Trans fat-free margarine found to cause diabetes
If there is one thing I learned a long time ago it is to beware of products advertised as being free of one ingredient or the other. Every time such a product comes out the first question I ask is: what did they use as a replacement? It may take years to find out, but invariably we discover that the replacement was worse than what it replaced!
It was this way with fat-free foods that turned out to be loaded with sugar, sugar-free drinks laced with harmful aspartame, and cholesterol-free margarines containing trans-fats later found to cause heart disease and, quite possibly, cancer.
Interestingly, it is the same story today with mercury-free vaccines, often embraced by patients without realizing they contain aluminum and harmful chemicals in place of the mercury. I am still trying to figure out what happened with unleaded gasoline. If you think about it, lead – which used to be in gasoline – is known to cause all the symptoms of ADHD and more. Yet the ADHD crisis did not begin until after lead had been removed from gasoline. The new gasoline became known as “unleaded” but little has ever been said about chemicals used to replace lead …
For years now, when I give dietary advice I ask people to avoid all margarines and other fake fats. Lately I’ve noticed that when I say this, the response is often a smile and the acknowledgment that yes, they knew about trans-fats, but the margarine they used was free of them.
This one, I must admit, took me completely by surprise. I had no idea such a thing even existed. The best I could offer was that I didn’t trust it because it was another fake food, but I doubt I convinced anyone with that argument.
It’s taken only months to discover that the latest trick food is worse than what it replaced! This time its no longer “trans-fat” it’s “interesterified” fat. Does that sound appetizing to you?
Research is already showing that, like trans-fats, these new fats suppress HDL cholesterol (so-called good cholesterol), but they also interfere with the body’s ability to produce insulin, the hormone responsible for keeping blood sugar levels in check. In fact this new fat has been reported to raise blood sugar levels by as much as 20% in a single month of use, putting people on the fast track to diabetes (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070116131545.htm).
Should a routine blood test show that your blood sugar has gone up, I doubt that your conventional MD will suggest that you stop using “interesterified” fats. Instead, he or she is far more likely to prescribe one of the new generation anti-diabetes drugs Avandia or Actos.
However, these drugs have now been found to cause heart disease and are sold with the FDA’s strictest “black-box” warning. See http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/health/07drug.html (registration may be required).
I don’t know about you, but I’m sticking to butter!
