HEALTH RISKS FROM PROCESSED FOODS AND TRANS FATS

[Guest guest]

Health Risks from Processed Foods and Trans Fats: Part II

 

 

© Interview With Dr. Mary Enig

Interviewed By Richard A. Passwater Ph.D.

 

 

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Mary G. Enig, PH.D., a nutritionist widely known for her research on

the nutritional aspects of fats and oils, is a consultant, clinician,

and the Director of the Nutritional Sciences Division of Enig

Associates, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland. She received her PhD in

Nutritional Sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park in

1984, taught a graduate course in nutrient- drug interactions for the

University's Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences, and held a

Faculty Research Associateship from 1984 through 1991 with the Lipids

Research Group in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Dr.

Enig is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition, and a member

of the American Institute of Nutrition. Her many years of experience

as a " bench chemist " in the analysis of food fats and oils, provides

a foundation for her active roles in food labeling and composition

issues at the federal and state levels.

 

Dr. Enig is a Consulting Editor to the " Journal of the American

College of Nutrition " and formerly served as a Contributing Editor

to " Clinical Nutrition. " She has published 14 scientific papers on

the subject of food fats and oils, several chapters on nutrition for

books, and presented over 35 scientific papers on food and nutrition

topics. She is the President of the Maryland Nutritionists

Association, past President of the Coalition of Nutritionists of

Maryland and was appointed by the Governor in 1986 to the Maryland

State Advisory Council on Nutrition and served as the Chairman of the

Health Subcommittee until the Council was disbanded in 1988.

 

Last month we talked mostly about what trans fats (TFAs) were, how

they interfere with " machinery " of our normal cell biology and that

they are a recent and unnatural intrusion into our diets. In Part II,

we will look into the health problems caused by TFAs, and in Part

III, Dr. Enig will put the research on TFAs and other fats in

perspective and give us her thoughts on the pluses and negatives of

the Health Food Industry as seen from academia.

 

Passwater: You mentioned the your research was stimulated by the

early investigations of Drs. Fred Kummerow, George Mann and Edward

Pinckney. What did you set out to investigate and what have others

added to these findings?

 

Enig: Much of the Trans- Fatty Acid (TFA) research that was

accomplished at the University of Maryland from 1977 to today was

done to answer some very basic questions. For example, we wanted to

know how much TFAs people were being exposed to. So during some of

the early research, we measured the amounts of TFAs in typical U. S.

foods and then estimated the amounts in various diets and in the food

supply.

 

The next set of efforts was done to measure the effects that feeding

diets containing physiologically relevant amounts of TFAs to

laboratory animals had on some reproductive and lactation functions,

on the alteration of membrane properties, and on the consequent

alteration of enzyme functions that had physiological importance.

These different efforts were measured by our research group, and many

of our findings, e. g., that the enzyme functions were adversely

affected, were repeated by various other research groups. It is hard

to tell sometimes if we were repeating the findings of others or if

others were repeating our findings. I think it is safe to say that

the research was invariably reproducible as long as the same animal

model and the same amount of TFAs were used. In other words, our

findings were real and other researchers could easily find the same

thing.

 

A number of research groups were able to use some of our basic

findings, and many of the researchers were using their own models and

their research was providing information that was parallel and

complementary to ours. In many instances, the other research teams

had access to better funding and models that we did not have at the

University of Maryland.

 

One research group at Auburn University examined diets of adolescent

girls and directly measured the TFAs in their diets by laboratory

analytical methods. [16, 17] They found that approximately two-

thirds of the TFAs in the diets of these adolescents could be

predicted by the food composition data in our 1983 research paper for

220 foods. This is rather remarkable since their research was done in

another part of the country. It does show the similarity of many of

the same types of partially hydrogenated fats in diets across the U.

S.

 

A research group at Louisiana State University studied, among other

things, the effects of TFAs on what is called " the second messenger, "

cyclic AMP and the digitalis receptor. [18] They found that TFAs

affected both.

 

Still another research group, this one at Virginia Polytechnic

Institute, studied the effect of TFAs on bone development. [19, 20]

Their research showed some very undesirable effects! AS far as I

know, the latter two groups who were finding important effects have

not been able to continue because of lack of funds for TFA research.

Their efforts were done independent of our concerns and findings but

parallel to our efforts.

 

There have been a number of other research efforts that have been

given widespread publicity. These include the published findings from

Dr. Martijn Katan's lab in Holland that the TFAs lower the " good "

High- Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and raise the " bad " lipoprotein [a]

(Lpa) which is atherogenic. [21] Also, the published findings from

Dr. Walter Willett's research at Harvard on 85,000 nurses, as well as

other prospective studies, have showed that those people who consumed

the most TFAs had the most heart disease. [3] Dr. Willett's group

also has preliminary, as yet unpublished, data that those individuals

who developed breast and prostate cancer had higher intakes of TFAs.

These findings have been presented at scientific meetings by Dr.

Willett and his staff.

 

I have recently prepared a technical report which includes additional

information that would normally not be found in typical scientific

reviews. [22] This information is of special interest to many in the

food industry and the regulatory agencies. The report identifies all

of the different research groups that have been working on TFAs

around the world over the past 60 years.

 

Passwater: I remember how the processed food industry tried to

suppress your early research. As Rodney Leonard, the editor of

Nutrition Week noted, you fought tenaciously to bring out the truth

and were " a burr under the saddle of the [processed food] industry

and the government, persistently challenging the contention that the

health threat of trans fatty acids is overplayed and that the current

level of consumption poses no threat to public health. " Most of those

who were skeptical then have examined the steady stream of new data

and now agree with you that TFAs are a major health threat. How were

you able to keep on? What techniques were used against you and how

did you overcome them? Where did you find moral and scientific

support?

 

Enig: As you know from some of our past conversations, we ran into

some strong challenges from certain segments of the edible oil

industry regarding our findings. In addition to writing several

articles to " refute " our findings, and seeing to it that our major

reports did not get properly referenced, those individuals who

actively opposed our research were able to influence funding sources.

Gradually though, other researchers started to realize that we were

correct and appropriately conservative in our approach to research,

and consequently, most of the " bad- mouthing " that we encountered has

backfired.

 

Passwater: Yes, I remember well how we were both encountering

difficulties with " the establishment. " I am happy to note, as you

well know, that the same is happening regarding my findings regarding

vitamin E and the prevention of heart disease, and of the antioxidant

nutrients in the prevention of cancer. We never did get the funding

needed to further pursue our research.

 

Enig: You're right. At the University of Maryland we never did get

the type of funding that you need to receive to continue the level of

research that would have been desirable, but what funding we did

receive was carefully managed and many of the people in our research

group were dedicated to the research.

 

I think we found moral support because we knew we were scientifically

correct, and ultimately the scientific support came as other

researchers started to evaluate the problems without having certain

industry people set up their research protocol. AS you realize from

your years of involvement in research, good research properly done is

always reproducible, if all the variables are the same, but it is

also possible for unscrupulous individuals to set up a research

protocol designed to obfuscate, and if that gets published, it keeps

other good researchers from continuing to work in the area.

Frequently, those individuals who are coopted write their summary and

abstract the way the industry wants them to, but they usually leave

their data intact so that a knowledgeable researcher can recognize

the inconsistency. However, it is a very time- consuming task to

constantly challenge each piece of misinformation that you see.

 

Passwater: Yes, it is a difficult task, but you and I give it our

best shots. In the past we did a lot of challenging others to prove

us wrong, and now we can smile a lot.

 

Enig: Our work is not done yet! There is still much to do.

 

Passwater: Right again! How big is the problem with TFAs? How

extensive are trans fats in our modern diets, and how does this

compare to ancient diets and other diets around the world.

 

Enig: Today the levels of TFAs vary around the world from practically

zero to levels much like those found in our foods in the U. S. It

depends on how much partially hydrogenated vegetable fats or

partially hydrogenated marine oils are present in the food supply.

 

Without the commercial partial hydrogenation process, as would have

been the case more than a hundred years ago, the levels of TFAs in

diets would be relatively low. Only the ruminant fats would have

supplied any, and the types of isomers that are found in the ruminant

fats behave in a very different way from those found in the partially

hydrogenated vegetable oils. Additionally, the research shows that

the TFAs are more of a problem when the level of saturated fat is

low. Diets that are higher in ruminant fats are also higher in

saturated fats. Most ruminant fats have about 2- 3% TFAs whereas the

partially hydrogenated vegetable fats are commonly 30- 40% and as

high as 53% in foods in this country.

 

After analyzing hundreds of food samples for TFAs, chemically

analyzing food composites, and calculating dietary information, I am

confident that there are many people in this country who consume 20%

of the total fat in their diet as TFAs. On average though, 10.9% is

the number we came up with when we looked at all of the published

analyses. The typical french fried potatoes are around 40% TFAs, and

many popular cookies and crackers range from 30 to 50% TFAs, and

every donut I have analyzed has about 35 to 40% TFAs. Since these are

all fairly high fat products, someone who eats a lot of these types

of foods will get a large amount of TFAs. Several years ago, we

documented nearly 60 grams of TFAs in someone's typical daily diet.

 

Passwater: Wow! I hope that's no one I know. Dr. Enig, you mentioned

that TFAs are atherogenic - - that is they cause atherosclerosis.

Then you mention that TFAs are more of a problem when saturated fats

are low. Yet most people fear saturated fats because they have been

told that it is the saturated fats that cause heart disease.

 

You are recognized as a leading expert on fats and oils, do saturated

fats cause heart disease?

 

Enig: The idea that saturated fats cause heart disease is completely

wrong, but the statement has been " published " so many times over the

last three or more decades that it is very difficult to convince

people otherwise unless they are willing to take the time to read and

learn what all the economic and political factors were that produced

the anti- saturated fat agenda.

 

Periodically, various reports have come out that show the

inconsistencies in the theory. You have already discussed this with

the well- known cholesterol and lipids researcher, Dr. David

Kritchevsky of the Wistar Institute. [23] In 1977, Dr. Kritchevsky

noted that it did not make any difference what kind of fat was added

to the whole foods diets in animal studies - - only when the diets

were very unnatural chemically could changes be brought about - - and

from study to study these changes were inconsistent. [24]

 

As you frequently report, the latest theories regarding heart disease

point to oxidized fats and oxidized lipoproteins as culprits. This

being the case, accusations against chemically- stable, basically non-

oxidizable saturated fat don't make sense. Most people who find

fault with saturated fats do not really understand that our cells are

busy making saturated fatty acids all the time from carbohydrates and

excess protein.

 

Passwater: Do tropical oils cause heart disease?

 

Enig: No they don't. Several studies have shown that there is no

increase in heart disease in countries or communities where most of

the fat is either coconut oil or palm oil. Palm oil that is not

extensively refined has very high levels of antioxidants, and coconut

oil has high levels of very useful medium chain fatty acids. There

are many older research studies that showed that adding quite a bit

of coconut oil to the diet of persons having high blood cholesterol

reduced their level of cholesterol. Dr. George Blackburn from Harvard

Medical School has written an extensive review on this topic. [25]

 

It is unfortunate that this misinformation about these oils became so

widespread because they are very stable oils that have unique

functional properties and products made with them as the fat

component usually have far less fat and therefore fewer calories.

Needless to say, they would also have virtually no TFAs which are

unquestionably atherogenic. When coconut oil was used in the

manufacture of crackers, very little fat was added to each cracker,

but the crackers did not become stale before they could be purchased.

Now the fat- free crackers become very stale very quickly, and the

crackers made with the more unsaturated oils are higher in fat and

are greasy or they appear drier because they are made with the high-

temperature melting partially hydrogenated oils. Deep fried foods

made in these oils never absorb quite as much fat as they do when

they are fried with the more unsaturated oils.

 

Passwater: Speaking of deep fried french fries, I notice that the

Community Nutrition Institute is pleading with McDonald's to go back

to their old cooking oil, an animal tallow. CNI cited higher risks of

coronary heart disease, coronary artery disease, and low birth-

weight babies due to the partially hydrogenated vegetable oil that

McDonald's has been using since 1990. [26]

 

Enig: Yes, when I analyzed the oils, I found that the percentage of

fat that was saturated fat in their french fries dropped from 49% to

24% when McDonald's switched from animal tallow to partially

hydrogenated vegetable oil. But the percentage of fat that was TFAs

rose from 5% to 42- 48%. McDonald's own study showed that the total

amount of fat in its fries rose from 17.6% to 27.9% Recently,

McDonald's has again switched to an oil that has cut the TFAs in

half. But, those who insist on eating french fries were better off

when the beef tallow was used.

 

Passwater: Why were earlier researchers misled about saturated fats

and heart disease?

 

Enig: The simplistic, abbreviated story of how some of the anti-

saturated fat rhetoric got started and then took a strangle hold, is

that when laboratory animals were fed semi- purified and artificially

saturated (fat) diets, the animals actually became deficient in

essential fatty acids. As a result, these animals developed lesions

that were incorrectly defined as the equivalent of heart disease.

This " research " was touted as showing an effect of " saturated " fat.

Then when Dr. Ancel Keys of the University of Minnesota reported that

hydrogenated fats were responsible for heart disease [15], the

response from the threatened edible oil industry was to claim that it

was only the saturated fats that were the culprits, and that the

industry would get rid of the problem by only partially hydrogenating

the oils. From that point on, the saturated fats stood " guilty as

accused, " even though study after study showed that there was no

relationship between saturated fat intake and the development of

heart disease.

 

In fact, some of the studies showed that there was less progression

of the disease process when the saturated component was higher. [27]

Usually the proponents of the lipid hypothesis managed to squelch the

effect of these reports. Of course the partially hydrogenated oils

were really very little different in saturated fat level than the

fats and oils that had been called " hydrogenated, " but the public and

the media and many of the naive researchers didn't know that.

 

As time went on, the whole heart disease agenda became a multi-

million dollar business that was benefiting the researchers funded by

the part of the National Institutes of Health that deals with heart

disease, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The only

people not benefiting were and are the consumers who are continuing

to get more and more heart disease at higher and higher costs. The

consumer may not be dying from heart disease as often as they were 30

years ago, but they are undergoing more surgery such as by- pass and

angioplasty, and they are swallowing more expensive cholesterol-

lowering drugs. All in all, while the so- called mortality figures

have decreased, the incidence has greatly increased.

 

Of course, the ill- trained consumer activist groups have added to

the problem by continuing to publish their own misinterpretations of

the science, and this in turn, is further publicized in the media.

 

Passwater: Well, I see that you haven't backed off and cow- towed to

the consensus pseudo- scientists that form opinions without looking

closely at the data. I would like you to explain the real facts and

their proper interpretation for the benefit of our readers. So let's

look at fats and cholesterol, TFAs and the obesity trigger, and your

thoughts on helping the Health Food Industry in Part III.

 

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" Health Risks from Processed Foods and Trans Fats: Part III "

Mary Enig, Ph.D.

 

Interviewed by Richard A. Passwater, Ph.D.

 

 

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Dr. Mary G. Enig, a nutritionist widely known for her research on the

nutritional aspects of fats and oils, is a consultant, clinician, and

the Director of the Nutritional Sciences Division of Enig Associates,

Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland. She received her PhD in Nutritional

Sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1984,

taught a graduate course in nutrient- drug interactions for the

University's Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences, and held a

Faculty Research Associateship from 1984 through 1991 with the Lipids

Research Group in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Dr.

Enig is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition, and a member

of the American Institute of Nutrition. Her many years of experience

as a " bench chemist " in the analysis of food fats and oils, provides

a foundation for her active roles in food labeling and composition

issues at the federal and state levels.

 

Dr. Enig is a Consulting Editor to the " Journal of the American

College of Nutrition " and formerly served as a Contributing Editor

to " Clinical Nutrition. " She has published 14 scientific papers on

the subject of food fats and oils, several chapters on nutrition for

books, and presented over 35 scientific papers on food and nutrition

topics. She is the President of the Maryland Nutritionists

Association, past President of the Coalition of Nutritionists of

Maryland and was appointed by the Governor in 1986 to the Maryland

State Advisory Council on Nutrition and served as the Chairman of the

Health Subcommittee until the Council was disbanded in 1988.

 

In the two previous issues, Dr. Enig and I have been discussing how

the trans fatty acids formed upon the partial hydrogenation of

vegetable and marine oils are being shown to be more harmful than

saturated fats. Margarine and other processed foods rich in Trans

Fatty Acids (TFAs) were once touted to be healthy choices for good

diets, but now many researchers are recognizing that TFAs are more

harmful than the natural butter and animal or tropical fats they

replaced.

 

We discussed how the processed food industry tried to cover up this

fact. As Rodney Leonard discusses in Nutrition Week, " The reputation

that [hydrogenated] vegetable oil as the fat of choice in a healthy

diet lies in ruins. And the real question is why the American health

establishment did not act sooner to correct what may be the biggest

scam ever perpetuated in nutrition and nutrition policy on the

American public...These trans fatty acids were found to not only have

more severe health consequences for persons at risks for heart

disease, but also to increase the risk for individuals prone to

certain types of cancer. " [28]

 

We have let our natural diet be changed by processed food technology.

The European Community has decided to limit TFAs to four percent of

the energy source. Unfortunately, as Dr. Enig has shown, the American

diet is closer to 10 - 14 percent, with some individuals consuming as

much as 60 grams of TFAs daily. Let's continue to look into the

trumped- up reasons given to us by food processors as why we should

switch to TFAs, and then see what the truth is.

 

Passwater: Some " authorities " are implying that all saturated fats or

animal fats greatly increase LDL cholesterol by shutting down LDL

receptor production which consequently causes LDL cholesterol to

build up in the blood, while they are also implying that all

polyunsaturated fats or vegetable fats either lower LDL cholesterol

or raise it only modestly.

 

Would you share with us your perspective of what we can accept as

fact about saturated fat, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats

and TFAs with respect to blood cholesterol?

 

Enig: This is a complex subject, that is difficult to explain in a

few words, but I'll try to be brief. The current dogma on the effect

of saturated fatty acids on LDL and LDL receptors is really an issue

that is not satisfactorily clear- cut. It is not surprising that

feeding different proportions of different fatty acids have different

effects in different animals and different organ systems or tissues.

Fatty acids are active components in regulating all sorts of

homeostatic mechanisms in mammalian systems. But sometimes some of

the basic research that identifies what is happening to one part of

the cell does not really show what is going on in another part of the

cell or in the whole person, and these reports have to be interpreted

carefully.

 

I am concerned about the inconsistencies in interpreting the

research. One example of such inconsistency can be seen when you

compare some of the research with recent reviews. In a section of a

1980 report that measured the effect of dietary fats on LDL-

cholesterol in humans, i. e., the effect of saturated and

polyunsaturated dietary fat on the composition of LDL, the total

cholesterol in LDL from feeding saturated fat was 59.1% (balanced is

phospholipid and triglyceride) and the total cholesterol in LDL from

feeding polyunsaturated fat was 59.5%. Not very different and

certainly not higher than from saturated fat!

 

These data are from the research of Dr. Antonio M. Gotto's group at

Baylor College of Medicine. [29]

 

Given these findings, I have some real problems with the unreferenced

or inappropriately- referenced statements in, for example, the recent

chapter on regulation of LDL- cholesterol levels that appeared in the

1993 Annual Reviews of Nutrition. The statement was made that " ...

{fats} containing predominantly saturated fatty acids further

increase the concentration of cholesterol carried in [the LDL]

fraction ... " and that " ... when fed at equal levels, saturated fatty

acids are more active in increasing the LDL- C concentration than are

unsaturated lipids in reducing the concentration. " There was no

reference given for the first part of the statement; the references

for the latter part (a 1957 paper by Dr. Ancel Keys et al and a 1989

talk by Dr. Mark Hegsted) are really inappropriate in my opinion.

 

Passwater: I see that you still tell it like it is. My next question

won't be of interest to most of our readers, but I have to ask it

because it will be important to other researchers. So readers please

hang on for a brief moment while I get a tad technical, and then well

get to the practical " take home " message.

 

Dr. Enig, how about the LDL- receptor?

 

Enig: Briefly, so much of the research on down regulation of the LDL-

receptor appears to be done on cells like fibroblasts which are

questionably appropriate. One report showed that down regulation of

LDL- receptors by saturated fatty acids was considered a good

phenomenon since the cell was a macrophage. In addition, any of the

changes that are occurring in response to short- term feeding that

are likely to be rearrangements of homeostatic mechanisms don't mean

very much. I know that many feeding studies have been purposely cut

off after a short term so that it would show something that would not

show up in the long term.

 

As I said, I think this very complex area probably needs a whole

article that delves into the meaning of the inconsistencies. Many

people have interpreted these reports as meaning that people should

avoid saturated fatty acids and consume more polyunsaturated fatty

acids. It is important to know that historically no people had a high

intake of polyunsaturates in their diets. This is really a phenomenon

of the present century, and the evidence against the excess intake of

polyunsaturates is mounting.

 

Passwater: Its ironical - - animal fats have been blamed for the

damage caused by partially- hydrogenated oils - - which started out

as wholesome vegetable oils - - that is, until they were chemically

altered by man. I can't help but think about so many in the general

public who are not scientifically trained and who have been brain-

washed by the countless illegal commercials that promise that using

margarine will protect them from heart disease. These people don't

even read the newspaper accounts such as the report from Harvard that

margarine actually is associated with increased heart disease and

heart disease death. In the Harvard study of 85,000 nurses, after

adjusting for all known possible confounding factors including total

fat and total calorie intake, there was a fifty percent greater

incidence of heart disease among those women with consuming the

highest fifth of percentage of fats as TFAs compared to those in the

lowest fifth. [3] Since all other factors, including total fat and

total calories were compensated for, the researchers conservatively

concluded, " these findings support the hypothesis that consumption of

partially- hydrogenated vegetable oil may contribute to occurrence of

coronary heart disease. "

 

Then there is the recent report in the American Journal of Clinical

Nutrition that found that the risk of coronary heart disease

increases as consumption of vegetable oil rises. [30]

 

However, the years of newspaper, magazine and TV ads that falsely

told them that margarine was good for the heart - - has made them

think that it was true.

 

Now we are learning that mothers are giving their children soda or

skim milk with their meals so as to avoid the fat in milk. They want

to protect their children against heart disease by giving them very

low fat diets in their youth. What effect is the fear of saturated

fat having on the health of our children?

 

Enig: It is really unfortunate that children are being encouraged to

drink low- fat milk instead of whole milk. In addition to the fact

that milk is a good source of calories for growth (children actually

need fat as an energy reserve so that the protein they are consuming

can be well utilized for growth), there are a number of components in

milk that are not widely appreciated. Milk fat globule membrane has

anti- cancer properties and some of the fatty acids found in milk

(and coconut oil) have anti- microbial properties.

 

Passwater: I am seeing reports that there appears to be a link

between TFAs and obesity? Dr. Lewis H. Kuller has made such comments

in Lancet, and Drs. Edward Siguel and Robert Lerman have indicated

such a possible link in the American Journal of Cardiology. [31,32] I

have also read discussions where TFAs have been called " the obesity

trigger. "

 

Enig: There was a report earlier this year at a major symposium on

obesity that was held in New York, that the metabolic effect of

increasing dietary TFAs changes characteristics of muscle cells that

trigger the onset of diabetes and increasing obesity. I have not seen

the actual research, but am looking forward to following it.

 

Passwater: Dr Enig, many of our readers are hearing about trans fats

for the first time. Others may not be sure of what your message is

regarding red meat, animal fat and vegetable oil. Would you give us

a " take home " perspective regarding your advice on dietary fats?

 

Enig: The important thing to understand is that all fats are

basically mixtures of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated

fatty acids in different proportions. There isn't any real evidence

that everyone needs to consume exactly the same balance of fatty

acids, except that we do know that people need to take in at least 2-

3% of their fat as the omega- 6 fatty acids and at least 1- 1.5% of

their fat as omega- 3 fatty acids. This means that smaller people

expending fewer calories need fewer calories of each fatty acid and

total fats than larger or more active people who consume more

calories.

 

The fats that humans have consumed for millennia, such as the fats

they added to mixed dishes, were almost always more saturated than

they were unsaturated. It was the easily extractable fat or oil. The

fat came from the animal, or, in the case of areas such as the

tropics, it was the oil that came from the coconut or the palm fruit

that was used in cooking. Sometimes it was one of the very stable

oils such as olive oil or sesame paste that contained lots of built-

in antioxidants and weren't too polyunsaturated.

 

People didn't really have the ability to extract oil from vegetables

such as corn, or from many seeds as they do today. However, they got

their essential polyunsaturated fatty acids from many of these plants

when they were included in the foods they were eating. People used

the intact leaf, root, nut, grain or seed along with all their

antioxidants in the stews or the porridges that most people ate. This

was the manner in which the polyunsaturates were historically

consumed. The polyunsaturated fatty acids didn't have to be

hydrogenated to protect their integrity and keep them from going

rancid because they were consumed in a protected whole- food state.

 

People on low- fat diets historically consumed adequate amounts of

essential fatty acids from foods such as grains, vegetables and nuts;

and then they made their own saturated fat for the necessary

structural adipose (structural body fat) and energy storage. Those

people with higher fat intakes in their diets still had about the

same amount of essential fatty acids, and ultimately the same amount

of saturated fat for storage or as the energy source. Regardless of

whether they ate it or made it, the fat in the tissues of our

ancestors was relatively saturated, and therefore, the fatty acid

supply to the tissues was predictably saturated. Today, with the high

levels of partially- hydrogenated vegetable and marine oils in the

diets of many people, the tissues and organs are faced with a new

situation. Many researchers have now concluded that the presence of

the TFAs is causing shifts in favor of chronic disease. Not a good

situation!

 

The bottom line is to consume as many whole foods and whole food

mixtures as possible. Since we live in a society where other people

prepare most of the foods many of us eat, it is important to look for

the least processed and the least likely to go rancid when it comes

to fats and oils.

 

There is nothing wrong with consuming your essential fatty acids from

oils as long as those oils are safely extracted and carefully stored,

but a good balance needs to be maintained with sources of the more

saturated fats such as the animal tallows and/or dairy fats for those

who are not vegetarians, or the more saturated fats such as palm or

coconut oils for those who are vegetarians.

 

Passwater: These facts will be hard to accept by those who have

always heard just the opposite, and because of this constant

repetition, they have come to believe the erroneous information.

While we're on the subject of truth, let's shift gears for a moment.

 

You attended the Waxman hearing in July. What comments do you have to

offer about the FDA efforts to limit nutritional products and

information?

 

Enig: One major problem as I see it is that the members of congress

and their staffs have only part of the information and almost none of

the training to understand that the FDA is running with

misinformation a lot of the time. But, if it suits their agenda, they

will vigorously use it.

 

The supplement industry needs to be sure of its facts, needs to spend

the time and effort to document these facts. The science is on the

side of whole foods and rational supplementation. There is one thing

that bothers me; as an expert in lipids I notice mistakes in many

books, magazines and newspapers being made by " spokespersons " about

the effects of fats and oils in health. I immediately discount the

reliability of source of the information and suspect anything else

that is being said. Sometimes I make allowances and can salvage

certain facts and separate the wheat from the chaff, but others not

so inclined, might not be so lenient. Since the FDA has a very biased

attitude towards the whole foods and supplement industry, any

erroneous written material that is put out by that industry or on

behalf of that industry is considered grist for the FDA's mill. I

hate to see the good apples spoiled because of the presence of a few

rotten ones.

 

Passwater: There is so much that needs to be covered, and we didn't

even get around to discussing omega- 3 and omega- 1 fatty acids.

Perhaps you will be kind enough to chat with us again. I am sure that

TFAs cause membrane abnormalities that can cause irregular heart

beats and I want to pursue the research that suggests that TFAs

trigger obesity. We are going to hear a lot more about TFAs in the

future. It has taken 15 years, but I feel that the corner has now

been turned and the momentum is building. The data can no longer be

suppressed.

 

Your pioneering studies will have a major impact on helping people

select better diets in the future. Now the public will have to deal

with the fact that most junk foods are high in trans fat - - and this

is a deadly reality that can not be compensated for merely by

juggling other food components. Changing the ratio of polyunsaturates

or saturates does not alter or compensate for the accumulation of

trans fats. People will no longer be able to rationalize junk food

as " just " being devoid of nutrients which can be replaced with

supplements. People will no longer be able to rationalize junk food

as " just " being high in fat which can be held in check by keeping the

total dietary fat to 30% or less of total calories by selecting low-

fat high- sugar foods. The reality is that there are only two healthy

choices - - either get the trans fats out of foods and pseudo foods

such as margarine - - or don't eat them. At least we can control the

latter.

 

Dr. Enig, what are you looking into now?

 

Enig: I have submitted a proposal for a research project that aims to

evaluate a specific nutritional support approach that I think will be

extremely useful for individuals with HIV/AIDS. I am currently

waiting to hear about the funding. I am presently preparing some of

the research done by our group at the University of Maryland for

submission to the appropriate scientific journals. I am also writing

articles and a book aimed at correcting a lot of the misinformation

that has been written about fats and oils. The working title of the

book is " Know Your Fats: The complete primer for understanding fats,

oils and cholesterol. " The book is meant to be a comprehensive primer

that would accurately explain what I have realized most people

involved in nutrition don't really understand. I am also teaching

short courses and workshops on lipids and nutrient- drug

interactions. I fell that there is a great need for people with my

training to continue to teach and consult.

 

Passwater: And, I am sure that you will continue to speak out for

scientific truth. I can hardly wait for your book to be published.

Thanks for taking the time to inform us about the dangers of trans

fats in processed foods. I still admire your bravery in presenting

the information in scientific forums, rather then taking the easy

path of merely researching topics that are " politically " safe and

don't risk losing funding or dirty tricks. I have always enjoyed our

nutrition discussions through the years and look forward to more of

your visits to the Solgar Nutritional Research Center.