Research

Hormonal

Industrial trans fats are harmful and should be avoided, while natural trans fats (from ruminants) are beneficial and may protect against heart disease.

Avoid processed foods with 'partially hydrogenated oils' (industrial trans fats). However, do not avoid natural trans fats found in butter and meat from grass-fed animals, as they may actually protect your heart.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
While trans fatty acids have a linear configuration, cis fatty acids have a kink... Manmade trans fats... are cheaper than animal fats with similar physical but different biological properties. These advantages in their industrial use have been acquired at the price of considerable health hazards [71]...
Reinhard Waehler · International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research · 2021

Why this rating

Supported by meta-analyses showing increased mortality for industrial trans fats and studies showing benefits for natural trans fats.

Source

Fatty acids: facts vs. fiction

Reinhard Waehler · International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research · 2021

DOI 10.1024/0300-9831/a000713

narrative_reviewCited 14×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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