TRANS FATTY ACIDS - THE PIECE OF THE CELL MEMBRANE PUZZLE THAT WON'T FIT

"Holes in Membranes. Trans-fatty acids change the permeability of cell membranes. They impair the protective barrier around cells, which is vital for keeping cells alive and healthy. This means that some molecules that ordinarily would be kept out of our cells can now get in, while some molecules which would ordinarily remain in our cells can now get out. Cell vitality would then diminish. Also, allergic reactions may result, and immune function may be impaired.

Trans fatty acids and altered fatty acid derivatives can have many deleterious effects on cell membranes, brain development, the cardiovascular system, the liver and the immune system."

In his book, "The Facts About Fats," Abram Hoffer, MD, writes: "One major cause of breakdown in the immune system is an overall weakening in cellular membrane integrity. The cells in the walls of healthy cells have the ability to discriminate between what is allowed in and what to keep out. In other words, they can resist entry by viruses and other pathogenic agents and, at the same time, facilitate the entry of nutrients."

In Positive Health News, Report No 13, I reported on a PWA who had hepatitis and was for several years on a fat free diet. In other words, he consumed no misshape fatty acids. When his body produced fats from carbohydrates, they were of the natural cis shape. Our body does not produce trans fatty acids. After several years of being on this diet and not taking any anti-virals like AZT or anything else, his first PCR test for HIV showed non-detectable levels. Last fall, friends from out of town visited him and took him out to local restaurants and he began eating pizza, hamburgers, French fries, potato chips and other foods containing trans fatty acids. His next viral load test, done shortly after this change of diet, resulted in his viral load increasing to 95,000. Here we see a clear-cut case directly linking consumption of trans fatty acids to an increase in HIV viral load.

Today, Americans consume significant quantities of trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are found in many processed foods - all deep fried foods, candy bars, cookies, cakes, pies, pastry, lunch meat, potato chips, French fries, etc. Trans fatty acids are formed when unsaturated oils are heated to temperatures above the boiling temperature of water. The more unsaturated the oil, the more heat applied, the more trans fatty acids will be formed. Canola oil, which is very high in unsaturated fats, is the most dangerous oil of all to use for any cooking purpose and will produce a greater quantity of trans fatty acids than soy oil or corn oil. All liquid vegetable oils, including soy, sunflower and corn, will produce trans fatty acids when used for frying purposes. The safest oils to use for frying and baking purposes are butter, coconut oil, and Cold Pressed Olive oil. Udo Erasmus reports that some brands of margarine contain as much as 60% trans fatty acids due to the very high temperatures used in the process in which hydrogen gas has bubbled through the heated oils. It is little wonder that many people eating margarine and cooking with Canola oil are getting heart attacks in their 50's while farmers who drink raw unpasteurized milk, eat butter and eggs daily, are living into their 80's and beyond. So much for all the propaganda the public has been listening to on television for the past 20 years. The skillful marketers of domestic oil have not been telling the public the whole truth. Half-truths, even when supported by fragmented scientific data, which lead to wrong conclusions, are no different from whole lies. In his book, "The Facts about Fats," Abram Hoffer, M.D., quotes Dr. C. Everett Koop, former Surgeon General of the United States, as calling the tropical oil scare "foolishness." "But to get the work to commercial interests terrorizing the public about nothing is another matter."

In his book "Fats that Heal - Fats that Kill," Udo Erasmus writes: "Deception, an art more ancient than technology, has been perfected by industries. Half-truths and deception, the stuff of advertising that generates sales, make liberal use of scientific format. Infomercials look like research reports complete with references, but serve sales rather than the search for accurate information." The biggest deception of industry in their attack on the tropical oils is their failure to tell the public that studies indicating that tropical oils (coconut and palm kernel) increase cholesterol levels are based on hydrogenated tropical oils and not on tropical oils in their natural unprocessed state. They also fail to tell the public that natural tropical oils increase HDLs, the good cholesterol that dissolves the LDL cholesterol, which often causes hardening of the arteries. Scientific research is unanimous in supporting the health benefits of HDL cholesterol for reducing risk of heart disease. 

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HOW UNSATURATED FATS EFFECT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AND THE PROGRESS OF CANCER Part III