Ban Trans Fats, Increase Diabetes?

In my earlier post, “Is Trans Fat Hysteria The Salem Witch Hunt Of Our Time,” I railed against the food police and their attempts to dictate what we eat. Especially when they’re wrong so often.

But I want to make sure an important point didn’t get overshadowed. Because this may directly impact your health.

I’m not arguing that trans fats are healthy. But they’re largely being replaced by a new type of fat that may be worse.

Interesterified fats still pose a heart health risk because they reduce HDL cholesterol (the good one) just like trans fats.

But a recent study showed they also significantly increase blood sugar and depress insulin. So now we may be facing a diabetes risk as well.

These new interesterified fats were found to increase blood sugar by 20% more than saturated fats (which trans fats replaced).

This 20% increase in blood sugar took place in just 4 weeks. Imagine what would happen over a longer time period.

If you’re concerned about this potential diabetes risk, check the ingredient list of your foods. Interesterified fats are called “fully hydrogenated oil.”

I think it’s a foolish mistake to ban trans fats until more studies have been done. We need reasonable proof that we’ve found a safer alternative.

At the moment, I’d rather see us return to saturated fats. They sure made McDonald’s French fries taste good. And it looks like saturated fats may have been the safest alternative after all.

Technorati Tags: trans fats, interesterified fats, saturated fats, diabetes, HDL cholesterol, heart health, trans fat ban

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 at 9:15 pm and is filed under Health, Controversial Posts, Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.