Re: "Interesterified" fats poised to replace trans fats, but specter of CVD risk factor effects looms here, too

On 30 Jan 2007 08:55:53 -0800, "TC" <tunderbar@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

http://www.theheart.org/article/765927.do

"Interesterified" fats poised to replace trans fats, but specter of
CVD risk factor effects looms here, too

January 19, 2007 Shelley Wood

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - A new modified fat made through a process
called interesterification is shaping up to be the chief contender to
substitute for the trans fats being banished from processed foods and
restaurants. But researchers who compared the effects of different
fats in human diets are warning that interesterified fats may be just
as bad as the trans fats they are poised to replace [1].

Writing in a paper published online January 15, 2007 in Nutrition &
Metabolism, Dr Kalyana Sundram (Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Kuala
Lumpur) and colleagues report that compared with a diet high in palm
olein (a saturated fat), diets high in either trans fats or
interesterified fats significantly raise both LDL/HDL ratio and
fasting blood glucose while significantly reducing fasting insulin
levels.

The study was supported by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, which has a
major stake in the ongoing fat wars and the hunt for a healthful,
stable fat with a long shelf life.



Meddling with Mother Nature's molecules
In an interview with heartwire, senior author on the study, Dr KC
Hayes (Brandeis University, Waltham, MA), explained that
interesterification grew out of the observation that stearic acid, the
fatty acid predominant in chocolate and cocoa butter, unlike other
saturated fatty acids, did not appear to raise cholesterol levels.
"People got the idea, hmm, let's just take the saturated fatty acid
stearic acid out of different oils . . . and put it into an oil like
soybean oil. Why not? There's three fatty acids hanging off of soybean
oil, why not replace one of the polyunsaturated fatty acids, which
makes it an oil, with a neutral saturated fatty acid, and you harden
or solidify the product. . . . This is the coming rage in replacing
trans fats."



That's not the way nature set it up.




But Hayes, who says he's "been looking at fats and oils for 35 years,"
is concerned about the physiological effects of meddling with fat
molecules. His own research has suggested that replacing a
polyunsaturated fatty-acid molecule in vegetable oil with stearic acid
might pose problems if that stearic acid is placed in the middle fatty-
acid position on a fat molecule, since it is not as easily
metabolized.

"That's not the way nature set it up. If you look at cocoa butter,
which is this nice neutral fat, all of the stearic-acid molecules are
on the outside, they are in the one and three positions, they're
almost never in the middle. So now when I artificially put my stearic
acid in I get about equal amounts [of saturated fatty acid] in
positions one, two, and three."

To test their fears about interesterified fats, Hayes and Sundram,
with Dr Tilakavati Karupaiah (National University of Malaysia), tested
diets rich in the three different fats in 30 volunteers. Each
volunteer consumed all three diets, each with strictly controlled
total-fat and fatty-acid composition, in random rotation during four-
week diet periods.

After four weeks, both the trans-fat and interesterified-fat diets
significantly elevated both the LDL/HDL ratio and fasting blood
glucose, with the interesterified-fat diet boosting LDL/HDL ratios by
almost 20% as compared with the saturated-fat (palm-olein) diet.
Fasting insulin at four weeks was 10% lower following the trans-fat
diet and 22% lower following the interesterified diet, as compared
with the saturated-fat diet. Postprandial glucose on the
interesterified diet was also strikingly higher than on the saturated-
fat diet.



Jumping on the next bandwagon?
According to Hayes, interesterified fats are already on the market,
being used primarily as a replacement for trans fats in margarines and
baked goods. Unlike trans fats, which are required to be listed on
labels, interesterified fats are typically listed as "fully
hydrogenated" or even as "interesterified fats." Because there has
been little public attention being paid to these new manufactured
fats, Hayes worries that people may not be aware of the potential
harm.

Indeed, whether or not there is harm to be had in interesterified fats
remains to be seen.

"To be honest, I can't predict what the implications would be," Hayes
said. "We looked at these data and we said, wow, we better tell the
world. Let's send it out there and see what other people find, because
I'm sure it will stir interest and make people look more carefully at
the issue."

Twenty-five years ago, he reminded heartwire, people had concerns
about trans fats but assumed that they would never be eaten in large
enough quantities to be harmful. History proved otherwise. "I'm not
saying interesterified fat is bad stuff for sure, but I am saying,
Let's figure out why we saw what we saw, and let's not jump on the
next bandwagon without really having a closer look at what the
possibilities are."

Hayes is quick to acknowledge the fact that financial support for the
study was provided by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. Sundram is
employed by the board and Karupaiah worked with the board as a
graduate student. Hayes himself is a member of the Malaysian Palm Oil
Advisory Council.

"It's obviously a conflict of interest; I realize that and I'm not
trying to disguise or hide that," Hayes said. "But I also think I know
more about different kinds of fats, including palm oil, than most
people in the world. I see where it's good and where it's weak, and my
main goal is to try to get a better fat in the public's hands, in the
public's mouth, in the public's bodies."

He continues, "From my perspective, natural fats are still nature's
way of doing it. If nature's fat does something you don't like, try
blending it with a natural fat that you do like, and that's the way to
get to the best solution, as opposed to modifying it, as opposed to
saying, we'll trick nature and make this partially hydrogenated or
fully hydrogenated."

***********


Just what is the thing called "Nature"?

jack
.