Trans Fat Focus May Raise Saturated Fat Intake

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Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness;  Cardiovascular / Cardiology;  Cholesterol
Article Date: 29 Apr 2007 - 12:00 PDT

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Although reducing consumption of trans fats is laudable, the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) says that a result of focusing on it too much may be an increase in the consumption of saturated fats. While the DAA aggrees that trans fat consumption should go down, it stresses that replacing the decrease with a rise in saturated fats consumption would have terrible health consequences for Australians.

According to Claire Hewat, Executive Director,DAA

"The alarm surrounding trans fats is out of proportion to the risk in Australia, where intakes are low on a world scale. It is clear that the total amount of saturated fat is the major issue and it is important that we do not get an increase in saturated fat in a rush to get rid of trans fats. Australians obtain only 0.61 per cent of their daily kilojoules from trans fats - lower than global recommendations of 1% and well below intakes in many other countries. Our intake of saturated fat is the real problem being 12.7% of energy which is one a half times the recommended level in Australia2."

"DAA is not convinced that mandatory labelling of trans fats is without risk. Trans fats are found naturally in small amounts in nutritious foods such as meat and dairy, and labelling them may cause Australians to limit these foods unnecessarily. The most important thing is to keep choosing manufactured foods with lower levels of saturated fat, lean meats and reduced fat dairy."

"We must not base decisions concerning Australia's food supply on what is happening in countries like America. These comparisons are meaningless because their foods and trans fat intakes are very different to ours. In Australia, our Accredited Practising Dietitians have been working with enlightened food manufactures for some time to help keep our intakes of trans fats low."

What are Trans Fats?

Trans Fatty Acids are commonly known as Trans Fats. They are a kind of unsaturated fat. They occur in tiny quantities in meat and dairy products. Most of the trans fats we consume are artificially created when plant oils are partially hydrogenated. Partial hydrogenation alters the molecular structure of the fat.

Trans fats have a completely different shape from naturally occurring fats. Trans fats have a higher melting point, when compared to other fats.

We do not need trans fats for our health, not the case with other fats. Human consumption of trans fats raises our risk of developing coronary heart disease.

What are Saturated Fats?

These are triglycerides which contain only saturated fatty acids. They do not have any double bonds between carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain - in other words, they are completely saturated with hydrogen atoms.

If your saturated fat intake is high you run an elevated risk of developing coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis. If you can lower your intake of saturated fats, while at the same time raising your consumption of unsaturated fats, your ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol will improve.

Dietitians Association of Australia

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
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