Adrienne Smith wrote:

>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.
>

Fair enough.  I also don't recall if those caveats concerning cooking
are in the book, and if they are not one might indeed go ahead and grill
meats marinated in this way, which would certainly destroy the omega-3
content.

>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."
>
>

I wasn't questioning the benefits of animal fat; I was wondering about
your claim that it contains "nutrients."  I guess it depends on what
counts as a nutrient.  I would include CLA in that category, and also
vitamin E, although according to USDA these fats have are not very
significant sources of E.  I think the sterols (I believe those would be
the same lipids he mentions in connection with the brain and nervous
system) would qualify as well, now that you mention it.  But beef and
mutton tallow are devoid of vitamin A, and although fat is required to
metabolize these fats, it doesn't have to be animal fat, so that one's a
wash.  Does stearic acid have any special properties as a nutrient,
other than for energy?  I know that it is the least digestible of the
fatty acids, but that's about it.  What else does it have going for it?

Todd Moody
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