Hi Todd:

Re:  Cooking with Flaxseed Oil:  I do not find Cordain's response regarding
the heating of flaxseed oil particularly convincing.  First of all, the
studies he mentions were done with ground flaxseed -- this is not the same
thing as flaxseed oil.  Secondly, Omega Nutrition, a huge seller of flaxseed
oil states unequivocally in its FAQ section that one should not cook with
flaxseed oil. Unless I missed it, nowhere in Cordain's book does he mention
that there are temperature restrictions ie "slow cooking under low heat or
brief exposures to moderate heat such as sauteeing" in his book.  Therefore,
a reader could easily assume that if one can baste or marinate meat in
flaxseed oil, it is safe for cooking.

Re:  Benefits of Animal Fat:  Stearic acid comes to mind.  Beef and mutton
tallow contain vitaman E.  The fat of grassfed animals contains CLA.  The
following is an excerpt from Barry Groves' Eat Fat Get Thin, Page 46:  "Fat
provides more than twice as much energy as carbohydrate, and also contains
lipids used in the brain and nervous system, without which we become
irritable and aggressive; sterols, precursors of a number of hormones
(including the sex hormones); and the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
These vitamins can be found in other foods, but without the presence of
dietary fat, the body cannot metabolise them."

Adrienne