While nutrition terms change over the years one of the most important terms related to cholesterol is “Trans fat”. Trans fat was initially coded in the 1940′s with the addition of hydrogen molecules into vegetable oil, which partly solidifies the oil to be used in preserving food. Companies found that adding this to food made it taste better and last longer on grocery store shelves. These trans fat were never really an issue until the early 1990s when doctors and scientists started linking trans fat to higher cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases.
Trans body fat doesn’t happen naturally and was created to assist these processed meals to have a longer shelf life. Regrettably its effects on human physiology were never fully investigated until half a century after its development since it was assumed that vegetable oils based on plant sources were safe. As science has learned much more about the results of various fats on our bodies, they have found that these fats have been raising cholesterol for years.
While there are some kinds of fat are good for your overall cholesterol, saturated and trans fat are both determined to increase the bad cholesterol in your body. Trans fats can be harmful for that simple reason why they raise the amount of cholesterol levels within the bloodstream stream. LDL, or low density lipoproteins, is labeled as the “bad” cholesterol in the body.
An increase in these LDL levels within the bloodstream stream results in excessive plaque build-up which blocks and clogs the arterial blood vessels. Raising these levels has been known to be associated with strokes, heart disease and other various cardiovascular issues. High density lipoprotein, or HDL, is known as the good cholesterol. It’s considered advantageous since it function is to get the surplus bad LDL levels within the bloodstream stream and give it back towards the liver where it’s discarded and passed from the body.
Trans fat reduces HDL levels while increasing LDL levels the exact complete opposite of what is desired by humans. On the opposite end of the scale is good fat that can help one reduce LDL levels, while raising HDL levels. Using cooking oils such as extra virgin olive oil will provide the body with monounsaturated fats which have been known to have a positive effect on overall cholesterol levels. So avoiding trans fat filled vegetable oil and replacing it with olive oil is just another tactic to help the cholesterol conscious consumer.