Study finds link between trans fat and memory impairment

It's no secret that trans fats aren't good for your waistline, but a new study has found that they're also bad for your mind.

The research, presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2014 event, found a link between eating trans fats and higher rates of memory impairment.

Scientists conducted food questionnaires and memory tests on roughly 1,000 healthy adult men to reach the conclusion. For every gram of trans fat the men ate, they remembered 0.76 fewer words. Those who ate the highest amount of trans fats remembered 11 fewer words as compared with those who ate the least trans fats.

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"From a health standpoint, trans fat consumption has been linked to higher body weight, more aggression, and heart disease," Dr. Beatrice Golomb, the study's lead author and a professor of medicine at the University of California-San Diego, said in a statement. "As I tell patients, while trans fats increase the shelf life of foods, they reduce the shelf life of people."