Perceptions of the health effects of trans fatty acids (TFA), particularly in the form of margarine, have undergone several changes during the past 10 years. What was once heralded as the healthy alternative to butter now assumes the role of coconspirator. In the 1990s, there was public health concern about epidemiological studies suggesting that high intakes of TFA may increase the risk of coronary heart disease. (1) However, a lot of studies still need to be done in order to confirm these results. Trans fatty acids (TFA), unsaturated fatty acids with at least one double bond in the trans molecular…
The Science Creative Quarterly
By ritatory
Rita Tory is a graduate student in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC, looking at the transfer between different lipoproteins. She got the inspiration for this paper from the debate with her roommates about the downsides of margarine. Ironically, being one of those `lipid guys` doesn`t help her a lot in losing weight.