Choice of Natural Or Modified Fats For Solid Fat Formulations: The Current Health Dilemma
by Kalyana Sundram & Yusof Basiron
Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), 2nd Floor Wisma Sawit, Lot 6, SS6 Jalan Perbandaran, 47301 Kelana Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
E-mail: kalyana@mpoc.org.my, yusof@mpoc.org.my
Globally, current dietary recommendations are geared towards assisting consumers choose low fat, low-saturated fat diets that are thought to be beneficial for cardiovascular health. Recommendations have traditionally focused on fat quantity and composition as a means of lowering total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), which are independent risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) [1]. To achieve these end-points dietary modulations require not just a decrease in fat content per se but a decrease in saturated fatty acid (SFA) and an isoenergetic increase in polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and/or monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA). Thus dietary manipulations require a control over the fat composition in the diet by striking a balance between the various fatty acid classes. The food we eat comprises a mixture of both visible and invisible fats and therefore mixtures of fatty acids. The net effect of such a mixture of fatty acids on plasma cholesterol and the different lipoproteins would essentially be the sum effects of all the fatty acids, some acting in opposite directions to each other. It is therefore important to decipher the key cholesterol modulating fatty acids to determine the cholesterolaemic index of the fat or oil consumed.
Monounsaturated oils especially olive, which are rich in oleic acid, are currently touted to be among the healthiest of the edible oils in the human diet. The American Heart Association’s (AHA) Step-1 diet for example advocates equal balancing of the saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in a 30% fat energy diet [2]. This has emerged as one of the most quoted dietary recommendations and primarily pursues the goal of reducing overall fat consumption, which in turn is postulated to trigger reductions in plasma lipid-lipoprotein associated CHD risk factors. None of the current commercial oils and fats on their own are able to meet this specified fatty acid distribution. Fortunately, rapid progress has been made in our understanding of fatty acid effects. Understanding the effects of individual saturated fatty acids is complicated by current evidence that they differ in their cholesterol and lipoprotein regulating abilities.
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