Association between trans fatty acid intake and cardiovascular risk factors in Europe: The TRANSFAIR study
Van De Vijver LPL., Kardinaal AFM., Couet C., Aro A., Kafatos A., Steingrimsdottir L., Amorim Cruz JA., Moreiras O., Becker W., Van Amelsvoort JMM., Vidal-Jessel S., Salminen I., Moschandreas J., Sigfússon N., Martins I., Carbajal A., Ytterfors A., Van Poppel G.
Background: High intakes of trans fatty acids (TFA) have been found to exert an undersirable effect on serum lipid profiles, and thus may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. Objective: Investigation of the association between TFA intake and serum lipids. Design: Cross-sectional study in eight European countries (Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden) among 327 men and 299 women (50-65 y). Using a dietary history method, food consumption was assessed and TFA intake was calculated with recent figures on TFA levels of foods, collected in the TRANSFAIR study. Results: Mean (±s.d.) TFA intake was 2.40 ± 1.53 g/day for men and 1.98±1.49 g/day for women (0.87±0.48% and 0.95±0.55% of energy, respectively), with the highest consumption in Iceland and the lowest in the Mediterranean countries. No associations were found between total TFA intake and LDL, HDL or LDL/HDL ratio after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors. Additional adjustment for other fatty acid clusters resulted in a significant inverse trend between total TFA intake and total cholesterol (P(trend)<0.03). The most abundantly occuring TFA isomer, C18:1 t, contributed substantially to this inverse association. The TFA isomers C14:1 t9, C16:1 t9 and C22:1 t were not associated or were positively associated with LDL or total cholesterol. Conclusions: From this study we conclude that at the current European intake levels of trans fatty acids they are not associated with an unfavourable serum lipid profile.