McDonald’s fries pose danger to human reproductive function

You can hear questions like that being asked in a bakery or on a food market: “Is this bread fresh?” or “Are these potatoes okay, they aren’t frozen, are they?” Salespersons will never admit to selling stale bread or frozen potatoes. After all, salespersons have the goods to sell, don’t they?

Photo: McDonald’s fries pose danger to human reproductive function

McDonald’s fries pose danger to human reproductive function

McDonald’s, a well-known chain of fast food restaurants, has recently released a statement that seems to defy the traditional salesman’s logic. McDonald's admitted that its trademark French fries have a higher content of trans fats than previously thought. The harmful trans fats content in fries is by 33% higher than it was reported before.

As it turned out, McDonald’s introduced a new testing system in December last year. The testing shows that one big portion of fries contains 8 grams of trans fats, 2 grams more than it was reported earlier. The total fat content in a big helping of fries is 30 grams, not 25 grams as was reported earlier.

Well, the fat problem has been around for quite a while. It is surely a big problem in the States – just take a look at millions of Americans who are severely overweight and the number of them has been steadily growing. And what are those trans fats all about? What are we supposed to do if McDonald’s itself regards them as harmful?

Trans fats are unnatural isomers of fatty acids formed during the production of margarine and cooking oils. Let me remind those who choose a healthy lifestyle that margarine and other transformed vegetable fats are the best suppliers of cholesterol to the human body. Speaking of trans fats, cholesterol is not the main issue.

Trans fats are reported to meddle in cells’ metabolism and substitute unsaturated fatty acids, and thus trigger the development of certain malignancies. Apart from causing cancer, the bad fats worsen the quality of milk in breast-feeding mothers, according to a series of experiments. Besides, the trans fats are reported to cause a low birth weight and a lower immunity level in babies. They (the fats) can also increase the risk of developing diabetes in the future.

Trans fats (courtesy of McDonald’s) reduce the number of male hormones and have a negative effect on the quality of semen. They are thought to disrupt a number of reactions in the body and hinder the activity of ferments which neutralize chemicals, carcinogens, and various medicines with pronounced side effects.

Utro