The Sunday Telegraph June 2003 OIL CHANGE - Dated: 11 June 2003

Can't sort your good fats from your bad? Saturated fat, Omega 6 fatty acids, polyunsaturated oil... Relax - there's only one fat you really need to focus on: trans-fatty acids. The bad news is, you may have been overdosing on it without even realising.

Trans-fatty acids or trans fats ("trans" meaning transformed from their natural state) are toxic synthetic fats that can wreak havoc with your health, says cardiologist, international speaker and author of The Cell Factor (Pan Macmillan), Dr Ross Walker.

"One of the great con jobs of the food industry is products that claim to be cholesterol-free, low in saturated fat and free of animal fats," he says.

"What these manufacturers fail to tell you is that they are using mono-unsaturated fats that, through a process known as chemical hydrogenation, are changed into trans-fatty acids."

What actually happens in the scientists' laboratories is that vegetable oils are heated at a high temperature and then bombarded with hydrogen gas to form more stable oils.

"This makes them solid and easy to use in processed and fast foods," says Walker.

"It also ensures greater resistance to oxidation and rancidity, providing a much longer shelf life." (Longer shelf life is more economic for food manufacturers but, unfortunately, not so good for us.

In fact, the Institute of Medicine (the people in the United States who determine the recommended daily allowances) recently issued a report stating that there is no safe RDA for trans fatty acids.

The Hard Cell

Quick biology lesson. The walls, or membranes, of your cells are made up of 75 per cent fat, mainly in the form of a fat called phospholipid.This fat needs to be made up of healthy, natural fats. That includes the essential fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6, as well as significant amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol, says Walker.

"If the outer wall (of the cell) is not working properly, it is difficult for the nutrients to enter the cell and nourish it," he explains.

The problem is your cells can't distinguish between synthetic fat and natural fat.

Leading British health expert Patrick Holford, who is the director of The Institute for Optimum Nutrition, describes trans-fatty acids (TFAs) as "a key that fits the body's chemical locks but will not open the door".

Walker explains further: "When synthetic fat in the form of TFAs is introduced, these are used by the cell membrane instead of natural fats, deranging the membrane and making it hard and impermeable to nutrients.

"The inner part of the cell is now being starved of nutrients, therefore it cannot perform its function correctly.

"Which means your cells lack energy and so you lack energy."

What this leads to, of course, is a vicious cycle of sugar and carbohydrate cravings to keep your energy up, then a rise in blood sugar, a rise in insulin levels, and, sooner or later, weight and health problems, including a higher risk of Type II diabetes. Trans fats also impede your liver's ability to burn fat, says nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman, author of The Fat Flush Plan (McGraw Hill). The result: an increase in fatty deposits in the liver and a more toxic internal environment.

More bad news: TFAs have also been linked with a substantially increased risk of cardiovascular disease. In 1993, the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health tracked the dietary habits of more than 85,000 women in the famous Harvard Nurses Study. What it found was women with a high intake of TFAs were one and a half times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than women with a low intake.Women who ate the equivalent of four or more teaspoons of margarine a day also had a 66 per cent greater risk of heart disease that women who ate little or no margarine.

Hidden Dangers

Of course, margarine really became popular when they started telling us butter was bad. Unfortunately, some margarines may contained up to 50 per cent TFAs, says Walker. Newer margarines, such as the olive oil/canola oil combinations or the new plant sterol-based cholesterol-lowering margarines contain less than one per cent TFAs. Butter, much maligned by the health police, contains no TFAs.

There are plenty of other foods out there that will give you a wallop of toxic fats. Trans fats are widely used in commercial baked goods and other processed foods and in fast-food restaurants. Food products with loads of TFAs include biscuits, croissants, potato chips and french fries, cakes and pancake mixes, doughnuts, pastries and just about any other sort of food that includes "hydrogenated" fats.

"Around three to five grams of TFAs can be found in a single serving of many of these products," says Walker. A typical hotdog has 8 grams.

He estimates that the average intake in western society of TFAs is between six and 15 grams per person per day, with teens scoring higher on consumption scale.

Fighting Fat

The bad news is that although mandatory labelling of ingredients in food was introduced in December 2002 by the Australia and New Zealand Food Authority, this only legally requires manufacturers to be specific about saturated fats. What you'll generally find is that food products low in TFAs will list them on the side of the packet, while those high in TFAs will, mysteriously, choose not to state the content. An ANZFA spokesperson says there are no plans to change this. So, it's over to you to be vigilant.

If you want to protect your body from fake fats, avoid processed foods whenever possible and rely on a diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, lean meat and chicken, wholegrains and raw nuts and yoghurts. Where possible, buy organic.

The second thing you can do is consume plenty of "antidote" fats.

"Ridding your body of trans-fatty acids and replacing these with essential fatty acids will restore normal cell function," says Walker.

"Whereas trans-fatty acids harden the membrane and make it impermeable to nutrients, essential fatty acids make the membrane more fluid, allowing essential nutrients in."

Remember, your cells are always turning over, so it's never too late to form healthier ones. Get your essential fatty acids in Omega-3 foods and, to a lesser extent, Omega-6 foods. Good sources of Omega-3s are fish, raw nuts, and eggs. Flaxseed oil is also a rich source of Omega-3s. Omega-6s are found in vegetable oils but go easy on them, says Walker. Excessive amounts of them tend to have an inflammatory effect. The other thing you can do to protect your health is pressure manufacturers into listing the TFA content of their products on the food label, so you have a choice about what you consume.

The Healthy Fat Guide

• Maximise Omega-3 fats from oily fish such as salmon, mackerel or sardines, in your diet.
• Eat one tablespoon of cold-pressed seed oil (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, flaxseed) a day. You can use these oils on salads, or on vegetables in the place of butter.
• Avoid fried food, burnt or browned fat, saturated and hydrogenated fat.
• If you do fry, use a non-stick pan or just a little butter.
• As a general rule, remember the softer or more fluid the oil, the fewer trans fats it contains.


Trans-Fatty Acids in some Takeaway Foods

Burger King french fries (king size) 7 grams
McDonald's chicken nuggets (9 pieces) 3 grams
Hamburger (142 grams) 2 grams
Apple pie (99 grams) 3 grams
Onion rings (8 rings) 7 grams
KFC biscuit 4 grams
Source: The Cell Factor, Dr Ross Walker

The Sunday Telegraph