Science
Study: Replacing trans fat is problematic
Waltham, Mass. | January 17, 2007 12:01:13 AM IST
Several U.S. cities have or are considering outlawing trans fats in restaurant food, but now scientists have cast doubt on a method of replacing such fat. Researchers at Brandeis University and in Malaysia say a new method of modifying fat in commercial products to replace unhealthy trans fats has been found to raise blood glucose and depress insulin in humans -- both common precursors to diabetes. Furthermore, as does trans fat, it still adversely depresses the beneficial HDL-cholesterol. The study demonstrates an interesterified fat -- a modified fat that includes hydrogenation followed by rearrangements of fats molecules by the process called interesterification and enriched with saturated stearic acid -- adversely affected human metabolism of lipoproteins and glucose, compared with an unmodified, natural saturated fat. One of the most interesting aspects of these findings is the implication that our time-honored focus on fat saturation may tell only part of the story, said biologist and nutritionist K.C. Hayes, who collaborated on the research with Kalyana Sundram, nutrition director for palm oil research at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board in Kuala Lampur. The study appears online in the journal Nutrition and Metabolism. (UPI)
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