A research, in animal model, at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, has shown that the "apple" body shape that increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease may be accelerated by eating trans fat such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

" Diets rich in trans fat cause a redistribution of fat tissue into the abdomen and lead to a higher body weight even when the total dietary calories are controlled," said Lawrence L. Rudel, head of the Lipid Sciences Research Program.

According to the FDA ( Food and Drug Administration ), consumption of saturated fat, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol raises low-density lipoprotein ( LDL ) levels, which increases the risk of coronary artery disease.

Kylie Kavanagh said that over six years, male monkeys fed a western-style diet that contains trans fat had a 7.2 percent increase in body weight, compared to a 1.8 percent increase in monkeys that ate monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil.

All that extra weight went to the abdomen, and some other body fat was redistributed to the abdomen. Computed tomography ( CT ) scans showed that the monkeys on the diet containing trans fats had dramatically more abdominal fat than the monkeys on the monounsaturated fat. " We measured the volume of fat using CT, " Kavanagh said. " They deposited 30 percent more fat in their abdomen."

The monkeys all were given the same amount of daily calories, with 35 percent of the calories coming from fat. The amount of calories they got should only have been enough to maintain their weight, not increase it, Rudel said. " We believed they couldn't get obese because we did not give them enough calories to get fat."

One group of monkeys got 8 percent of their calories from trans fat while the other group received those calories as monounsaturated fat. The researchers said that this amount of trans fat is comparable to people who eat a lot of fried food.

" We conclude that in equivalent diets, trans fatty acid consumption increases weight gain," said Kavanagh.

Over the entire course of the study, there was a small but significant difference in weight between the two groups. " In the world of diabetes, everybody knows that just 5 percent weight loss makes enormous difference, " Kavanagh said. " This little difference was biologically quite significant."

Rudel said, " The study was specifically funded to look at the role of trans fatty acids in atherosclerosis."

Kavanagh said the six-year length of the study was equivalent to 20 years in people.

Source: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, 2006
XagenaMedicine2006