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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

On a hunch, look what I found:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402152140.htm
Natural Trans Fats Have Health Benefits, New Study Shows
ScienceDaily (Apr. 5, 2008) — Contrary to popular opinion, not all trans
fats are bad for you.
University of Alberta researcher Flora Wang found that a diet with
enriched levels of trans vaccenic acid (VA) -- a natural animal fat
found in dairy and beef products -- can reduce risk factors associated
with heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

Results indicated this benefit was due in part to the ability of VA to
reduce the production of chylomicrons -- particles of fat and
cholesterol that form in the small intestine following a meal and are
rapidly processed throughout the body. The role of chylomicrons is
increasingly viewed as a critical missing link in the understanding of
conditions arising from metabolic disorders.

"Our results provide further evidence of the important role of
chylomicrons in contributing to risk factors associated with metabolic
disorders," said Wang, a PhD candidate in the University of Alberta
Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences. "They also
indicate a strong opportunity for using diets with enhanced VA to help
reduce these risk factors."

The research involved two VA feeding trials -- one short-term (three
weeks) and one long-term (16 weeks) -- using model rat species for
obesity and the metabolic syndrome.

The results, presented recently at the International Symposium on
Chylomicrons in Disease, included novel findings that VA may have direct
effects on the intestine. In addition, they showed key metabolic risk
factors were reduced. For example, in the long-term trial, total
cholesterol was lowered by approximately 30 per cent, LDL cholesterol
was lowered by 25 per cent and triglyceride levels were lowered by more
than 50 per cent.

Because VA is the major natural trans fat in dairy and beef products,
comprising more than 70 per cent of the proportion of natural trans fat
content in those products, the findings support a growing body of
evidence that indicates natural animal-based trans fat is different than
harmful hydrogenated trans fat created through industrial processing,
Wang noted.

"As the VA results illustrate, some natural trans fats are not harmful
and may in fact be very good for you," she said.




Lynda wrote:

> So, bottomline is that saturated fats are natural and trans fats are 
> chemically produced.
--
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public
debt  should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered
and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed
lest Rome become bankrupt.  People must again learn to work, instead of
living on public assistance."

--Cicero, 55 BC
http://erthnsky.blogspot.com/