Weight Loss -
Eating Trans Fat can make you fatter - Even if you count your Calories
June 20th, 2006
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According to
researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine animals that
ate trans fat compare to those that did not gained more weight from the
same amount of calories. The study was first presented at the 66th
annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in
Washington, D.C by Kylie Kavanagh, D.V.M.
"Diets rich in
trans fat cause a redistribution of fat tissue into the abdomen and lead
to a higher body weight even when the total dietary calories are
controlled," said Lawrence L. Rudel, Ph.D. who is a professor of
pathology and biochemistry and is also the head of Lipid Sciences
Research Program.
Trans fat is
manufactured by taking oil and adding hydrogen to make it become solid.
The reason trans fat is used is to increase the shelf life of food
products including baked goods. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (trans fats), saturated
fats, and cholesterol helps to contribute in the increase in the LDL
“bad” cholesterol levels. An increase in the LDL cholesterol has been
shown to increase the risk for coronary artery disease.
“What it says is
that trans fat is worse than anticipated,” Rudel said. “I was
surprised.”
The study was
conducted over a 6 year period of time. The researchers fed male
monkeys a diet similar to typical Americans that contained trans fat.
The control group of monkeys was fed food that contained olive oil or
monounsaturated fats instead of trans fat. The calorie intakes in both
groups were the same. The trans fat group of monkey received 8 percent
of their calories from trans fat and the other group received the same
amount in the form of monounsaturated fat. The monkeys that ate the
trans fat had a 7.2 percent increase in body weight when the olive oil
group had a 1.8 percent increase in weight.
What was
interesting is that the extra body fat went to the abdomen and some of
the other body fat was rearranged to land in the abdomen as well. The
monkeys were tested with computed tomography (CT) scans. The trans fat
monkey group had considerably more abdominal fat than the olive oil
(monounsaturated fat) group. The trans fat monkey group had 30 percent
more fat in their abdomen compared to the olive oil group.
An even scarier
discovery was that the monkeys were all given the same amount of daily
calories each day. Both groups had 35 percent of their calories that
derived from fat. The researchers did not believe that the calories
that they gave to the monkeys were enough to make the monkeys obese;
instead they thought they gave enough calories to maintain the monkey’s
weight. “We believed they couldn’t get obese because we did not give
them enough calories to get fat,” Rudel said.
“We conclude that
in equivalent diets, trans fatty acid consumption increases weight
gain,” said Kavanagh.
Over the entire
course of the study, there was a small but significant difference in
weight between the two groups. “In the world of diabetes, everybody
knows that just 5 percent weight loss makes enormous difference,”
Kavanagh said. “This little difference was biologically quite
significant.”
The FDA has
recently required food manufacturers to report the amount of trans fat
in the nutrition labels on all food that is sold in grocery stores. The
restaurant industry is not affected by this, and if you eat out and eat
fried foods you are very likely eating trans fats. Make sure to read
food nutrition labels for listing of trans fats. Margarines and
vegetable shortening usually have trans fats. You can by healthier
choices for margarine that do not contain trans fats.
Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication
Books on Dieting
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