Understanding Trans fats
and why they are dangerous
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Trans fats are fatty acids which do not occur
naturally. To understand the danger these man-made molecules pose to us, we
must understand the normal structure of a fat molecule.
Generally, fat cells store 'droplets' of fat,
and just as water is composed of H2O, these droplets are composed of smaller
molecules. Each of these molecules consists of a glycerol, and three fatty
acid groups which bind to the glycerol (this structure is called a
triacylglycerol). Furthermore, each fatty acid is composed of a carboxylic
acid (COOH) head group followed by a long series of CH2 groups and
ending with a CH3 group, the length of the CH2 chain depends
upon the fatty acid in question. To understand why this is significant, you do
not need to know what these chemical names mean, you simply need to understand
the following:
Saturated fats have straight CH2 chains
which allow them to pack closely together (and therefore fit more) in each
stored fat droplet. Unsaturated fats are better for humans to ingest because
they contain at least one less H in their CH2 chains, and for each missing
H a double bond between carbon atoms occurs.
This bond causes a disruption or kink in
the chain - sort of a folding back - so the chain is not straight. These
kinks and folds cause these chains to take up more space per molecule,
therefore not allowing them to pack firmly together in a fat cell (this is why
good fats like olive oil are liquid at room temperature: they cannot pack
firmly enough to become solid), which translates to fewer fat molecules being
stored in a droplet. Now, trans fats are engineered by adding H molecules to
these good, unsaturated fats (a process called hydrogenation). This
causes the double carbon bonds to break and new CH structures to form
in the chain where the double bonds were, resulting in straight CH2 chains.
The difference is these new chains are much more rigid and straight than
even those of saturated fats, due to some other chemical rearranging that
takes place as a side effect of the process. This rigid formation allows trans
fats to pack extremely close together, which translates to very easy fat
storage. This is what makes trans fats so darn dangerous! But theres more…
The creation of the method for engineering
trans fats from initially healthy oils was well-intentioned. People cook with
solid fats like butter and pure animal fat everyday. In a simpler biological
era, when not as much was understood about this particular area, scientists
believed that these engineered solid fats were a healthy alternative to the
previously mentioned ingredients because they were made using plant and seed
oils. Unfortunately, they were not only wrong, but completely backwards! In
actual fact, the human body was not designed for breaking down and
utilizing these trans fats. And there is some question as to whether
weight gained from the storing of these fats can ever be lost!
To my disappointment, food manufacturers
continue to hydrogenate otherwise healthy oils and use them in their products,
despite the health risks, as a texture enhancer and preservative (a great
example is peanut butter).
The moral of the story is,
if you are a truly hardcore builder and want to make absolutely sure you win
your next competition, you should be careful to avoid trans fats entirely
while bulking (or cutting for that matter). READ LABELS. If the product in
question does not list an amount of trans fat present in the product you are
checking out, read the ingredients. If you see anything in the ingredients
list that says ‘partially hydrogenated,’ avoid it! On the other hand, if you
are just a recreational builder/athlete and aren’t looking to win a show
anytime soon, then you’re probably safe indulging a little. Just don’t go
overboard!
-M.R.M.
Mitch McGill
B.S. Medical Technology/Chemistry - University of Missouri,
Kansas City
Natural Bodybuilder
Natural
Bodybuilding at its Finest - Lift for Life.com
