Todd Moody wrote:

>I don't think it's a good idea to treat *all* trans-fatty acids as
>equivalent to each other, just as all saturated fats do not have the
>same effects.

That sounds reasonable. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to
research anything in depth, so I missed the point about there being
different kinds of trans-fatty acids.

>The particular trans fat found in milk and (free range)
>beef is conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and this fat appears to be
>beneficial.

This correlates with something a professor of nutrition who specialised in
lipids said in a lecture some years ago: that the fats found in prime beef
steak were actually good for you, whereas those found in 'depot' meats
were most certainly not.

>It would be a mistake to infer from the fact that the
>artificial trans fats in margarine or Oreos are bad that this one is bad
>too.  And of course it would be just as much a mistake to think that
>becaused CLA is good, trans fats in general are harmless.

Agreed.

My personal conclusion was that it was the *amount* of trans-fatty acids
consumed that was the critical factor. But, now you've brought up the fact
that trans-fatty acids should not be considered as a whole, I shall have
to do some more research to satisfy my own curiousity ;-)


>I *thought* it had been shown that trans fats in general tend to raise
>Lp(a) levels, an independent risk factor for heart disease.  This, at
>least, is what Enig and Fallon say, although I have learned that they
>sometimes base conclusions on a single study.  I'm not sure if this
>conclusion is based on more robust data.

I'll check this out too. There seem to be a lot of single studies around
in this field. The examples I looked at previously ended their conclusions
with  cautions that further research needed to be done to back up their
findings.

Thanks for stirring my brian cells a little; they get pretty sluggish come
Autumn, as I'm a slave of the seasons, as anyone who knows their Greek
myths might have already deduced <g>

Cheers,

Persephone

P.S. That reference for lectins you gave in another post makes fascinating
reading. I had no idea that their effects were so far-reaching!