Trans fats may raise risk of infertility in women

THE Ministry of Health and Wellness is taking steps to eliminate unhealthy industrial trans fats from the local diet and has started the process to determine how much of the foods consumed by Jamaicans contain the ingredient.

Portfolio Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said the key findings of a study conducted by the National Health Fund and the University of Technology, Jamaica indicate that trans fats were found in 117 of 296 food samples, that is, 39.5 per cent of commonly consumed foods in Jamaica.

He said that the findings of the study must now be infused in the overall engagement of the public around knowing the content of their foods as part of measures to encourage more healthy eating habits.

“We will begin, in the coming months, by inviting private sector stakeholders, manufacturers, and distributors to present and discuss the findings,” he said in his contribution to the 2022/23 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives recently.

He pointed out that trans fats or trans fatty acids are a major source of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes. They can be found in fast foods, baked goods, oils and shortening, among others. Trans fats are formed when vegetable oils are converted into a semi-solid form.

But those are not the only issues of concern, especially for women.

A 2007 study, Dietary fatty acid intakes and the risk of ovulatory infertility, by Jorge Chavarro and colleagues, and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that trans unsaturated fats may increase the risk of ovulatory infertility when consumed instead of carbohydrates or unsaturated fats commonly found in non-hydrogenated vegetable oils.

The study was conducted with 18,555 married, premenopausal women without a history of infertility who attempted a pregnancy or became pregnant between 1991 and 1999. Diet was assessed twice during follow-up by using a food-frequency questionnaire.

The objective of the study was to assess whether the intakes of total fat, cholesterol, and major types of fatty acids affect the risk of ovulatory infertility. The researchers found that women who consumed two per cent of their daily calories in the form of trans fat — which translates to four grams of fat for a woman eating 1,800 calories a day — exhibited a 73 per cent greater chance of developing ovulatory infertility than those who consumed those calories in the form of carbohydrates.

Ovulatory infertility occurs when a woman has problems producing a monthly egg.

So how does a woman avoid trans fats? It’s often as simple as cooking or baking with olive oil or corn oil instead of margarine, and ditching the brownies, French fries, and muffins, which use lard in the baking process.

Dr Tufton noted that most advanced countries in the world have restricted or banned trans fats given the negative impact on public health and health-care costs.

“If it’s not good for them, it should not be good for us. The time has come to move for the elimination of industrial trans fats in our food system and we have started that process,” he said.