A major contributor to artherosclerosis and heart disease are the fats that have been artificially produced in laboratories, known as the hydrogenated fats. Unlike the natural lipid cholesterol found in foods such as egg yolk that is highly nutritious, trans fats are man made fats that the body cannot utilise. This causes them to be deposited in the arteries leading to heart disease.
These hydrogenated fats have been used to make margarine for many years. The process of hydrogenation involves the use of metal catalysts such as nickel and copper and hydrogen gas. The resultant vegetable oil becomes solidified in the process. Highly injurious trans fats are created via this process and margarine is not such a healthy substitute for butter. The trans fats return to a thick candle wax constituency in the body. Back in the seventies there was a lot of publicity for healthy margarines such as Flora. Many people switched to margarine believing it to be the healthier option. Epidemiological observations eventually noticed a strange anomaly. Those who had switched to margarine were more likely to die of cancer and heart disease. It was realised that the margarine was full of deadly trans fats that the body does not recognise as food. Hence it is dumped in fat cells or inside the arteries.
Today the problem in margarine has largely been rectified and most margarines are now advertised as being non-hydrogenated. However there are still foods that contain hydrogenated fats such as various cakes and biscuits. Due to consumer pressure many supermarkets have now completely removed trans fats from their own brand products. Marks and Spencer is one such leading supermarket. The Linda McCartney brand of vegetarian sausages and burgers were absolutely full of hydrogenated fats. Nearly every meat free product in the range was labelled as containing hydrogenated fats. I first noticed this in the eighties and decided not to buy them. It seemed morally wrong that these so called healthy vegetarian foods were full of a cheap fat known to cause cancer. These days trans fats may still be found in items such as Twix bars. It pays to read the labels. Some countries such as Denmark have completely banned trans fats meaning that the customer can rest assured when shopping. The British Government has decided not to completely ban trans fats as they feel that it smacks of a nanny state and maybe that have not fully grasped the argument for a ban. Trans fats are far more deadly than any other form of fat. Eating plain butter or lard is actually preferable even though they contain saturated fat the body is able to metabolise these fats to produce heat and energy. Fortunately more and more products are now having the trans fats removed. For example Jammie Dodgers are now made without hydrogenated fats. However the public has now spent many decades eating these dangerous foods and Harvard medics feel that around fifty thousand people may have died each year in the United States as a result (Mozaffarian et al 2006). In 2007 New York City caved in to consumer panic and decided to outlaw hydrogenated cooking oils in all its restaurants and fast food chains. They must all now use healthy cooking oil to fry chips and fast food without trans fat. The food industry loves trans fat because it increases the shelf life of their foods. This enables biscuits and snacks to stay on the shelf for years without going off. They are cheap and maximise profits. American Doctors warned that they are the worst fat to contribute to heart disease which is why New York banned them completely. This cheap cooking oil is still used in the U.K. however and many packaged products contain these fats. It is best to buy fresh foods that consist of a single constituent such as eggs, fish, milk, butter, olive oil, fruit, nuts and vegetables. Manufactured foods may contain many undesirable additives including trans fats to promote shelf life.
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