Canadian Minister of Health, Genitte Petitpas Taylor, announced one year ago that Canada would be banning the addition of trans fats in food, and that ban came in effect today. Officials predicted the ban would prevent 12000 deaths from heart disease over the next 20 years.
Heart disease is no laughing matter. According to the Canadian Ministry of Health, “About 1 in 12 (or 2.4 million) Canadian adults age 20 and over live with diagnosed heart disease” and “Every hour, about 12 Canadian adults age 20 and over with diagnosed heart disease die”. So, what can we do to beat heart disease? Exercising, drinking and smoking in moderation, and eating a healthy diet are what any doctor will suggest. When it comes to eating a healthy diet, trans fats are public enemy number 1, but why is that?
Heart plaque – Courtesy Wikipedia Commons
Trans fats contain cholesterol that is carried in the body by proteins. The most common are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). These two lipoproteins bind to cholesterol to make it soluble in water so that it can move around our body. Unfortunately, LDL is also responsible for the plaques in our heart and arteries that contribute to heart disease. Knowing this, it’s a no-brainer to reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol we eat. Trans fats have a high proportion of LDL to HDL cholesterol relative to other fats, so avoiding them is the obvious choice. If you’re worried that your favourite treats will soon be off the shelf, there’s no need to worry.
Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger – Courtesy Clay Caviness of Flicker
Canada has joined a global initiative to reduce trans fats in food, alongside the United States of America and the European Union, and we’re a little late to the party. While our heel-dragging isn’t great for our health, we can at least rest easy knowing that food manufacturers in the USA and the EU have already had time to remove trans fats from their products, so we can keep buying them in Canada without interruption. While some alternatives to trans fats are a little more expensive, we can at least pay with our wallets rather than our health. I’ll raise a doughnut to that.
