A new study found that Americans have reduced their consumption of trans fats in the past 30 years, but people are still ingesting more than the recommended amount.
Trans fats are known to increase the bad cholesterol and lower the good cholesterol in the body. High consumption of trans fats has been linked to heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. This ingredient is commonly added in processed foods to enhance the flavor, texture and shelf life. It is found in many foods, such as doughnuts and baked products (cakes, pies, biscuits), frozen pizza, margarines and other spreads.
Study author and epidemiology researcher Mary Ann Honors worked with her colleagues from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis. They looked at the data of more than 12,000 adults, aged 25 to 74, who answered a series of six surveys during the 30-year study period. The survey aimed to know the participants' consumption of trans fat and omega-3 fatty acids.
The findings showed that trans fat consumption significantly dropped by 32 percent in men and 35 percent in women. The average intake of omega-3 fatty acids was stable, but still below the recommended intake. They also found that 1.9 percent of men's calories came from trans fat alone, and 1.7 percent for women - still high for the recommended one percent.
"There's a downward trend in trans and saturated fat intake levels, but it's clear that we still have room for improvement," Honors said in a press release.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed to ban artificial trans fat because of its health implications, but it is still being reviewed.
"The evidence is compelling enough to aim for the elimination of trans fats entirely," Rajiv Chowdhury, a senior research associate in Global Cardiovascular Health in the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cambridge in the UK, said to Reuters Health. "There is also an increasing realization that trans fats are potentially even worse than saturated fats for cardiovascular health."
The results of the study were published in the Oct. 22 issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association.
