Did You Know That Trans Fats Are Your Real Enemies?

Foods with trans fats are high on taste, and low on almost everything else. Neeti Jaychander has the information to put you off them once and for all

- Neeti Jaychander

Nutrition is a subject often open to debate, but the one thing that everyone worth their salt (and even those who aren’t!) agree on, is that trans fats are bad for you. Let’s first look at the difference between trans fats (also called unsaturated fats) and saturated fats. Not very commonly found in nature, trans fats, as opposed to saturated fats, have double bonds in their hydrocarbon chains. Jyotsna John, owner of The Unit, a Chennai-based fitness company, spells it out simply, “Trans-fatty acids—more commonly known as trans fats—are mostly artificial fats that your body doesn’t recognise. They therefore remain in your blood unprocessed, and clearing it usually means using up HDL or high-density lipoprotein. Given that HDL is the good fat you’re trying not to lose, this is bad news. HDL cholesterol acts as a scavenger, clearing out other harmful fats and sending them to the liver. It keeps the inner wall of the blood vessels clean. So when you use up HDL, you’re at risk of developing bad cholesterol and high blood pressure.”

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