Nutrition Current Topics in Nutrition

Eliminating Trans Fats: Fad or Friend?

Last year, the culprit was carbs. Two years ago, fat was in the line of fire. And along the way, sugar, red meat and oils have all been targeted as foods to avoid. But as diet trends came and went, so too did concerns about these foods.

Now, it appears that trans fats are the latest victim in the push to help the public trim their waistline and become healthier. And while some restaurants may have added low-carb foods to their menus during the Atkin’s diet craze, no one ever proposed eliminating them altogether, making the New York city ban on trans fats seem as important as avoiding second-hand smoke.

But in a year, will the trans fat terror be nothing more than another food fad?

There are two main types of naturally-occurring fats: saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fats are also called “bad” fats because they can build up and stick to your arteries, increasing the risk of heart disease. Unsaturated fats, on the other hand, are known as “good” fats because, within reason, they can be more safely consumed.

Trans fats are different. They are manufactured fats first developed in the 1900s by food manufacturers. “Trans fats are processed cooking oils that were developed for a longer shelf life,” says Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and spokesperson for the American Heart Association. In general, shortenings and margarine consist of these fats and the typical American consumes about 5.8 grams of trans fats every day.

The problem is that the process of making a trans fat artificially turns an oil or other natural fat into an unhealthy, saturated fat. It is believed that the consumption of these fats increases the risk of heart disease even more than saturated fats. “Trans fat is the worst fat,” says Goldberg.

“Trans fats introduce a structure of fat that’s abnormal in the body, and that raises the risk of heart disease, maybe even a little bit more than saturated fat does,” says Dr. Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University.

But since trans fats are so useful in keeping cookies, cakes, crackers and other products fresh for months on the shelves, up until now they were almost unavoidable. Recently, however, many companies have begun to reduce or eliminate the amount of trans fats in their foods. Walk down any supermarket cookie aisle, and it will be hard to miss the “trans-fat free" labels on many of the products.

The New York City trans fat ban takes this trend a step further. The proposal calls for all but the elimination of trans fats from the city’s restaurants. For example, officials estimate that a single serving of French fries at most establishments contains 8 grams of trans fats. The new ban would force restaurants to lower that amount to a half of a gram.

According to officials, the ban would simply increase the health of New Yorkers, who rely on take out and restaurants more and more for their meals.

“It’s not going to cure heart disease,” says Goldberg, “But it certainly is something that’s going to help reduce the risk.”

But with the sudden interest in trans fats, experts worry that the public will forget about making smart choices when it comes to nutrition.

“You see all these packages in the supermarket that say ‘no trans fat,’” says Nestle, “well that’s great, but those products still have calories.”

Nestle believes that with all of the focus on trans fats, it has distracted the public from the ultimate source of the obesity crisis, calories. “Just because it’s trans fat free does mean it doesn’t have any calories,” she says. “And it doesn’t mean it isn’t a junk food.”

As always, making healthy, sensible choices is the key to lowering the risk of heart disease. While eliminating trans fats doesn’t necessarily make a food healthy, it does force someone who’s already willing to settle for a burger and fries for lunch, to eat a slightly healthier meal.

“We should all monitor the types of fats that we are eating,” says Goldberg.