On Wed, 13 Sep 2000, Amadeus Schmidt wrote:

> Olive oil is *unsuitable* to complement animal fats.
> It has only 10% EFAs and too much of oleic acid and too few w-3 LNA.

Amadeus, I have been doing some research on the matter of MUFAs
competing with EFAs for D6D.  What I have learned is that D6D
*preferentially* acts on EFAs, and in fact D6D action on MUFA is
rare and only occurs in cases of EFA deficiency.  Therefore, if
one's EFA intake is adequate, MUFAs should not interfere.
Similarly, since SFAs are converted to MUFAs by D9D, they also
should not interfere.

What matters is not the ratio of MUFAs to EFAs, but the adequacy
of the absolute amounts of EFAs available.  So how much is
adequate?  Opinions vary widely, but Simopoulos seems to think
that a gram/day of EPA+DHA is enough, plus a comparable amount of
LA or even twice that, but not more.  Siguel, on the other hand,
argues for a much higher EFA intake.

Todd Moody
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