On Fri, 16 Oct 1998, Amadeus Schmidt wrote: > In foods there are 3 types of fats: > Saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. > Too much of saturated fats in relation to other fats can cause severe > health problems like heart and coronary deseases(a no 1 killer of today). Actually, only certain saturated fats are known to elevate cholesterol: lauric, myristic, and palmitic acids. And palmitic acid apparently only does so in the presence of dietary cholesterol. The other saturated fats do not have a known cholesterol elevating effect. Thus, it is important to know *which* saturated fats are present in what proportions. > Monounsaturated fats are the "good ones" and represent a healthy and > desireable caloric intake. > High monounsaturated fats come from olive oil, canola oil, avocado. Nuts are also high in monounsaturated fats, for the most part. > Monounsaturated fats can help problems that come from the > wrong polyunsaturated and of a too much of saturated fats. Could you be more specific about this? > Studies show, that the relation of w-3 to w-6 fats should not go > too far to the w-6 fat side. Otherwise cancer and other risks emerge. A ratio of w-6 to 2-3 of 2 or less is considered ideal. > w-3 fats come from several plant and animal resources. > Animal sources can contain DHA(22:6) and EPA(22:5) an ALA(18:3). > Plant sources can contain ALA (18:3, Alpha Linolenic acid). > The human body can build DHA and EPA out of ALA. Yes, but the process of doing so is believed to inhibit the body's ability to utilize w-6 fats properly. It's not yet clear whether this is a problem. > Good sources of w-3 fats are fish oils, canola oil, flaxseed oil, > walnuts, brazil nuts and and dark green leafy vegetables. The dark green leafy vegetables have good ratios but rather small absolute amounts. > Are you still d'accord and with me? Mostly d'accord. Todd Moody [log in to unmask]