KOCHI: Most of us by now should have noticed a small list on all packed foodstuffs - it gives the details of the contents in terms of calories, sugars and fats. The last but the most important content is usually the percent of ‘trans fats’ in the food item.Ask your doctor about trans fats and the chances are, he or she might say that trans fats should be avoided (afterall shouldn’t all fats be avoided?)But how many of us really know what trans fats are?‘Trans’ fats are man modified fats. All other natural fats can be called ‘cis’ fats. After adding hydrogen to the natural cis fats, by an industrial chemical process, we get ‘trans’ fats. This process of commercial hydrogenation of fats has only been available for about 100 years, while man and indeed all living creatures be they rodents, insects, bacteria or molds/fungi have evolved over millions of years to efficiently digest and metabolise naturally occurring ‘cis’ fats. It may take several more million years for our bodies to really handle trans fats. However at the present rate, in India atleast, the chances are we may not survive the hazards of trans fats!Are we aware that trans fats is the cause of the now very common type2/adult onset/insulin resistant diabetes? (the much rarer type 1/insulin dependent diabetes has several other causes). Trans fats appear to block or damage the insulin receptors on cell membranes - leading to higher glucose and insulin levels in the bloodstream. Diabetes in turn leads to the killer diabetic nephropathy - presently the most common cause of renal failure in Kerala.Some of the other serious illnesses attributed to trans fats are given below:Coronary heart disease: while cholesterol containing plaques cause coronary artery obstruction in elderly (50+) persons, edema of the inner lining of the coronary arteries (endothelial dysfunction - produced by trans fat) could be the reason why younger persons get heart attacks.Cancer of many sites - especially liver, prostate, endometrium (inner lining of the uterus) are suspected to be due to trans fats. Trans fats are known to interfere with genetic processes and their expressions.Infertility may happen due to PCOD(poly cystic ovary disease). PCOD is possibly better referred to as ‘diabetes of the ovaries’ as the term PCOD is itself a misnomer. It can be produced by even minute quantities of trans fat in food.PCOD in turn is a cause of repeated abortions/miscarriages of pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, diabetes and hypertension in pregnancy, alzheimers, dementia, asthma, hypertension, arthritis, some types of systemic lupus lrythematosus etc.The above list of illnesses caused by trans fats practically includes all the daily cases seen by most physicians, excepting perhaps those caused by infective organisms and even in these cases trans fats could make matters worse by reducing immunity and/or causing diabetes.The cost of treatment of most of these illnesses runs from `1.5 to 4 lakh per patient, on an average, spent over a variable period of time - a colossal national waste which could be spent on other uses.So what are trans fats and how do we recognize them in our daily food? Since the trans fats molecules are straightened after hydrogenation, more of them can be packed together in a smaller place that is the original liquid ‘cis’ oil becomes hard after hydrogenation; thus brown palm oil becomes harder (and whiter) after hydrogenation to form vanaspathi.Food made without trans fat, by contrast is costlier to pack and store.So, the best way to protect your health and that of your loved ones is to carefully assess each and every food item before you buy it. Check the label for its trans fat content and whether it has hydrogenated oil (partially or fully hydrogenated oil) as an ingredient; it is now a law that these should be mentioned on the cover of all packed food items. Be very suspicious if these are not mentioned on the label and if possible report it to the concerned government authorities. People with some illnesses like PCOD and Diabetes should preferably have ‘zero’ or ‘no’/nil trans fat in their food content and these patients should be aware of entries like BDL (below detectable limit) or any other substitute for the actual percentage of trans fat. Some labels expect us to add all the other types of fat and minus it from the total fat content to obtain the trans fat content. By this principle, some reputed ghee manufacturers may be putting upto 32% trans fat into their products.A large quantity of trans fats enter into our bodies through food which is sold loose or unpacked to customers. I guess here is where public awareness is important - caterers will switch over to safer non-hydrogenated oils only when the public stop eating from the caterer who uses trans fat.Note that eating only vegetarian food at hotels is pointless if trans fats is used to cook the food (on the other hand non-vegetarian food maybe far safer if cooked at home using safe trans fats free oils and not hydrogenated oils).Dr William [email protected]
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