Excess Copper with high saturated and transfat intake reduces cognitive function.


G'day G'day Folks,

For those of you who have accepted free registration to medscape there
is an interesting article on a bad combination of copper, saturated
fats and trans fats.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/542990?sssdmh=dm1.208675&src=nldne

The first trials were done with rabbits which always make suspect
subjects for cholesterol trials. Rabbits being total herbivores lack
mechanisms for dealing with saturated fats. The trials were then
carried out on humans who make excellent subjects for other humans.
<grin>

As I've so often recommended here the safest pathway has been to limit
the intake of saturated fats and those polyunsaturated fats known as
omega-6 fats. Some people will find that controversial. They find
the evidence against saturated fats shaky to say the least. Some
saturated fats eg stearic acid have no effect on cholesterol. Stearic
acid can convert readily enough to oleic acid which is positively
beneficial. Some saturated fats such as coconut fat have a high
proportion of medium chain length fatty acids which behave differently
from the longer chain saturated fats. There are simply too many
generalisations for me to accept the saturated fat = bad or safe
hypotheses.

Personally I've only one life time so I'm playing safe putting my
money on the cis-monounsaturated fats such as oleic acid found in
olives, avocados, and various nuts. Even ADA expert opinion with its
bias towards low fat diets admits cis-monounsaturated fats can replace
some carbohydrate. For those who wish to follow a low glycemic load
diet, cis monounsaturated fat has the lowest glycemic load. This means
choosing lean meat such as found in free range animals and fish and
adding olive oil to vegetables or stir frying with avocado oil (it has
the highest smoke point) or eating a few raw nuts daily.

The omega-3 found in fish is relatively neutral in CHD risk and the
omega-3 found in vegetable sources is highly beneficial when it comes
to CHD. Olive oil ensures palatability of the vegetables. It seems to
me that people who choose to steam vegetables and don't include olive
oil are prone to giving up sooner rather than later. If you manage to
eat steamed vegetable without oil well and good. However, the oil also
improves the extraction of beneficial pigments from the vegetables
such as lutein and zeaxanthin which protect the eyesight in ways
beta-carotene was once mistakenly thought to do so. Macular
deterioration is an issue T2 diabetics are wise to deal with before it
happens rather than after.

The trans mono-unsaturated fats, more commonly known as trans fats,
found in reheated oils, partially hydrogenated oils, margarines made
in the USA and deodorised oils, it now widely recognised as a modern
day evil. It is a pity the researchers still lump saturated fats and
trans fats together. Perhaps it is the old, "damn the saturated fats
by association with trans fats." I don't know. Just wish they had
avoided the problem.

Best wishes,
--
Quentin Grady ^ ^ /
New Zealand, >#,#< [
/ \ /\
"... and the blind dog was leading."

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/quentin
.

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