Even in moderation fast food is bad news

by Heather Craven, Posted Jun 15th 2006 @ 4:56PM

According to research, it you are going to pig out it should be on regular food, not fast food. In a study where monkeys were fed a diet consisting mostly of trans-fats, the types of fats most commonly found in fast foods, the primates gained more weight than those fed the same number of calories containing unsaturated fats.

Trans-fats, or partially hydrogenated oils, are bad news. They are found in many fast foods, baked goods and processed snacks. They have been shown to significantly increase the risk of heart disease, even more than saturated fats found in animal products.

After maintaining the monkeys on the fat laden diet for six years, the trans-fat-fed monkeys had gained 7.2% of their body weight, compared to just 1.8% in the group who ate unsaturated fat. CT scans showed that the trans-fat monkeys carried 30% more abdominal fat, which is a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. Although the data might prove informative to some fast food eaters, I can't help but feel bad for those poor monkeys.

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Filed Under: Health & Medical
Tags: diabetes, fastfood, heart disease, HeartDisease, monkeys, saturated fat, SaturatedFat, unsaturated fat, UnsaturatedFat