Broadly speaking, I’d say the evidence decently points to yes most trans polyunsaturated fats are probably harmful. But I definitely agree, that lumping various

Broadly speaking, I’d say the evidence decently points to yes most trans polyunsaturated fats are probably harmful. But I definitely agree, that lumping various fatty acids, amino acids and carbohydrates into big groups hides their extreme individual complexity. One possible exception to the “trans fat bad” thing for example is that when I last looked into it several years ago, Conjugated Linoleic Acid (“CLA”) which can be either cis or trans were generally regarded as probably beneficial. Though frankly I’ve no idea how that would be. Regular linoleic acid itself is considered harmful (at least in the historically excessive amounts we are currently exposed to). It suppresses mammalian metabolism (being required by hibernators to induce the start of their winter torpor cycling), is very prone to oxidizing and generating free radicals and lipid peroxides which cause havoc in lipoproteins and blast holes in cardiovascular tissue, and even without all that it’s breakdown products tend to increase inflammation, though this can be paradoxically hidden by linoleic acid’s ability to suppress the immune system. But somehow when you conjugate three of the things together and get CLA, it behaves differently and can seemingly scavenge for free radicals.