Time for a rethink on trans-fats?
So trans-fats are bad, right? If only it were that simple! There are trans-fats in dairy and beef that scientists believe can actually give you a health boost, protecting you against heart disease and even having anti-cancer properties.
A feature in Advances in Nutrition compared natural animal trans-fats to industrial trans-fats, such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, often found in baked goods.
Good nutrition can be a bit of a minefield but the research team quoted in the feature say better food labelling is the best way to educate the public on the true health effects of ingredients.
Industrial trans-fats are hard for the body to break down, so the consumption of trans-fats increases the risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol in the blood. But ‘natural’ trans-fats are broken down and used as energy.
"The body of evidence clearly points to a change needed in how nutrition labels are handled," says Dr. Spencer Proctor, one of the review authors and Director of the Metabolic and Cardiovascular Diseases Laboratory at the University of Alberta in Canada. "We need a reset in our approach to reflect what the new science is telling us."
