Know Your Fats : The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol

348 Pages·2000·15.26 MB·English

by  Mary G. Enig

Table of Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Knowing the Basic Facts About Fats and Oils 9
What Are Fats and Oils? 9
What Are Bonds and Why Are They Important? 9
What Are Fatty Acids? 10
What About Saturated or Unsaturated or Isomers? 11
How Many Triglycerides Are in a Common Measure? 17
Why Are the Oils Liquid and the Fats Solid? 17
Why Are Animal Fats Called Saturated Fats? 18
How Are Fats and Oils Processed? 18
Why Are Oils Partially Hydrogenated? 19
Just How Are Partially Hydrogenated Fats Different
from the Original Oil? 21
What Is Meant by the Terms Saturated, Monounsaturated,
Polyunsaturated, and Trans? 23
What is Meant by the Term Omega? 25
Saturated Fatty Acids 30
Unsaturated Fatty Acids 33
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids 36
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids 37
Trans Fatty Acids 38
Why Do We Need to Know About the Trans Fatty Acids? 42
What Do Research Studies Say About the Trans Fatty Acids? 42
But How Much Trans Do We Really Eat? 44
Odd-Chain and Branch-Chain Fatty Acids 45
What is Conjugated Linoleic Acid? 46
What About Olestra and Other Fat Replacers? 46
What about Cholesterol? 48
Chapter 2 Lets Get Physical With Fats 51
The Digestion, Absorption and Metabolism of Carbohydrates and
Proteins as Related to Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol 51
What Do Carbohydrates and Proteins Have to Do with Fat? ...... 51
How Does the Digestion and Absorption of Fat Happen? 55
What About Cholesterol? 56
The Physiology of Fats and Cholesterol 58
Fats and Lipids in Cell Membranes 58
Membrane Fatty Acids and Phospholipids 59
Membrane and Tissue Cholesterol 64
Fat as Enzyme Regulator 64
Essential Fatty Acids 65
Fatty Acids as Hormone Regulators 66
Cholesterol as Hormone Precursor 69
Lipoproteins 70
Fat For Emulsification 71
Fat as Carriers of Fat-Soluble Vitamins and
Other Fat-soluble Nutrients 71
Fat as a Factor for Satiety 73
Fat as Protective Padding and Covering 73
Fat for Energy Storage 74
How Much Fat Reserve Do We Need Stored in Our Bodies? 75
Health Issues and Fats and Oils 76
Atherosclerosis 77
Cerebrovascular disease 80
Cancer 80
Diabetes 81
Obesity 82
Immune dysfunction 83
Mental illness 83
Animal Fats and Health Issues: What is the True Story? 84
Health Concerns Related to Consumption of Partially
Hydrogenated Vegetable Fats and Oils 85
Some "Surprising" Health Effects of Selected Fats and Oils 87
What (Fats) Fatty Acids Found in Foods Are Natural to the
Human Body? Not Natural to the Human Body? 88
Chapter 3 Diets: Then and Now, Here and There 89
What Fats Are In, What Fats Are Out 89
Fat in Human Diets in Antiquity 91
How Much Fat Do We Really Eat in the United States? .... 92
Food Fat Production and Eating Habits in Late 1800s 96
Fat in Diets in the 1890s and Early 1900s 96
Fat in the Diets in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s 97
The "Industrial Revolution" for Fats and Oils Began in 1910 99
Role of Edible Oil Industry in Promoting Consumption of
Trans Fatty Acids 99
Trans Fatty Acids in U.S. Foods and Elsewhere 101
What Are Healthy Fats and Oils? 104
What Balance of Fats Do We Need? 104
Dietary Fat and Pregnancy and Lactation 108
Dietary Fat and Growth 109
A Dozen Important Dietary Does and Don'ts 111
������������������������3 Chapter 4 The Many Sources of Fats and Oils
3
Commonly Used Fruit/Seed Oils
4
Canola Oil
4
Cocoa Butter
4
Coconut Oil
5
Corn Oil
6
Cottonseed Oil
7
Olive Oil
7
Palm Oil
8
Palm Kernel Oil
�����������9 1 Peanut Oil
92 Rapeseed Oil (Regular High-Erucic Acid Rapeseed Oil,

��2 Low-Erucic Acid Rapeseed Oil Canola, and

���3 Laurate Canola)
Safflower Oil
��5
Sesame Oil

Soybean Oil
��� Sunflower Seed Oil
Selected Characteristics of Commonly Used
Fruit/Seed Oils
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126
Less Commonly Used Fruit/Seed Oils
126
Almond Oil
127
Avocado Oil
Black Currant Oil, Borage Oil, and
127
Evening Primrose Oil
128
Flaxseed (Linseed) Oil
129
Grapeseed Oil
129
Hazelnut (Filbert) Oil
130
Hemp Seed Oil
130
Perilla Seed Oil
Rice Bran Oil 130
Walnut Oil 131
Wheat Germ Oil 131
Other Nut and Fruit Oils 132
Selected Characteristics of Specialty Fruit/Seed Oils 132
Commonly Used Fats from Animal and Marine Sources ... 133
Butter (Milk) Fat 133
Chicken, Duck, Goose, and Turkey Fats 134
Lard 135
Tallow and Suet 136
Cod Liver Oil 136
Herring Oil 137
Menhaden Oil 137
Other Fish Oils 138
Fish as a Source of Elongated Omega-3 Fatty Acids . 139
Nuts - Foods High in Fat 141
Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Fats and Oils 145
Sources of Information on Fats and Oils:
Which Ones Are Most Accurate 149
Oil Presses in Antiquity 152
Chapter 5 Labeling Fats and Oils for the Marketplace • •. 153
An Example of Fats and Oils Labeling in the Days
������5 3 of Mark Twain
L5a4beling of Fats and Oils During the Past Three Decades •.

Substitution for Tropical Oils
66
R e placement of Coconut and Palm Kernel Oils by Other Oils
68
Means More Calories for Consumers
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A History of the New Label from 1990 to 1999 169
FDA Proposes New Rules for Trans Fatty Acids in
Nutrition Labeling, Nutrient Content Claims,
And Health Claims 173
Labeling Regulations Regarding Foods for Children 176
Chapter 6 An Overview of Dietary Fat Intake
Recommendations 177
How Sound Is the Advice Currently Being Given to the Public? •. 177
What Have "Experts" Been Recommending? 177
Food Industry Influence 178
Dietary Fat Intake Recommendations in the 1930s 179
The Current U.S. Government-Sponsored Dietary Fat Intake
Recommendations 180
USDA Pyramid 180
Current Canadian Dietary Fat Recommendations 181
Future Dietary Fat Recommendations 181
Chapter 7 Small Summaries of Fat Facts 185
Summarizing Some Important Fat Facts 185
Some Important Cholesterol Facts 186
What About Fat and Heart Disease? 187
What About Fat and Weight Gain and/or Loss? 188
What Constitutes a Low Fat, Medium Fat, or High Fat Diet? 188
What Happens When You Include Coconut Oil in a Phase I
National Cholesterol Education Program Diet? 189
What About Dietary Fat and Children? 189
Why is There So Much Lactation Failure Today? 190
Are We Eating Too Much Fat? 190
Miscellaneous Fat Facts 190
What Are You to Believe? 191
A Mini-Glossary of Food Fats and Oils 193
Typical Natural "Saturated" Animal Fats 193
Typical Natural "Saturated" Vegetable Fats 193
Mostly Omega-9 " Monounsaturated" Animal Fats 194
Mostly Omega-9 "Monounsaturated" Vegetable Fats 195
Mostly Omega-9 "Monounsaturated" With Some Omega-6
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and Omega-3 Vegetable Fats 195
Mostly Omega-3 "Polyunsaturated" Vegetable Fats 196
Mostly Omega-6 With Some Omega-3 Vegetable Fats 196
Regular Omega-6 Vegetable Fats 196
Nearly Equal Omega-9 and Omega-6 Vegetable Fats 197
How Should Fats and Oils Be Used? 197
Some Personal Preferences 197
Chapter 8 Frequently Asked Questions and Their Answers ... 199
Questions from Consumers Regarding Foods and
Trans Fatty Acids 199
Questions Regarding Partial Hydrogenation 202
Questions Regarding Partial Hydrogenation and
Health Issues 204
Questions Regarding Fatty Acid Composition of Foods 205
Questions Regarding Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids 206
Questions Regarding Saturated Fat 209
Questions Regarding Coconut Oil 211
Questions from High School and College Students Who Had
Projects or Talks to Give and Who Asked for Help 215
Questions from University Faculty and Researchers 225
Questions from Health Professionals; Nutritionists, Dietitians,
Physicians and Other Clinicians 227
Some General Questions 231
Exchange in 1999 with a European-Based Journalist 233
Appendix A: General Glossary 237
Appendix B: Table of Acronyms 275
Appendix C: Fat Composition of Common Foods 279
Appendix D: Tables of Fatty Acid Sources and
Nomenclature 293
Chapter Notes 305
Index �315
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About the Author 333
Figures
Chapter 1
1.1 Basic Bond Geometry 13
1.2 Triglyceride Structure in 2-D and 3-D 15
1.3 Various Triglyceride Molecules in 3-D Presentation 16
1.4 Melting Characteristics of Fats and Oils 18
1.5 Partial Hydrogenation 22
1.6 Classification of Fats and Oils 24
1.7 Omega-9 Fatty Acid Family 26
1.8 Omega-7 Fatty Acid Family 27
1.9 Omega-6 Fatty Acid Family 28
1.10 Omega-3 Fatty Acid Family 29
1.11 Common Fatty Acid Structures: Saturates 32
1.12 Common Fatty Acid Structures: Unsaturates 34-35
1.13 Fats and Oils Whose Major Fatty Acid is Oleic Acid 37
1.14 Common trans Fatty Acid Structures 41
1.15 Sucrose Polyester Molecule and Triglyceride Molecule 48
1.16 Animal and Plant Sterols 49
Chapter 2
2.1 Outline of Digestive and Metabolic Pathways 52
2.2 Digestive Pathways - Where Things Happen 53
2.3 Metabolic Pathway Cartoon for Fat Syntihesis 54
2.4 Metabolic Pathway Cartoon for Lipid Synthesis 54
2.5 Typical Cell 59
2.6 Lipid Bilayer Cartoon 60
2.7 Phospholipid Molecules 61-63
2.8 Prostaglandin Pathways 68
2.9 Cholesterol to Hormone Pathways 69
2.10 Characteristics of Lipoproteins 70
2.11 Alternative Causes of CHD 79
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Chapter 3
3.1 Sources of Fats and Oils in the United States 1890 vs 1990 90
3.2 Total Fat, Animal Fat, Vegetable Fat 94
3.3 Categories of Dietary Fat 1909 to 1990 95
3.4 Coconut Oil Advertisement 1896 96
3.5 Cooking Fat Advertisement 1896 97
3.6 Appropriate Levels of Dietary Fat for Infants and Children .. 110
Chapter 4
4.1 Categories of Nuts (Percent Fat) 142
Chapter 5
5.1a Example of Typical Mislabeling of Fat Components 158
5.1b Mislabeling of Fat Contents 159-160
5.1c Mislabeling of Fat Contents 161-162
5.2 Example of Hypothetical Fat Labeling for Corn Chips
Made with Unhydrogenated Corn Oil 163
5.3 Example of Hypothetical Fat Labeling of Typical
Tortilla Chips Made with Partially Hydrogenated
Soybean Oil 164
5.4 Example of How Tortilla Chips Made with
Unhydrogenated Peanut Oil Could be Labeled 165
5.5 Example of Ingredient Misbranding by CSPI 167
Tables
Chapter 3
3.1 Dietary Fat Intake Data 1930 to 1985 93
3.2 Dietary Exposure to Trans Fatty Acids 103
3.3 The Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) a-Linolenic Acid
(Omega-3) (od-3) 106
3.4 The Fish Oil Omega-3 (oo-3) EPA and DHA 106
3.5 The Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) Linoleic Acid
Omega-6 (a>-6) 107
3.6 Conditionally Essential Gamma Linolenic Acid
-x-
(GLA) (сэ-6) 108
Chapter
�39
���� 4.1-a Low Fat Fin Fish
4o4.1-b Medium Fat Fin Fish

4o4.1-c Higher Fat Fin Fish

4.2 Tropical Nut Oils
41
4.3 Fat and Fatty Acid Composition of Commonly
Consumed Nuts/Seeds (weight percent) • •. 143-144
4.4 Physical Characteristics of Fats and Oils ...146
4.5 Ranges of Iodine Values and Saponification Values for
Commonly Used Vegetable Fats and Oils ...147
Chapter 5
5.1 Composition Comparisons 155
Appendix C
Dairy Food 280
Natural Cheeses 280-282
Commonly Used Fruit/Seed Oils 282-283
Less Commonly Used Fruit/Seed Oils 284
Commonly Used Fats from Animal and Marine Sources 284
Domestic Meats 285
Organ Meats 286
Domestic Poultry 286
Poultry Livers 287
Common Game 287
Variety Meats 287-288
Low Fat Fin Fish 288
Medium Fat Fin Fish 288-289
Higher Fat Fin Fish 289-290
Fish Eggs 290
Crustaceans and Mollusks 290-291
Popular Seeds 291
Popular Nuts 291
Nut Butters 292
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