Private MD News

Bans on trans fat mean healthier cholesterol test results

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

For individuals who have received unhealthy cholesterol tests, it is important to stay away from certain foods and ingredients that can worsen their heart health, such as trans fat. Fortunately, some cities are trying to make it easier to keep trans fat out of their diet by instituting city-wide bans.

Tiburon, California was the first municipality to prohibit restaurants and bakeries from using the chemical in their foods, starting ban in 2005. New York city and Boston quickly followed suit in 2008. Several others have adopted similar prohibitions since then.

The city of Lynn, Massachusetts, located just outside Boston, implemented a trans fat ban a while back. Now, the city's health department is using nutritional consultants to help instruct local restaurants and bakers develop new and satisfying methods to cook without the harmful fat, according to the Boston Globe.

Didi Emmons, one of the city's consultants, told the news source that trans fat would be a perfect ingredient if it weren't so unhealthy. It extends a product's shelf life, makes it easier to work with and tastes good. However, studies have shown that it can lead to very unhealthy cholesterol tests results. This is why many municipalities have decided it is better to prohibit the use of trans fat.