ability to remain fresh, and decreases the cost (it is cheaper than using some other types of fats). No one is interested in buying expensive, stale crackers! The problem is researchers have learned that trans fats have adverse actions on lipid profiles (raise LDL, the "bad" cholesterol), plasma markers of inflammation, endothelial function, and are subsequently associated with an increased cardiovascular disease risk1.
Similar results have been realized for those with preexisting heart disease; it is not just in healthy individuals as was originally investigated2.
Therefore, with these negative health outcomes clearly correlated to trans fats, it is important to discuss specific foods they may be found in (Table 1), suggested intakes, how to avoid them, and the new labeling laws that will require trans fat be listed on food labels.
These tips may help provide insight into the world of trans fats.
The best way to limit the intake of trans fats is to reduce the amount of processed, prepackaged foods and increase the intake of more natural foods, like fruits and vegetables, for example.
 New Nutrition Facts Click To Enlarge.This will be listed on a separate line, under saturated fat. Some manufacturers have already begun making this change.
However, food manufacturers are allowed to list the amount of trans fats as zero, if, and only if, each serving contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat.
Similarly, if a product itself contains less than 0.5 grams of total fat per serving, a footnote must be added stating that the food "is not a significant source of trans fat." Again, serving size is the crucial component in a situation like this. So read the nutrition facts panel and ingredient lists.
The tub of margarines are usually lower in trans fats; they are easier to spread and are more fluid than the solid sticks. There are also some fairly new butter spreads that contain healthier fats, such as flax oil, or other omega-3 fats; these can be a healthier alternative if looking for a butter or margarine type product to use.
The moral of the story is to reduce the intake of prepackaged foods as much as possible. Look for items that do not contain partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated oils.
Since trans fats are found naturally in many foods, it's very difficult to totally eliminate all trans fats in the diet. Doing what you can to reduce the intake as much as possible is highly recommended, though. This is especially important for those with diabetes, who are already at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease; doing everything possible to reduce this risk is crucial. Remember there is no dietary requirement for trans fats. This translates to doing 95% of your shopping around the perimeter of the grocery store. There you'll find more natural foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, etc. and less prepackaged items.
References:
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