A PLoS ONE study of 945 adults found that greater trans fatty acid intake was significantly associated with more aggression and irritability, and predicted them more consistently than the other risk factors measured. Labels reading zero trans fat can still mean up to 0.5 grams per serving.
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Trans Fat
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Chemical
Trans fat boosts stroke risk in women - Study
Women eating the most trans fat had a 39% higher risk of ischemic stroke in an analysis of more than 87,000 Women's Health Initiative participants. Total fat and other fat types showed no such link, the Annals of Neurology study found.
Nutrition
MSG, trans fat, high fructose corn syrup boost liver disease risk
In a feline model, dietary MSG increased body fat and promoted hepatic steatosis compared with controls, while trans fat and high fructose corn syrup promoted liver fibrosis and markers of liver dysfunction.
Cancer
Hormone Replacement Therapy, Trans Fat, Dietary Cholesterol Linked to Ovarian Cancer Risk
Following 126,920 post-menopausal women for nine years, a Cancer Causes Control study tied current hormone therapy use to 29 percent higher ovarian cancer risk. Estrogen-only users were at 63 percent; the 20 percent rise for estrogen plus progestin was not statistically significant.
Diabetes
Dairy products may lower diabetes risk
Among 3,736 Cardiovascular Health Study participants followed 20 years, those with the highest baseline trans-palmitoleic acid were 60 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes and had healthier cholesterol, inflammation and insulin measures. The study is observational, not causal.
Food
Total fat, trans fat raise risk of ischemic stroke
In the Women's Health Initiative study of 87,230 postmenopausal women, those eating the most total fat had a 40 percent higher rate of ischemic stroke than those eating the least, and the highest trans fat intake carried a 30 percent higher risk, researchers told a stroke conference.
Chemical
Trans fats expand your waistline- Study
Among 1,136 Japanese female dietetics students, total trans fat intake tracked with larger waist circumference, higher triacylglycerol and higher glycated hemoglobin, but not with body mass index. No link showed for natural trans fat, whose intake may have been too low to judge.
Chemical
Trans fat and MSG impair learning and memory
Mice fed a diet combining trans fat and MSG gained central fat, developed worse cholesterol profiles and did poorly at locating a hidden platform in a spatial memory test, according to a study in Physiology & Behavior.
Heart & Blood
Trans fat raises risk of sudden cardiac death in women
In the Nurses' Health Study of 86,762 women, those already diagnosed with coronary heart disease who ate the most trans fat were 224 percent more likely to die of sudden cardiac death; across the wider analysis the researchers found no significant association.
Other Diseases
Trans fat, saturated fat may induce cognitive decline in diabetics
Among 1,486 diabetic women aged 70 and over in the Nurses' Health Study, higher intakes of saturated and trans fat since midlife were associated with worse cognitive decline. The gap between highest and lowest trans fat intake matched about seven years of aging.
Law & Regulations
Maryland Bills Would Require Nutrition Info on Chain Restaurant Menus
Two bills before the Maryland General Assembly would put calorie counts on fast-food menu boards and fuller nutrition data on chain restaurants' printed menus, and phase partially hydrogenated oil out of all restaurants. The Center for Science in the Public Interest backs both.
Chemical
Q&A: Trans fat
California's new law phases artificial trans fat out of restaurants by 2010 and out of baked goods by 2011, with fines of $25 to $1,000. Packaged foods appear untouched. Republished Q&As explain what partially hydrogenated oil is and why the industry uses it.
Chemical
Study: Ingestion of trans-fatty acids does not affect insulin sensitivity
French researchers fed rats diets with 4 percent of calories from industrial or dairy trans fat for eight weeks and found neither impaired insulin sensitivity or muscle mitochondrial capacity. Because the work was done in rats, it does not establish that trans fat is harmless to people.
Food
Most consumers do not understand trans fat
A marketing study found many shoppers cannot tell whether 4 grams of trans fat is high or low, especially those who know little about the fat's effects. The authors say the FDA labeling rule, in force since 2006, will not help unless marketers and policymakers teach people what the numbers mean.
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