On Mon, 5 Feb 2001, Amadeus Schmidt wrote:

> On Mon, 5 Feb 2001 10:56:21 -0500, Todd Moody <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> Of course. By proper conscious eating, the missing EFAs can be supplemented.
> However to achieve the 1/3 EFA percentage found in --say wild game--
> this could be quite some amount.

If one eats lean meats to begin with, it's not so high.  In any
case, I'm not convinced that there is evidence to support the
claim that 1/3 of dietary fat should be EFA.

> You mention that you assume that only the few grams needed for prostaglandin
> synthesis were necessary. Possibly by eating more ready made LC-EFAs like
> DHA or EPA,GLA,AA.

I said prostaglandin synthesis *and* membrain maintenance.  For
just prostaglandin synthesis, I believe only tiny amounts are
required -- less than gram levels.

> However eating lean beef, plus nuts or sardines would be a way to avoid or
> overwrite the little fat left by other fat.
> Who on the SAD does this?

Nobody, but I'm not talking about the SAD; I'm talking about a
reasonable paleo diet making use of commercial beef.  The SAD
diet is imbalanced in so many respects -- not just FA ratios --
that it is difficult to unravel all the confounding variables.
It's not sound to base an argument against *beef* on the way it
is used in the SAD.  I agree with you that beef is low in EFAs,
but I don't agree that this makes it inappropriate as part of a
thoughtfully planned diet.

> > If the diet is calorically in
> >balance, most or all of the SFAs and MUFAs in the beef will be
> >used as fuel.
>
> SFAs/MUFAs beeing continuously used as fuel, would in turn continuously
> be recharged in the blood.

I'm not sure what you mean by "recharged."  They will circulate
as triglycerides and free fatty acids and be taken up by cells as
needed.  If the energy balance is right, they will not accumulate
to high levels in the blood.

> Have you ever looked at a blood analyse, which percentage of SFA / MUFA /
> EFA is found there? I'll look at mine if I'm at home.

I haven't, but I'm interested.

> Health conscious people, like you, which are knowing about some facts could
> better supplement what's probably ok.
> But what about all the SAD and just ordinary people who eat predominately
> animal fat from meat or dairy, or to the worse some trans-fatty acids and
> bad refined heated sunflower or safflor and the like?
> Who would never swallow cod liver oil.
> Shouldn't they better fear beef fat, more than BSE?

It's a loaded question, Amadeus.  As you point out, there are
*lots* of things for people on SAD to worry about.  If they were
only going to do one thing to improve their diets, I think it
would be better to eliminate the TFAs, not beef.  But doing just
one thing will not begin to fix the SAD diet.

Todd Moody
[log in to unmask]