Running Head: The Importance Of Removing Trans Fats From U.

S Diet
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The Importance Of Removing Trans Fats From U.S Diet

Kayla Runyon

Tippecanoe High School

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Banning the consumption of trans fats could possibly save lives. Many consumers do not

know what is in their food and the ones that pay attention to labels still do not know. Many

companies have been getting away with lying about the amount of trans fat that is being stored in

their food. What many people do not know is that trans fats are very unhealthy and are known

for clogging arteries. This could possibly cause health problems and make current health

problems worse. The FDA is trying to crack down on this issue and ban trans fats completely. It

is important to educate consumers on the effects of trans fats and what foods are most likely to

contain them.

Trans fats are used for cooking and are stored in most processed foods. Unfortunately, the

FDA has not been able to ban trans fats, but were able to reduce the amount that is allowed. In

2006, the FDA made a regulation, that food companies had to put labels on their products. Since

companies did not want consumers to know the real amount of trans fats that were in their

products, companies started to alter their recipes to contain a small amount of trans fats.

Samantha Bomkamp has done research on the FDA is the proud author of ​New FDA rules would

eliminate most trans fats in US ​(2013): The FDA noted that trans fats in processed food have

been shown to raise ‘bad’ cholesterol, raising the risk of coronary heart disease. Reducing the

use of trans fats could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease a year.

(pg 1).​ ​Hydrogenation is the formation of trans fats. This is when liquid oils are turned into solid

fats by adding hydrogen atoms. Creating these solid fats clog arteries, which lead to other health

problems. The reason for creating these trans fats is that they help food extend their shelf life,

preserve flavor, improves texture and stability.

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Trans fats are known for raising LDL cholesterol and lowering HDL cholesterol levels.

Consuming trans fats increase the risk of heart disease, strokes, and developing type two

diabetes. The use of trans fats is so common because scientists did not know that trans fats would

affect the human body in a negative way until 1990. Even though the FDA requires companies to

label their food products, companies are still able to say their food has zero grams of trans fats

when they really contain half a gram of trans fats. Trans fats are in foods like doughnuts, cake,

pie crusts, biscuits, frozen pizza, cookies, crackers, and other fried or baked goods. Trans fats

also occur naturally in dairy products and some meats, this includes beef, lamb and butterfat. The

American Heart Association recommends(2020): Cutting back on foods containing partially

hydrogenated vegetable oils to reduce trans fat in your diet and preparing lean meats and poultry

without added saturated and trans fat (pg 1). Eating fruits, vegetables, poultry, low-fat dairy

products, fish and nuts are healthy foods that do not contain trans fats. The oils to use for

cooking when avoiding trans fats are canola, safflower, sunflower, and olive oil.

Although trans fats are incredibly harmful to the human body, some trans fats can

actually be beneficial. Co​njugated linoleic acid​ (CLA) is a trans fat that comes from dairy and is

used as a dietary supplement. Artificial trans fats can lead to heart disease. A series of studies

show that consuming trans fats instead of carbs and other fats will raise LDL (bad) cholesterol

and does not affect HDL (good) cholesterol. While most other fats raise both cholesterol levels.

Replacing dietary fats with trans fats would increase your ratio of total HDL cholesterol, but

would negatively affect lipoproteins. This would be another risk for heart disease. Diabetes can

also be a risk for consuming trans fats. Studies show that over 80,000 women who consumed a

large amount of trans fats had a forty percent higher risk for diabetes. Australian dietician, Joe
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Leech gives insight on trans fats and is the proud author of ​What Are Trans Fats, And Are They

Bad For You​(2019) In a large-scale research effort called the Nurses’ Health Study, intake of

trans fats before menopause was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer after

menopause (pg 1). Consumption of trans fats can also cause inflammation and arthritis. Trans

fats are known for damaging the inner lining of blood vessels. Partially hydrogenated oils are

very cheap and convenient for food companies to use, unfortunately, it has many negative health

effects.

For many years dieticians were the only ones that knew about the dangers of trans fats.

Trans fats are the absolute worst kind of fat to consume, while it negatively affects the heart,

blood vessels and the rest of the body. Code words for trans fats is phantom fat, partially

hydrogenated oils, and vegetable shortening. The 1990s was when Americans found out the truth

about trans fats and made the decision to cut down the use of trans fats. Many other countries

like Denmark, Switzerland, Canada, and Britain decided to do the same thing. On the other

hand, trans fats are still very popular in developing nations. Trans fats are very cheap for food

industries and to use for cooking in households. The World Health Organization predicted

five-hundred thousand deaths from cardiovascular disease if countries that continued to use trans

fats. To avoid trans fats when visiting other countries that use trans fats regularly, The President

and Fellows of Harvard College recommends (2020): avoid deep-fried foods (since restaurants

may use partially hydrogenated oils in their fryers) and desserts. You may be able to help change

these cooking practices by asking your server, the chef, or manager if the establishment uses

only trans-fat-free oils and foods. (pg 1). The World Health Organization(WHO) does not have
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the power to permanently eliminate trans fats from diets. The WHO has made several campaigns

for different countries' governments to try to persuade them to stop using trans fats.

Over the years the FDA has made a huge impact in the food industry. Reducing the

number of trans fats that are being used would save thousands of lives. It is important to educate

customers on how trans fats can affect the human body and encourage people to avoid foods with

trans fats. Educating customers on how trans fats are put on labels and letting customers know

that foods can still have trans fats even if the label says it contains zero grams of trans fats could

help save lives.

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Works Cited

New rules by FDA aim to eliminate trans fats. (2013, November 11). Retrieved from

https://newsela.com/read/fda-transfats/id/1788/?collection_id=339

Shining the Spotlight on Trans Fats. (2018, July 12). Retrieved from

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/t

ypes-of-fat/transfats/

Trans Fats. (2020). Retrieved from

https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/trans-fat

What Are Trans Fats, And Are They Bad For You? (2019, July 30). Retrieved from

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/why-trans-fats-are-bad