Trans fats, now a new heart-saving threshold

From now on, packaged foods will have less “bad” fats. There restriction on trans fatty acids, long overdue, is finally a reality: from April, throughout Europe, their content in industrial products must be less than 2% of the total quantity of fats. This is a turning point, achieved thanks to the battle carried out by the Prevention and Protection Unit of the National Research Council and by the Italian Society for Cardiovascular Prevention together with other European scientific structures. Trans fats have been in the sights of nutritionists and cardiologists for some time because of their harmful effects on health, especially cardiovascular. “Not only do they increase the levels of bad cholesterol and decrease the good one,” he explains Roberto Volpe, researcher in nutrition and preventive cardiology of the Cnr of Rome – but they also have a pro-inflammatory action of the plaque, predisposing to the risk of heart attack and stroke “.

Their reduction on the label is an excellent result, but the scientific community aims to eliminate them completely by 2023. “A feasible date because we will immediately notice the benefits of the limitation below 2%, as happened in the countries that introduced it. ago. In Denmark, where the reduction policy has been in place since 2004, cardiovascular deaths were reduced by 3.2%. Ditto in the municipality of New York City, where restaurateurs were required to replace trans fatty acids with higher fats. and in the following years there has been a decrease in mortality from heart disease by 4.5%, “says Volpe.

Virtually absent in the plant world and limited in the animal world, trans fatty acids are formed during the solidification of the oils carried out to produce margarines. Therefore they are found mainly in refined baked goods and low-quality industrial products. “In the formulation of foods, companies can safely replace them with healthier fatty acids, such as mono and polyunsaturated ones, or with saturated ones”, explains the expert. The best nutrients for cholesterol and cardiovascular health would be the first two, but even the saturated ones should not be demonized.

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“Monounsaturated fats, such as oleic acid in which extra virgin olive oil is rich, and polyunsaturated fats, omega 3 and 6 contained in fish, dried fruit, seed oils, such as corn or sunflower, in fact lower levels of bad cholesterol and raise the good one – specifies Volpe – saturated ones, on the other hand, are found above all in fatty meats, cured meats and cheeses, and are not completely bad for the heart: if they are included in the diet without excess their effect on cholesterol it is neutral because they increase bad cholesterol, but also good cholesterol “. However, with regard to cardiovascular mortality, the meta-analyzes invite us to make a distinction: saturated fats of meat origin have a slightly worsening effect, while those of dairy origin have a slightly protective one.