Trans Fats No Longer Recognized as Safe
Trans fats are produced during the process of hydrogenation. Partially hydrogenated oils are used in food production to enhance flavor, texture, and shelf life of many processed foods. Partially hydrogenated oils have been used in food production for quite some time. It was in 1911 when Protor & Gamble began using partially hydrogenated oils in the shortening Crisco. The hydrogenation process, which results in trans fats, made it possible to stabilize oil.
The Health Concerns
Unfortunately, trans fats come with many health concerns. They increase LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels while decreasing HDL cholesterol levels. Trans fats are linked to stroke, heart disease, and diabetes.
In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), required food manufacturers to report trans fat content on food labels. Research shows this did help Americans to reduce their trans fat intake from an average of 4.6 grams per day in 2006 to 1 gram per day on average in 2012.
Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS)
Any substance added to food is considered a food additive and must be reviewed and approved by the FDA. This review and approval does not have to take place if the food additive is generally recognized as safe under the conditions of its intended use among qualified experts. Up until now, trans fats have been on the “Generally Recognized As Safe” list.
Recently the FDA announced that partially hydrogenated oils (i.e. the primary source of trans fats) are not “generally recognized as safe” for use in food. This preliminary determination is based on current research findings and reviews of expert scientific panels. This means the FDA has begun a 60-day comment period to collect more data, as well as determine how much time is needed for food manufacturers to eliminate the use of partially hydrogenated oils in production.
What You Can Do
You don’t need to wait for food manufactures to change their methods. You can read food labels now to eliminate trans fats from your diet.
Here are some foods that may contain trans fats:
New Cardiovascular Disease Guidelines Could Double Use of Statins
On Tuesday, November 12th, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology jointly published prevention guidelines. The guidelines focus on the treatment of blood cholesterol to reduce heart disease, lifestyle management to reduce heart disease, overweight/obesity management, and cardiovascular risk assessment. These new guidelines call for a focus on risk factors and not just cholesterol levels.
Up until now, the focus has been on “bad” cholesterol — LDL cholesterol — levels and the need to keep LDL cholesterol below 100 mg/dL. Instead of using LDL cholesterol levels to determine if cholesterol lowering statin drugs should be prescribed, the new guidelines look at risk factors.
Here are four questions used to assess risk:
- Do you have heart disease?
- Do you have diabetes (Type 1 or Type 2)?
- Do you have a bad cholesterol level greater than 190 mg/dl?
- Is your 10-year risk of a arteriosclerotic/atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) event greater than 7.5%?
Base on the new guidelines, if your answer was “yes”, to any of the above four questions, you should be prescribed a statin medication. If you answered “no” to all, then lifestyle and behavior modification should be adequate to manage high cholesterol.
How do you know if your 10-year risk of a ASCVD event is greater than 7.5%? Continue reading
Heart Disease: Does the Media Impact What You Eat?
It’s very easy to let media hype influence eating choices. A new study comes out telling you this or that food increases your risk of having a heart attack and that food is off the menu. It’s hard to remember that the media is trying to get your attention. They need you to keep reading or watching whatever information they share. So, they are going to take a study (whether it is a solid study or not) and sensationalize it to keep your interest. Doesn’t mean the whole story is going to be fully shared.
This puts you at a disadvantage because you may not have the background to determine if the information shared is valid or not. How do you know if the study was peer reviewed? How do you know if the results have a statistical significance? How do you know if the study was funded by a company with a conflict of interest that caused results to be skewed in the direction they wanted? There are many factors to consider when determining the validity of study results.
Yes, you need to be aware of new research being conducted, but don’t let the TV, newspaper, magazine, etc. be the final determinant on what is a healthy food choice and what is not.
Here are a few foods that have been impacted by such media hype:
Anti-Inflammatory Diet to Promote Heart Health
Consuming a low cholesterol diet is not necessarily the best treatment plan for lowering cholesterol levels and reducing your risk for heart disease.
Why? Well, it depends on which of your total cholesterol particles is elevated. For example, if LDL cholesterol is high, it’s best to focus on reducing your intake of saturated fat. If triglycerides are elevated you want to reduce your sugar and alcohol intake for the most impact. Knowing which of your cholesterol particles is elevated will allow you to implement a more effective treatment plan.
Then you also have the other component – inflammation. Cholesterol by itself does not necessarily lead to heart disease. It’s a process that begins with inflammation resulting in the oxidation of cholesterol particles. So, you also want to incorporate a diet rich in “anti-inflammatory foods”.
How to Follow an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Continue reading
Are You Middle-Age with High Cholesterol?
First of all, your cholesterol levels are not the final determinant of your heart attack or heart disease risk. Other factors besides cholesterol play a role, such as inflammation which causes cholesterol to oxidize and then lead to heart concerns. That being said, you don’t just want to ignore cholesterol levels. They are a good measure to assess risk and determine if further investigation is needed to determine appropriate treatment.
Norwegian researchers reported middle-age men with high cholesterol levels to be at increased risk for a first heart attack when compared to women with high cholesterol levels.
This study, published in the September issue of Epidemiology, included more than 40,000 participants under the age of 60 years-old. They found men with high cholesterol to have three times the risk for a heart attack versus women.
The reason for this increased wasn’t identified by the researchers, but speculation that it may be connected to the protective effects of hormones, such as estrogen. That is why this study had an age limit of 60 years-old. After the age of 60, the protective benefits women may receive from hormones is eliminated as menopause begins.
Omega 3’s: Should You Stop Taking Fish Oil Supplements?
On July 11, 2013 research results from Brasky et al. were published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The concluded that high blood concentrations of omega 3 fatty acids were linked to increase prostate cancer risk. Researchers state these results support their 2011 findings that omega 3 fatty acids play a role in prostate cancer.
In the few weeks since this study was published, many doctors and researchers have weighed in with their viewpoints on the study results. Let’s sift through all the information and focus on what you need to know so you can decide if you should continue supplementing omega 3 fatty acids or not.
The Study
This study, released by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, analyzed participant data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). SELECT was a large randomized, placebo-controlled trial to test whether selenium and vitamin E reduced prostate cancer risk. SELECT was not a double-blind placebo controlled trial focused on omega 3’s and prostate cancer. Participants in SELECT had their omega 3 levels measured. It was the plasma phospholipid omega 3 levels of 834 men who developed prostate cancer and 1393 men who did not develop prostate cancer that was analyzed for this most recent research linking omega 3’s to prostate cancer.
Cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra points out valid concerns regarding vitamin E and its pro-oxidative effect on cholesterol. Oxidation causes the production of free radicals, which increases health concerns (ie cancer, heart disease, etc.). In SELECT, participants received 400 IU of dl-alpha tocopherol (one form of vitamin E). Many would argue that supplementing high levels of one form of vitamin E is associated with its own negative health consequences. Sharing this to show that the data analyzed from SELECT may have been ‘contaminated’ by the vitamin E supplementation which can impact results. Also, keep in mind that some participants were on prescription medications, were smokers, regularly drank alcohol, were overweight/obese, and/or had a first-degree relative with prostate cancer…all of which impact prostate cancer risk.
Omega 3 Levels
Here are the plasma omega 3 levels and the cancer risk found in this research:
