Metabolic consequences of dietary trans fatty acids.

The epidemic of coronary heart disease in the western world followed the introduction of partially hydrogenated fats in food. Exposure to trans fatty acids (TFA) in those foods can explain the observed sex and age differences in serum cholesterol concentrations and coronary heart disease (CHD), the cholesterolaemic response to pregnancy, and national differences in rates of CHD. There is evidence that TFA can be innocuously used for muscular work. I propose that the TFA in partially hydrogenated fats impair lipoprotein receptors during energy surfeit, leading to hypercholesterolaemia, atherogenesis, obesity, and insulin resistance. A series of feasible experiments is proposed to examine this hypothesis.