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On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 00:09:54 -0400, "Ira Jamison"
<shrimplomaine@hotmail.com> wrote:

G'day G'day Ira,

 Fruit flies are attracted to the fermentation products of sugars.
What it tells me is the margarine doesn't contain fermentable sugar.

Best wishes,

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On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 00:09:54 -0400, "Ira Jamison"
<shrimplomaine@hotmail.com> wrote:

G'day G'day Ira,

This is true in some countries.  It isn't true of spreadable
margarines sold in NZ where intense lobbying years ago ensured they
must have less than 0.9% trans fats.  In international forums it easy
to forget that what is true in America at this moment in time isn't
necessarily true in other countries and most likely won't be true once
the Americans introduce trans fats labeling legislation.  The forces
of competition are almost certain to ensure manufacturers swiftly
adopt the solutions current in practice in countries like NZ.

Best wishes.

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On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 00:09:54 -0400, "Ira Jamison"
<shrimplomaine@hotmail.com> wrote:

G'day G'day Ira,

What is most disturbing about this is that the statement is
essentially meaningless.

Both butter and margarine are a mixture of molecules.

Best wishes,

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On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 00:09:54 -0400, "Ira Jamison"
<shrimplomaine@hotmail.com> wrote:

G'day G'day Ira,

 You would appear to be referring to the effects of trans fats.
One of the good things that comes out of posts like this is the
opportunity it provides to revisit some subjects.  In this instance
there is a startling admission that trans fats produce the nasty small
dense LDL. I have taken the liberty of reformatting the abstract for
easier reading. Notice how margarine is NOT a single product and trans
fat content increase with the degree of hardening.


1: Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Sep;78(3):370-5.  

Effect of different forms of dietary hydrogenated fats on LDL particle
size.  

Mauger JF, Lichtenstein AH, Ausman LM, Jalbert SM, Jauhiainen M,
Ehnholm C, Lamarche B.  

Institute on Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, Laval University,
Quebec, Canada.  

BACKGROUND: Dietary trans fatty acids (FAs), which are formed during
the process of hydrogenating vegetable oil, are known to increase
plasma LDL-cholesterol concentrations. However, their effect on LDL
particle size has yet to be investigated.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of trans FA consumption on the
electrophoretic characteristics of LDL particles.

DESIGN: Eighteen women and 18 men each consumed 5 experimental diets
in random order for 35-d periods. Fat represented 30% of total energy
intake in each diet, with two-thirds of the fat in the form of
semiliquid margarine                  (0.6 g trans FAs/100 g fat),
soft margarine                        (9.4 g trans FAs/100 g fat),
shortening                            (13.6 g trans FAs/100 g fat),
stick margarine                       (26.1 g trans FAs/100 g fat),
or butter, which was low in trans FAs (2.6 g trans FAs/100 g fat)
but rich in saturated fat.

LDL particle size and distribution were characterized by
nondenaturing, 2-16% polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis.

RESULTS: Relative to the LDL particle size observed after consumption
of the butter-enriched diet, LDL particle size decreased significantly
and in a dose-dependent fashion with increasing amounts of dietary
trans FAs (P < 0.001).

Cholesterol concentrations in large (> 260 A) and medium-sized
(255-260 A) LDL particles also increased proportionately to the amount
of trans FAs in the diet.

CONCLUSION: Consumption of dietary trans FAs is associated with a
deleterious increase in small, dense LDL, which further reinforces the
importance of promoting diets low in trans FAs to favorably affect the
lipoprotein profile.  

PMID: 12936917 [PubMed - in process]  

Best wishes,

This post not CC'd by email
On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 00:09:54 -0400, "Ira Jamison"
<shrimplomaine@hotmail.com> wrote:

G'day G'day Ira,

For the moment it is unclear what these many nutritional benefits for
butter might be but it is apparent you are suggesting absorption from
OTHER foods.  Let's take a look at this hypothesis.  Here is some
research that looks at uptake of calcium from dairy products when
margarine replaces butter. Unfortunately for your hypothesis, uptake
of calcium and vit D is improved by using margarine.

1: Pol Arch Med Wewn. 2002 Oct;108(4):953-8.  

[Increased serum levels of vitamin D and calcium in young men after
replacement of butter with soft margarine in usual diet]  

[Article in Polish]  

Kozlowska-Wojciechowska M, Makarewicz-Wujec M, Nowicka G.  

Zaklad Upowszechniania Wiedzy o Zywnosci i Zywieniu Instytutu Zywnosci
i Zywienia.  

Osteoporosis features include reduction of bone mass and increased
predisposition to fractures. Osteoporosis is considered as one of
frequent diseases developing in menopausal women and old men. The
values of peak bone mass are the determinant of osteoporosis
development. It is estimated that the peak bone mass is reached at the
age between 16 and 30 years. (NIH Consensus, 2001). Insufficient
intake of calcium and vitamin D in diet, with reduced sun exposure,
low physical activity, low body weight are well documented risk
factors for this disease in human. For that reason, in osteoporosis
prevention it should be tried to ensure adequate supply of calcium in
diet from early life, with adequate supply of vitamin D, as factors
determining adequate mineralization of osseous tissue. The study was
carried out for assessing changes of the levels of calcium and 25-OH
cholecalciferol in serum replacing butter in usual diet with margarine
enriched with vitamin D. After a period of diet stabilization the
study group received first diet with butter, followed by diet with
margarine in place of butter. Throughout the whole experiment the diet
contained unchanged amounts of dairy products as a source of
alimentary calcium. In the experiment 41 young healthy men aged 22.6
+/- 1.2 years participated. Every subject consumed in a period of 4
weeks 30 g of butter daily, and during the following 4 weeks margarine
30 g daily. Substitution of margarine for butter in usual diet raised
25-OH cholecalciferol level in serum by 5.56 ng/ml, that is 32.4% (p <
0.001), with consequent 0.12 mg (5%) rise of serum calcium level (p <
0.05). The intake of calcium with diet from dairy products was
unchanged throughout the experiment 576-581 mg daily, that is 72% of
the recommended intake. The obtained results suggest that
independently of the amount of vitamin D intake with food and calcium
with diet substitution of margarine enriched with vitamin D for butter
was beneficial raising serum vitamin D level, and at the same time
increasing calcium absorption from food. It can be accepted that the
obtained results could support the opinion on beneficial effects of
the consumption of high-quality margarine in daily diet as prevention
of the development not only of atherosclerosis but also osteoporosis.

PMID: 12642939 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 00:09:54 -0400, "Ira Jamison"
<shrimplomaine@hotmail.com> wrote:

G'day G'day,

 In all things one must be careful to make necessary distinctions.

What happens with low trans fat margarine?
Does it represent the same risk factors as high trans fat margarine?
The margarine is only "novel" if you live in the US where the dairy
lobbying was less effective than the soy/canola/corn/sunflower
lobbies. While this piece of research shows lowering of the blood
levels of LDL cholesterol with the use of trans free margarine, don't
rush to the conclusion that this necessarily means lower
arteriosclerosis risk.  There are other factors eg the inflammatory
response.  That will depend on the relative quantities of omega-3 and
omega-6 in the margarine amongst other things.

1: Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2001 Oct;11(5):320-6.  

Serum cholesterol response to replacing butter with a new trans-free
margarine in hypercholesterolemic subjects.  

Tonstad S, Strom EC, Bergei CS, Ose L, Christophersen B.  

Lipid Clinic, Medical Department A, National Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
serena.tonstad@ulleval.no  

Margarine leads to lower total and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels than
butter but may contain trans fatty acids that increase atherogenic
lipids. A food company has used data concerning the cholesterolemic
effects of individual fatty acids, including trans fatty acids, to
develop a commercially available and virtually trans-free margarine.

OBJECTIVE: The effect of this novel margarine on serum lipids and
lipoproteins was compared with that of butter in free-living,
hypercholesterolemic subjects.

DESIGN AND SETTING: A two-period, outpatient cross-over trial at a
university hospital lipid clinic.

SUBJECTS: The study involved 77 subjects, and was completed by 53 men
and 19 women aged 35-65 years with total serum cholesterol levels of
between 6.0 and 7.9 mmol/L.

INTERVENTION: Two 23-day regimens, separated by a 4-week washout
period, included individualised dietary prescriptions supplemented
with butter or margarine designed to provide 15% of total dietary
energy.

RESULTS:

In comparison with butter, margarine intake lowered total and LDL-C
                                           ^^^^^^^  
levels by respectively 11.1% (99% CI: 8.1-14.1) and 11.3% (99% CI:
7.6-15.1).

The reduction in LDL-C was < 3% in nearly one-fifth of the subjects
despite appropriate changes in serum triglyceride fatty acids. Of the
tested clinical and demographic variables, only the percentage of
energy obtained from saturated fat during the margarine intake period
was associated with dietary responsiveness (explaining 12% of the
variation; p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that a margarine designed to meet
nutritional recommendations for hypercholesterolemia is more
efficacious than butter in reducing atherogenic lipid levels in
hypercholesterolemic subjects.  

Publication Types: Clinical Trial Randomized Controlled Trial  

PMID: 11887429 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]