Hilary McClure wrote:
>.. And has anyone ever done a
> body composition analysis on an auroch, a mastodon, an Irish elk, or a cave
> bear? They're all extinct.

The fat composition of animals (and humans) reflects the fats they eat.
If you once find a kind of hazelnut-beaver or sunflower-bison you can
assume them to show high omega-6 high PUFA readings.

As long as animals eat from the wild they show the fat compositions that
the food plants have. Just take a look. There are very few high SFA high
MUFA plants.
To take a look you may use
http://www.juggernaut.com.au/food/index.php?f=moose&n=17172
You get the absolute value in grams of SFA MUFA PUFA of food items you
select - the percentages you have to compute yourself.
Or look into my query at
http://www.geocities.com/paleolix/lipidsallmeat.html


 > Farmed animals have a lot of fat, but most people
> leave quite a bit on the plate (except certain people on this list!), and a
> lot of it never gets anywhere near a plate (rendered for soap, etc.).

In a farmed animal you have the fat composition like the grains they are
fed with (plus carbs which are converted to SFA in them).
Then a lot of fat depots from overfeeding and quick-feeding. You won't
find them in any wild animal in warm climates, and in medium climates
(with winters) you find them in autumn only.
The *muscles* of farmed animals show a genetic deviation: the marbeling.
Muscles have considerable fat themselves. That's why really lean beef
still has more fat than a wild animal (deer moose elk rabbit...) has in
total, including all it's fat depots and fatty parts (bones brain skin).

>  Has any study ever shown that eating a lot of saturated fat has ANY
> negative health consequence in the context of a low or moderate carb diet
> with low n6 and lots of physical activity?

Some studies associated red meat consumption and the the assumed high
SFA consumption with increased rates of (particular) colon cancer.
I tend to assume that arachidonic acid eaten with the meat is the real
culprit. Maybe in conjuction with high SFA and high MUFA percentages as
these would further reduce the competition for the AA (arachidonic).
And AA is the source for all the bad prostaglandins, leucotrins, lipoxins...

regards

Amadeus