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Saturated & Trans Fatty Acids That Stimulate the Inflammatory or Immune Systems

Jul 14, 2011 | By M. Gideon Hoyle

Fatty acids are substances that your body needs in certain amounts for normal brain development, blood clotting and control of an immune system response called inflammation. However, despite fatty acids' general role in reducing inflammation, two types of fat, saturated fat and trans fat, can trigger changes in your body that stimulate your immune system's inflammatory response.

Inflammation Basics

Inflammation is your immune system's response to conditions that include injury, intrusion by foreign bodies, autoimmune reactions and environmental irritants. Short-term, or acute, inflammation helps your body deal with infections or injuries by increasing your blood flow, in addition to increasing the activity of your white blood cells and other vital immune system components. In people with chronic inflammation, the source of the immune system disruption lingers for anywhere from days to years and triggers an ongoing inflammatory response that can significantly degrade your health by damaging different types of tissue.

Fat and Fatty Acids

The fatty acids humans rely on for good health are called linolenic acid and linoleic acid. To get these acids into your system, you need to eat some form of fat. Saturated fat, which gets its name because of the large amounts of hydrogen atoms in its chemical structure, provides the necessary fatty acids but also contains high amounts of harmful LDL cholesterol. Trans fat, a man-made substance produced by artificially hardening vegetable oils, is itself a type of fatty acid. It also increases your LDL levels while simultaneously reducing your levels of beneficial HDL cholesterol, which removes LDL from your bloodstream.

Inflammatory Effects

According to a study published in 2011 in "Nature Immunology," saturated fat contains a fatty acid called palmitate, which stimulates activity in a protein complex in your body called inflammasome. In turn, inflammasome stimulates the immune system's inflammatory response and interferes with your body's normal response to insulin, a hormone you need to help control glucose levels in your bloodstream. When trans fatty acid enters your bloodstream, it appears to trigger inflammation by damaging the walls of your blood vessels. In turn, this inflammation can lead to the formation of dangerous blood vessel blockages.

Considerations and Recommendations

A third type of fat, called unsaturated fat, contains a fatty acid called oleate, which does not trigger inflammation, according to the study published in "Nature Immunology." The U.S. National Library of Medicine's MedlinePlus recommends that you get your linolenic and linoleic acid intake from limited amounts of unsaturated fat. MedlinePlus also recommends that you limit or avoid intake of saturated fat and strictly avoid intake of trans fat, which is also known as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Common dietary sources of unsaturated fat include fish and oils derived from olives, soybeans, corn and sunflower seeds. Common sources of saturated fat include fatty meats, whole dairy products and palm oils. Common sources of trans fat include margarine, various types of commercial baked goods and processed or fried foods. Consult your doctor and a registered nutritionist for more information on fatty acids and the health effects of saturated and trans fats.

References

Article reviewed by GlennK Last updated on: Jul 14, 2011

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