On Sep 22, 2008, at 9:21 pm, Keith Thomas wrote:

<snip>

> To illustrate: if I eat a food with a particular saturated fat
> (say palmitic acid or lauric acid), does the fat stay in that
> form as the body processes it? Or is it broken down into
> other fatty acids or other simpler components and, in some
> cases, recombined into a new fatty acid?

<snip>

> So, I can guess the answer to my question, but I'd like
> some reference, preferably one with an explanation even a
> 'liberal arts graduate' can understand. We know that the
> body can create fat out of carbohydrates or surplus protein,
> so presumably it similarly transforms the fats eaten into
> the fats it wants. Perhaps only some fats are
> transformed in the process of digestion - I'd like to know.
>
> If my feeling is right, this gives us another way of
> demonstrating what we all know: that eating fat need not
> make a person fat or even be deposited as fat.

Hi Keith

I flagged this thread in case anyone replied, but sadly no-one did.   
Were you able to find an answer?

If not, I saw a book years ago in a shop called the Fats of Life[1]  
which maybe can tell you.  I haven't read it, though.

Ashley

[1] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fats-Life-Caroline-M-Pond/dp/0521635772