Trans fats have caused quite a stir here in approximately the past decade since they have been banned from many fast food restaurants (self imposed, surprisingly), and are under a lot of scrutiny for the health issues they contribute to as well as a controversial addiction that can be developed by eating a lot of foods that contain them.  If you’ve seen “Super Size Me”, the documentary, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. 

Trans fats, or partially hydrogenated fats and oils, are a fat that has part of it’s molecules missing.  It’s supposed to be a better way to get more flavor into food, and it has a longer shelf life.  The problem is, once these partially hydrogenated fats get into our bodies, they can contribute to clogging arteries, contributing to obesity and weight gain, and also they are reportedly not as fulfilling as normal fats, so we eat more of it which equals more calorie consumption which is bad for all around health. 

It’s not exactly shocking that now trans fats have been linked to a higher risk of breast cancer as well.  Researchers in Europe are concluding that trans fats may not only clog arteries, but also may raise the risk of  breast cancer after they compared women who had high levels of trans fats in their bodies with women who didn’t and found that the women who had high trans fats were about twice as likely to have breast cancer than their counterparts.

It’s actually kind of funny how trans fats came about.  They were initially created for lower fat and supposedly “healthier” versions of high fat foods, like margarine as opposed to butter for example.  However, it was discovered years later that trans fats were causing the same amount of problems as regular fats, if not more, in the human body, so they really were less healthful than their old fashioned counterparts, like the butter margarine comparison.

Imagine my mom’s surprise when, after being a devout margarine consumer, favoring it over butter for years, she found that what she had thought was a more healthful choice could have consequently been harming her health more than ever.  She still does consume it in moderation, but in the back of her mind now she knows that the days of heaping her bread with margarine may be over, especially since she has breast cancer in her family and is reaching an age where it may become a concern. 

 

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Posted in Breast Cancer Prevention by Breast News Girl No Comments Yet