Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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i understand that there are naturally occurring trans fats in meats and full-fat dairy. are these harmful, or is the small amount negligible to human health? what differentiates trans fat found in meat vs. industrialized processed foods? and how does trans fat in meat act in the human body, assuming it's not as dangerous as the other kind?

i looked at the trans fat in full-fat dairy question http://paleohacks.com/questions/3307/trans-fat-in-full-fat-dairy#axzz1HCVrBXM5 and the only answer i got was that it was CLA

i'm under the impression that, the trans fat in meat is fine (as long as it's not the artificially rendered trans fat made in a lab.)

btw, this question came up because i was planning on making beef tongue (lengua), and i read that it was a fatty piece of meat. apparently, it has over 50g fat (yay) but i noticed that it also has 2.2g trans fat. hence the wonder.

edited Mar 21 2011 at 4:04

asked Mar 21 2011 at 3:33

cloudsinskies
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No more. · Answer 1 · 2011-03-21 03:52:05Z UTC

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The transfat found in meat, Conjugated Linoleic Acid, is healthy.

http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/19/suppl_2/111S

answered Mar 21 2011 at 3:52

No more.
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	how about full-fat dairy ? – DudleyP Mar 21 2011 at 18:40
	Good fat. Proteins and sugars can be irritants for some people. Grass fed has a better lipid profile. – No more. Mar 21 2011 at 22:57
	@ DudleyP= your answer lies here paleohacks.com/questions/3307/… – cloudsinskies Apr 18 2011 at 19:41

cloudsinskies · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-18 19:40:56Z UTC

i researched more and found my answer=info on sat fat

Dr. Kurt Harris explains about trans fats, which are a triglyceride where the fatty acid is unsaturated – it has at least one double bond, and the carbon atoms on either side of the double bond have hydrogen atoms on opposite sides. This makes the shape of the molecule similar to a saturated fat, so that it is more-or-less straight. There are trans fats found in nature, they can be up to a few percent (usually 2%) of the fat in the meat of ruminants and in dairy fats. However, the predominant type of natural trans fats are conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), otherwise known as rumenic acid, and its precursor vaccenic acid. Vaccenic acid (C18:1 trans-11) can be converted to CLA by humans, which is not only proposed likely free of the negative metabolic effects of the dominant artificial trans fats (like Elaidic acid), but possibly has anti-cancer properties. Both of these “good trans fats” are made by bacteria in the stomach of ruminants, and like the long chain n-3 PUFAs they are made in greater amounts on a grass-only diet. So grass- finished ruminant milk products and fatty meat will have these good trans fats, and they are good for us.

haha "good trans fats!" interesting to learn that not all trans fats are of the demonized lab-constructed 'hydrogenation of oil' variety.

clarify- trans fat in meat

2 Answers