Many people are aware of the dangers of consuming too much saturated fat from foods of animal origin such as diabetes and heart disease but are not aware that consuming plant based oil that has been heated at a very high temperature is also harmful. Heating oil at a very high temperature leads to production of tran-fat as a by-product.
The natural sources of trans fat are milk, butter and beef but the percentage of trans fat in them is low (4 to 11%) compared to the high amount (11 to 49%) in many processed foods. Examples of such items are imitation cheese, baked goods such as cake, pastries such as doughnut, meat pie, buns, spreads such as margarine and vegetable shortening, deep fried foods such as french fries, fried chicken, and other traditional fried dishes, confectionery fats, other snacks such as biscuits, chips and microwave popcorn or buttered popcorn.
The trans-fat is more dangerous than saturated fat? They don’t just increase bad cholesterol, they reduce the good cholesterol and block the blood vessels. Trans fat makes food taste good and last longer on shelves, but hazardous to health especially the heart. Trans fat causes inflammation, endothelial membrane dysfunction and coagulation of plasma lipids and thereby raise levels of the Low Density Lipoprotein-cholesterol, lower the levels of the High Density Lipoprotein cholesterol, increases triglycerides in the bloodstream, inhibits metabolism of other types of fats and promotes systemic inflammation.
Intake of dietary trans fat perturbs the body’s ability to metabolize essential fatty acids (EFAs including Omega 3) and thereby increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Trans fatty acids impair the metabolism of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and can affect a baby’s intelligence if consumed in large amount by a pregnant woman.
The natural sources can be consumed in moderation while the processed foods should be avoided as much as possible