On Wed, 16 Oct 2002 17:22:09 EDT, Elizabeth Miller <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>-- the body will saturate
>or desaturate, etc. as needed to maintain membrane integrity. Particularly
>telling is the results of the study comparing a high corn oil diet to one
>higher in butterfat. On the corn oil diet the palmitic intake was 10.7% but
>the palmitic component of the membranes was 24.2% while the palmitic intake
>on butterfat was 33.3%, the membrane component was just 27.5%. ...
>(For instance while the 18:2
>component of the corn oil diet was 62.4%, it's proportion in the membrane
>was
>only 15.6% on that diet.

Thats interesting data about cell membranes.
So the body tries to adjust the composition of cell membranes according to
it's needs. And manages to do so.
Of course with one exception: LNA (18:3) is essential and must come from
the diet. It's triple unsaturated, goes into cell membranes and makes them
more permeable and more fluid.

Todd posted a link which indicated that a lack of LNA in cell membranes is
related to insulin resistance. This seems logical to me as the permeability
of cell membranes matters. I also suppose a link to cholesterol levels,
because cholesterol is also used in adjusting the properties of cell
membranes.

Those who think only of omega-3 FA only as DHA or EPA and disregard short
chain EFAs in diet and supplementation might miss something important.

Likewise for MUFA total percentage in the diet, as Loren Cordaine pointed
out. There is no paleo fat with a MUFA part lower than 10 or 15 % , with
only a few exceptions like suet.
However suet (and other hard fats) are such little, compared to (an
animals) total fat, that it shouldn't change the total percentages much.

regards

Amadeus S.