> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paleolithic Eating Support List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paula
> Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 10:15 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: FW: Latest animal study shows resveratrol produces profound
> effects
> 
> I thought it was funny that the researchers thought a very high fat
> diet
> could not be tolerated by humans ...
> 
> 
> 
> ######################################################
> 

> ...
> But surprisingly, while supplemental resveratrol did, as previously
> reported, prolong the lifespan of mice who were engorged with a very-
> high
> fat diet (60% fat calories, which no human could tolerate), resveratrol
> did
> not prolong life in mice fed a standard calorie diet. ...

Yes, that would be news to Johns Hopkins, whose Ketogenic Diet for epileptic
children provides "90% of the day's calories as fats"
(http://www.neuro.jhmi.edu/Epilepsy/keto.html). I think the authors of that
first story are likely referring to the fat intake for adults, rather than
humans in general. That first piece is actually be a PR release for the
Longevinex supplement (http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=384672),
rather than a report from scientists. 

Longevinex's excessively positive title for the story appears unethical. The
scientist, Matt Kaeberlein, quoted at the end of the release is actually a
skeptic of the benefits of Sirtuin1 (and by extension, of the impact of
resveratrol from wine on Sirtuin1) and he is even quoted in the piece as
saying, "The one thing that seems clear is that sirtuin activators are
unlikely to be a 'magic bullet' for aging." That's a very different picture
than what Longevinex's title gives. They apparently were counting on people
not actually reading the full article. At least they did include
Kaeberlein's skeptical remarks, which is surprising to find in a PR release.


I'm not sure where they're getting the idea that 60% of calories from fat
would be intolerable for adults, but I did find that Gerald Wiseman stated
in his book, Nutrition and Health, (CRC Press, 2002, p. 93) that "The
maximum amount of fat that can be metabolized normally by adults is about
2.5 g, fat/kg body weight/day, which is around 175 g, fat for an average 70
kg person, yielding about 1575 kcal per day, which is more than 50 per cent
of the average daily energy requirement. The current consumption of fat in
most western countries, about 40 per cent or more of the daily energy need,
is therefore approaching the maximum tolerable fat intake." 

Arctic Inuit/Eskimo diets traditionally exceeded 50% calories from fat, as
does Protein Power, and the Rosedale, Atkins, Stefansson and Phinney diets
all greatly exceed 50% of calories from fat, with the Stefansson and Phinney
diets maxing out at 85% of calories from fat. So if there is an upper limit
on calories from fat for adults, it would seem to be around 85-90%, rather
than 60%. Given the misleading title and obviously bogus stat regarding fat
tolerance, this Longevinex piece is less than impressive.