14 DAY TRIAL // In a study published in yesterday's issue of the science journal PLOS ONE, University of California - San Diego researchers show that trans fats in processed foods impair memory.
Interestingly, this report was published the day after the US Food and Drug Administration announced a ban on trans fats in foods made and marketed across the country on account of their not being safe for human consumption.
As it turns out, the Food and Drug Administration officials behind the ban really were on to something when they decided that it would be best to phase out trans fats in processed foods.
Documenting how trans fats affect memory
To assess how this type of unsaturated fats affect the brain and consequently memory, the University of California - San Diego team carried out a series of experiments with the help of volunteers.
In a nutshell, the researcher gathered up 1,018 men and women, and had them complete a memory test involving word recall. Before taking this test, the study participants were also questioned about their usual diet.
In the case of men age 45 and younger, one extra gram of trans fats included in their daily diet was found to correlate with a performance drop of 0.76 words in the memory test, the scientists say.
What this means is that, when compared to men consuming no trans fats whatsoever, those with the highest levels of trans fats intake documented in the investigation recalled an average 12 fewer words.
“Trans fats were most strongly linked to worse memory in men during their high productivity years,” study leader Beatrice A. Golomb commented on the outcome of this investigation in an interview.
“As I tell patients, while trans fats increase the shelf life of foods, they reduce the shelf life of people,” the University of California - San Diego researcher went on to explain.
Seeing how very few women were included in this study, the specialists failed to document a link between trans fats consumption and memory loss for this gender.
Trans fats can cause many other health complications
For those unaware, trans fats are basically vegetable oils made solid. They are added to foods to improve taste, texture and shelf life, and have been a part of our diet for decades now.
Since the 1990s, when they finally got around to investigating their impact on public health, scientists have found that they make people more vulnerable to heart disease, weight gain, type 2 diabetes and even stroke.
Following the ban implemented by the US Food and Drug Administration this past Tuesday, food manufacturers in the country have three years to phase out trans fats from their products.