studies, plus a one on one interview with Dr. Enig concerning understanding what the different oils are and how they affect us health wise.

Date:   3/15/2005 11:37:34 PM ( 19 y ago)

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Margarine
and other hydrogenated fats

TRANS-FATTY ACIDS

What Your Doctor Should Be Reading:

Explaining Hydrogenation

Hydrogenation was originally developed to produce low-cost soap.
It's the process of modifying fat artificially
converting liquid fats into solids as in margarine,
lard, non-dairy cream, bakery products, and nut butters.
One reason manufacturers prefer the use
of hydrogenated oils
is because they extend shelf life
(life of the food, not yours!).

And don't be fooled by the label
reading "made from partially-hydrogenated fat"
partially-hydrogenated fat is worst
then totally hydrogenated fat.

The higher levels of harmful fats
are at the expense of essential fatty acids.
The term "essential" in nutrition jargon
means your body can't make it,
so it must be on your plate!
Since it has become virtually impossible
to avoid a consistent, daily dietary intake
of trans-fatty acids,
Medical Hypotheses advises that "a precautionary,
preventative supplementation of the diet
with supplements containing essential fatty acids
would be prudent.
Such supplements are readily available.
Look for flax seed


Sources:
1.Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 1993 Dec, 12:651.
2.Medical Hypotheses, 1992 Apr, 3 7:24 1.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Health Risks from Processed Foods and The Dangers of Trans Fats

Dr. Mary Enig Interviewed By Richard A. Passwater, Ph.D.

Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.,

a nutritionist widely known for her research
on the nutritional aspects of fats and oils,
is a consultant, clinician,
and the Director of the Nutritional Sciences Division
of Enig Associates, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland.
She received her PhD in Nutritional Sciences
from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1984,
taught a graduate course in nutrient-drug interactions
for the University's Graduate Program
in Nutritional Sciences,
and held a Faculty Research Associateship from 1984
through 1991 with the Lipids Research Group
in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Dr. Enig is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition,
and a member of the American Institute of Nutrition.
Her many years of experience as a "bench chemist"
in the analysis of food fats and oils,
provides a foundation for her active roles
in food labeling and composition issues at the federal and state levels
Dr. Enig is a Consulting Editor
to the "Journal of the American College of Nutrition"
and formerly served as a Contributing Editor
to "Clinical Nutrition."
She has published 14 scientific papers
on the subject of food fats and oils,
several chapters on nutrition for books,
and presented over 35 scientific papers on food and nutrition topics.
She is the President of the Maryland Nutritionists Association,
past President of the Coalition of Nutritionists of Maryland
and was appointed by the Governor in 1986
to the Maryland State Advisory Council on Nutrition
and served as the Chairman of the Health Subcommittee
until the Council was disbanded in 1988.
___________________________________________________________________

I first learned of Dr. Mary Enig's research from a 1978 report
in the Federation Proceedings. We met shortly after that,
and since I had written about trans fats several times in Supernutrition,
we had common concerns about the effect
that these trans fats from processed foods
were having. We were both concerned particularly
about the misconception that processed margarine
was better than natural butter.

In several visits by Dr. Mary Enig to the Solgar Nutritional Research Center
I quickly learned that she was an exacting scientist
who is not afraid to speak out and who supports good nutrition,
not just going along with the establishment's party line.
While studying for her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland,
often she would first respond with the "correct" answer that was expected,
and then she would explain why new research indicated "alternatives,"
such as optimal vitamin and mineral nourishment,
provided a better answer.
It is not easy be credentialed by the "system,"
while your own research shows other facts.

In her 1978 report, Dr. Enig challenged the speculation
concerning the relationship of dietary fat and cancer causation.
She concluded that correlations between the increase
in per capita dietary fat intake and total cancer mortality
over a sixty-year period show significant positive correlations
for total fat and vegetable fat,
and negative correlation for animal fat.
That is the cancer rate is higher
when the amount of vegetable fat or total fat is higher in the diet,
but the cancer rate is lower when there there is more animal fat
in the diet.
These findings were unpopular then as they are today,
but they are still correct.
It is convenient to blame everything on red meat and animal fat,
and believe that vegetable oil is the great dietary salvation
-even if it is partially hydrogenated.

At least that is what the vegetable oil people
would like everyone to believe.

Now, we are not saying that lots of dietary fat is good for you
and that vegetables are not good.
Eating vegetables, fruits and other whole foods is very desirable.
However, that is not the same as eating
partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Americans eat too much fat
(especially partially hydrogenated vegetable oils)
and not enough fruits and vegetables.
The problem is that the typical American
is not eating enough whole foods,
but instead, is eating too much partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil-
a fractionated food
-that has been made into "funny foods" such as margarine
or added to baked
Such "funny foods" are far differentthan real whole foods.

Hydrogenation ruins the nutritional value of vegetable oils!
Why would anyone want to ruin the nutrition value of vegetable oils?
The purpose of hydrogenation is to solidify an oil
so that it can be made to resemble real foods such as butter.
The hydrogenation process imparts desirable features
such as spreadability, texture, "mouth feel,"
and increased shelf life to naturally liquid vegetable oils.
In the hydrogenation process,
vegetable oil is reacted under pressure with hydrogen gas at 250 - 400oF
for several hours in the presence of a catalyst
such as nickel or platinum.
However, this industrial process cannot control
where the hydrogen atoms are added to the "unsaturated" double bonds.
Randomly adding hydrogen atoms to polyunsaturated fats
converts natural food components into many compounds,
some of which have never seen before by man
until partially hydrogenated fats were manufactured.

Some of the several dozens of altered compounds
created in the manufacture of partially-hydrogenated fats
are "trans" fatty acids.
Fatty acids are the building blocks of fats,
much like amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
Other new compounds accidentally synthesized
include fatty acids having double bonds
to new and un-natural positions, and various molecular fragments.
Many of these altered compounds are detrimental to health.

Since "trans" fats are so detrimental to our health.
permit me to briefly review the relevance
of distinguishing between "trans" and "cis" fats
before chatting with Dr. Enig.

Recently, in the September issue,
in the interview with Dr. Jim Clark and Mr. Lance Schilipalius,
we discussed "trans" isomers of carotenoids.
"Trans" means the same thing here.
"Cis" and "trans" isomers refer to how identical atoms
are added to double bonds.

When the atoms are added to the same side of the double bond,
the compound is called "cis"
and the molecule is bent because of the crowding of the atoms on one side.
When the atoms are added on opposite sides of the double bond,
the compound is called "trans" and molecule is *space bonded
and straightened.
The shape of a molecule is important because enzymes
and their substrates-
the molecules enzymes act upon-
must fit together like a key in a lock.

Dr. Enig will discuss this during the interview,
but the important thing to remember is
that natural polyunsaturated fatty acids are "cis" compounds and are bent.

Partial hydrogenation produces many un-natural "trans" fats
which are straight and not intended for use in the human body.
You don't have to understand the difference between "trans" and "cis,"
but it is important that you know that there is a difference
because, as Dr. Enig will explain, it can affect your health.
____________________________________________________________________

Passwater:

Dr. Enig, a lot of people are interested in "trans" fats now.
You have been researching them since 1977.
How are trans fats harmful to us?

Enig:

More than a decade of research at the University of Maryland,
as well as research that was being done at other institutions,
showed that consumption of trans fatty acids
from partially hydrogenated
(a process that adds hydrogen to solidify or harden)
vegetable fats and oils
had many adverse effects in health areas such as heart disease,
cancer, diabetes, immunity, reproduction and lactation, and obesity.

It is rather easy today to come up with a long list
of these adverse effects from the published research
done by many scientists around the world,
as well as the researchers at the University of Maryland.

The reason there is so much recent interest
is that during the past three years
there has been a number of major research reports published
in prestigious medical journals that caught the attention of the press.
These and earlier reports had shown,
for example, that consumption of trans fatty acids
lower the "good" HDL cholesterol in a dose response manner
(the higher the trans fat level in the diet,
the lower the HDL level in the blood)
and raise the atherogenic lipoprotein(a) in humans
as well as raising the "bad" LDL cholesterol
and total blood cholesterol levels by 20-30 milligram-percent.

These studies have usually been shown in independent non-industry studies.
Perhaps the most significant event though was the report
from researchers at Harvard University,
who evaluated more than 85,000 wome
n in a long-term prospective study
and found that there was a significantly higher intake
of trans fatty acids in those individuals who developed heart disease.

As regards to the question of cancer,
trans fatty acids induce adverse alterations
in the activities of the important enzyme system
that metabolizes chemical carcinogens and drugs (medications), i. e.,
the mixed-function oxidase cytochromes P-448/450.

The initial research in this area was done by the Maryland group
in collaboration with the U. S. Food and Drug Administration,
and was followed by the more extensive evaluation
that I did for my Ph.D. dissertation;

several groups around the country and the world
also reported the same or similar results.
Several groups around the world reported a higher intake
of partially hydrogenated fats in those individuals
who have developed cancer.

Both primate and human studies have shown inappropriate handling
of blood sugar;
trans fatty acids decrease the response of the red blood cell to insulin,
thus having a potentially undesirable effect in diabetics.
The primate research was initiated at Maryland
in collaboration with the U. S. Department of Agriculture
and the National Institutes of Health,
and the human research is from the University of Pittsburgh
and quite recent.

One major concern is that trans fatty acids
adversely affect immune response
by lowering efficiency of B cell response
and increasing proliferation of T cells.
This was shown in research done at Maryland using a mouse model
and although there are reports from clinicians
that there are problems of immune dysfunction
it still needs to be evaluated systematically in humans.

Recent research from outside the U. S.
has indicated that trans fatty acids
interfere with reproductive attributes
and of concern is the finding that trans fatty acids
lower the amount of cream (volume)
in milk from lactating females in all species studies including humans,
thus lowering the overall quality available to the infant.

The latter research was done at Maryland
by my colleague Dr. Beverly Teter.

Basically, trans fatty acids cause alterations
to numerous physiological functions
of biological membranes that are known to be critical for cell homeostasis,
e.g., appropriate membrane transport and membrane fluidity,
and these fatty acid isomers produce alterations in adipose cell size,
cell number, lipid class and fatty acid composition.
_____________________________________________________________

Passwater:

Now that trans fats are becoming of more interest,
the term may still just be a buzz word to many of our readers.
Would you explain just what are trans fats?
Where do they come from? How are they formed?

Enig:

To understand what trans fatty acids are
you have to understand what fatty acids are.

Fatty acids are basically chains of carbon
with a carboxyl group (COOH) at one end
that can react (e.g., combine) with another molecule.

When fatty acids are in fats or oils
they are combined with glycerol
in the proportions of three fatty acid molecules
to one glycerol molecule
and they form triacylglycerols or in common terminology, triglycerides.

Fatty acids come in different chain lengths
ranging from three carbons long (propionic acid)
to 24 carbons long (lignoceric acid).
These fatty acids are either "saturated"
(with an adequate number of hydrogen atoms)
and chemically stable,

or they are "unsaturated"
(missing adequate hydrogens) and chemically unstable.

If a fatty acid is missing two hydrogens,
it is called a monounsaturated fatty acid,
and in place of the two hydrogens,
the adjacent carbons "double" bond to each other.

If the fatty acid is missing four or six or more hydrogens,
it is called a polyunsaturated fatty acid,
and it is even more unstable than the monounsaturated fatty acid.
Because the double bonds in naturally occurring plant oil fatty acids
are curved with a "cis" configuration,

the fatty acids cannot pack into a crystal form
at normal temperatures so their presence produces a liquid oil.
Saturated fatty acids have a straight configuration
and can pack into a solid crystal at normal temperatures.

If the unsaturated fatty acids are altered
by partial hydrogenation to straighten the chains
so that they have some of the physical packing properties
of saturated fatty acids they have had their "cis" double bond
changed to a "trans" double bond
and they turn a technically mostly unsaturated oil into a solid fat.

The trans fatty acids are the same length and weight
as the original "cis" fatty acid they were formed from,
and although they have the same number of carbons, hydrogens, and oxygens
they are shaped differently in space.
The term that is used is that they are "isomers."

The problem arises when a large number of the trans fatty acids
are consumed from foods
and they are deposited in those parts of the cell membranes
that are supposed to have either saturated fatty acids
or "cis" unsaturated fatty acids;
under these circumstances the trans fatty acids
essentially foul up the "machinery."

Although the trans fatty acids are chemically "monounsaturated"
or "polyunsaturated"
they are considered so different from the "cis"
monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids
that they cannot be legally designated, e.g.,
monounsaturated for purposes of labeling.

Most of the trans fatty acids produced
by the partial hydrogenation process are chemically monounsaturates.

There have always been small amounts of one kind of trans fatty acids
in the human diet from the ruminant fats
(dairy, sheep, goat, deer, buffalo, antelope, etc.)
because the microorganisms in the rumen
try to get rid of the polyunsaturated fatty acids
that are found in the plant foods eaten by these animals.
In the early days of trans fatty acid research,
the researchers assumed that the trans fatty acids
found in ruminant fats were no different than those produced
by partial hydrogenation in the factory.
But the studies showed that not only was the amount much smaller
(e.g., the fat in butter might be 2-3% of the ruminant trans),
the effect on the "machinery" in the cell membranes was not different
than without the trans.
Yet all studies feeding the trans
produced by partially hydrogenating the vegetable oils
showed the adverse effect on the cell "machinery."
_______________________________________________________________

Passwater:

Why are trans fats a problem?

Enig:

The various mechanisms through which the trans fatty acids
disrupt function are related in part
to the ability of trans fatty acids to inhibit
the function of membrane related enzymes
such as the delta-6 desaturase
resulting in decreased conversion of e.g.,
linoleic acid to gamma-linolenic acid or arachidonic acid;
interference with the necessary conversion of omega-3 fatty acids
to their elongated tissue omega-3 fatty acids;
and escalation of the adverse effects of essential fatty acid deficiency.

This latter effect was shown especially by the work of Dr. Holman
and his colleagues at the Hormel Institute at the University of Minnesota,

the other effects have been shown by many researchers
including the University of Maryland researchers.
__________________________________________________________

Passwater:

What were your early findings and what got you interested
in this area of research?

Enig:

My initial published research in 1978
when I was at the University of Maryland
showed that trans fatty acids,
which were increasing in the food supply at the time
and which had not been catalogued in any of the food data tables,
were the very factors that explained
the positive statistical relationship
between the increase in cancer mortality
and vegetable fat consumption in the U. S.

It was clear from the literature
that once the trans fatty acids were identified
as products of partial hydrogenation
and studies were engaged in,
there were a number of earlier researchers
who questioned the biological safety of the trans fatty acids
viz a viz their relationship to both cancer and heart disease.
In fact, Dr. Ancel Keys had originally claimed
that the partially hydrogenated vegetable oils
with their trans fatty acids were the culprits in heart disease.
This was in 1958, and the edible oils industry was very swift
in their squelching of that information;
they shifted the emphasis to "saturated" fat
and started the phoney attack on meat and dairy fats.
___________________________________________________________

Passwater:

What have others added to your findings?

Enig:

As you have noted in some of your writings,
we at the University of Maryland
were not the first to raise the issue of trans fatty acids
and adverse health effects;
Dr. Fred Kummerow from the University of Illinois,
Dr. George Mann from Vanderbilt University,
and Dr. Edward Pinckney with the American Medical Association
had sounded the alarm many years before my plunge into the foray.
In fact, I had drawn heavily on the research findings of Dr. Kummerow
and the informative writing of Dr. Mann
when I first started to investigate
what was known about health effects of trans fatty acids at the time.
Our research findings have been duplicated by others,
but more importantly other independent researchers
have extended and explained many of our findings and concerns.

How You Can Help Support The Web Site Development

One of the ways that you can help support the web site
is that you can now purchase books through Amazon.com
by clicking through on my web site.
I obtain a tiny percentage of the sale
and that will help support my ability
to provide high quality content at no charge to you.
However this will only work
if you click on Dr. Enig's Book or the Amazon icon below.
It does not work if you go directly to Amazon.
I am only recommending books that I would purchase for my own home library,
which this book is already a part of.
I plan on offering a complete review of this book in the future.
A brief review is that it seems to be the best book on the market
to explain the details of fat metabolism.
She is the author of the incredible article on soy that I published earlier.
_________________________________________________________________________

STUDIES SHOWING THE DANGERS OF TRANS-FATTY ACIDS
The safety of high dietary trans-fat intake during pregnancy
and even before pregnancy is especially questionable.
Mothers-to-be, please check food labels carefully.
Source: Acta Paediatrica, 1992 Apr, 81:302.

Dietary trans-fatty acids raise LDL cholesterol
and result in reductions of HDL cholesterol.
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1994 Apr, 59:861.

Hydrogenated fats increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
Source: Science, 1994 Apr 22, 264:5 3 2.

Trans-fatty acids may increase cholesterol levels.
Total fat intake, independent of fatty acid type,
is not strongly associated with coronary heart disease.
(In other words, the type of fat, not the total fat,
is the significant factor.)
Source: Medical Journal of Australia, 1992 May 4, 156 Suppl:S9-16.

Intake of margarine - the major source of trans-fatty acids
- is significantly associated with risk of heart disease.
Source: Circulation, 1994 Jan, 89:94 0

The main sources of trans-fatty acids are
partially-hydrogenated vegetable fats and dairy fats.
Source: Zeitschrift fur Ernahrungswissenschaft, 1992 Sep, 31:196.

http://www.alternativemedicine.com/digest/issue02/i02-a07.shtml

Healing fats are required, together with other nutrients,
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