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John Anthony Alvan Nichols
a book bubble about
Nutrition and Science
Health, Fitness & Dieting
Author Insight
The trans-fatty acid scandal
Trans-fatty acid (TFA) rich foods were incorrectly thought to be a healthy alternative to fats derived from animal sources. How important was this for the epidemic of deaths from heart attacks in the mid 20th century? This is unlikely to be the only cause of all those early deaths. I have dealt with another explanation elsewhere in this book. Poverty and starvation during the depression of the 1920s to 1930s had a lifelong affect on the unborn child increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks in middle life. However, TFAs were undoubtedly a major factor and the guilt of the scientists and the food industry involved has been downplayed.
Book Excerpt
Nutrition and Science
There is no controversy about the harmful effects of dietary trans-fatty acids (TFAs) in the development of the metabolic syndrome, diabetes and cardiovascular disease[80]. Modern food has contained these artificially produced fats in significant quantity for about 100 years. They have been generated commercially by passing hydrogen through heated vegetable oil leading to random breakdown of carbon-carbon double bonds and substitution by hydrogen atoms to give a semi-solid fat or “margarine”. The product was found to be very stable and therefore useful in food manufacture as it improved shelf life. Unfortunately, the USA Nurses Study (n = 85,095) reported in 1993 that a high intake of TFAs gives a 1.5 relative risk of coronary events in eight years[81].
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