Heart disease is one of the most deadly diseases in Thailand, similar to cancer. This may be caused by our lifestyles, which are changed dramatically, especially what we eat daily.
Fast-food is the great choice for people who are busy all the time, but they may not know that it is the factor increasing the risk of heart disease. Because they contain trans fats or trans fatty acids, mostly found in fried foods, including many people’s favorite snacks such as cookies, biscuits, pies, puff donuts etc.
What are trans fats?
Trans fats are a form of unsaturated fat, which separate into natural and artificial trans fats. The artificial one is created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils, called “hydrogenation process”. Trans fats give foods a desirable taste, last a long time and greatly reduce production costs. However, research found that it harms our health, also leads to many diseases like coronary artery disease, diabetes, hypertension and ischemic heart disease.
How does trans fat cause heart disease?
From the research, if we consume foods containing high trans fat, they will raise LDL (bad cholesterol) and reduce HDL (good cholesterol), that means LDL will block the heart artery and lead to coronary heart disease.
In the experiment, researchers let participants limit intake of trans fat to 1% of their total daily calorie and found that LDL (bad cholesterol) increased while HDL (good cholesterol) decreased. Moreover, consuming 2% of total calories from trans fats replacing carbohydrate, will represent a 23% higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Furthermore, trans fats can cause obesity, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, Alzheimer and gallstones.
Stop consuming trans fats for your heart
Although the government called for all manufacturers and distributors to stop trans fats products, and change to be trans-fat-free, we are still able to find natural trans fats, especially animal organs.
Therefore, we should avoid deep fried foods, margarine and try to boiled, steamed, grilled or baked to reduce consuming of trans fats.
Welcome to have a heart check-up with our specialist to see your cardiovascular health!
Should you have further questions, please contact
Phyathai 3 Heart Center
