New cooking oil to fight fat and cholesterol
 

McGill University, Montreal

June 3, 2003

A new cooking oil designed by McGill researchers may soon offer relief to calorie counters and cholesterol watchers.

Peter Jones, a professor at McGill's School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, has completed two promising studies on a new blend of cooking oil that enables people to heighten their metabolism, lower their cholesterol and, in some cases, lose weight. Results of the study, completed with a team that included former graduate student Marie-Pierre St-Onge, have been published in four journals: the International Journal of Obesity, the Journal of Nutrition, Obesity Research, as well as Metabolism.

During two clinical trials, conducted at Macdonald Campus' Mary Emily Clinical Nutrition Research Unit, Jones and his team tested an oil made of medium chain triglycerides (MCT) versus long chain triglycerides (LCT). Trials were conducted over two periods of 27 days on men and women who were about 25 pounds overweight. Both trial periods were separated by washout intervals of four weeks. The MCT oil that Jones and his team designed for participants -- for now labelled Functional Oil -- was composed of 67 percent tropical oils, 13 percent olive oil, six percent coconut oil and five percent flaxseed oil.

Results

How the Functional Oil works in fighting fat is simple. "It is directed towards the liver for combustion and burned as energy," says Jones. "The oil is not stored in the body as fat and heightens the metabolism, which is a key in maintaining a healthy body weight. There is also some provocative data suggesting that oils rich in MCT reduce appetite."

By combusting, rather than absorbing the Functional Oil, male participants lost an average of one pound over a month. "After consuming the Functional Oil over a year, a man could lose 1 pound per month or 12 pounds per year," says Jones, noting that while female participants experienced heightened metabolic rates, they did not experience any measurable reduction in body fat.

On the first and last day of each trial period, participants also underwent magnetic resonance imaging to obtain 40 cross-sectional images of their bodies. "We scanned people's innards to see where their fat was located," he says. The result? "Participants on a Functional Oil diet decreased their total body volume and upper body fat."

A major benefit of the Functional Oil - for both sexes - was a significant reduction in cholesterol levels. "The Functional Oil lowered cholesterol levels by over 13 percent," Jones says, compared to olive oil that reduces cholesterol levels by 4.5 percent. "We're pretty impressed, since olive oil was considered the best cholesterol fighter until now."

To those who may be surprised that the McGill team recommend tropical oils, following recent studies that such products may clog arteries, Jones counters that the McGill-designed Functional Oil is beneficial. It contains phytosterols to keep cholesterol levels down, while ordinary tropical oils don't contain phytosterols. "Our participants experienced no side effects from our Functional Oil," he says. "Tropical oils, with phytosterols, are actually fat-busters."

And while past studies on tropical oil MCTs have been on animals, the McGill study was the first to test MCTs on humans over a four-week, inpatient, randomized crossover controlled trial. This process allowed McGill researchers to be the first to examine the longer-term effects of consuming MCTs on metabolism.

As for what participants ate during trials, breakfasts could include everything from French toast with maple syrup and yoghurt, while dinners could consist of spaghetti with meat sauce, baguette, raw celery with carrots and a date square. "We reproduced a typical North American diet or what could be found in a greasy spoon," explains Jones.

The Functional Oil study, conducted at a cost of $400,000, was funded by Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. and the Dairy Farmers of Canada. Forbes Medi-Tech, which holds the patent to the Functional Oil, is a biopharmaceutical company and is currently conducting more tests on the product before the Functional Oil makes it way to supermarket shelves.

"It doesn't take much -- 100 to 200 extra calories per day over a decade -- to make you obese," says Jones, noting a simple change to Functional Oil may be all it takes for the average North American to maintain a healthy body weight or to lose a few pounds. "Controlling obesity is all about engineering a balance between calorie intake and calorie burn."


* Please note that the Functional Oil designed at McGill has no link with Olestra; a cooking oil developed and marketed in the United States that was never approved by Health Canada.


http://www.mcgill.ca/releases/2003/june/oil/

So, is this simply a blend of several oils...or is it a new chemically engineered Franken-food ??? If a simple blend...I would give it a shot. If the latter...well considering the last two fake oils: Margarine and Olestra...lets just say I wouldn't go near it.

I'm trying to find out more about it ... the media release was just 3 hrs ago.

On the radio news interview, the official spokesperson for the research team stated that it is a blend of natural oils, nothing synthetic. They're being very careful to distance themselves as far as possible from Olestra ;)

I'm curious about its stability when heated, as it does contain flaxseed oil.

More to follow :idea: ...


Doreen

Researchers say new oil blend lowers cholesterol and weight
 

Researchers at McGill University say a new blend of cooking oil can help people increase their metabolism, lower their cholesterol and, in some cases, even slowly shed pounds.

However, the lead scientist cautioned Tuesday that functional oil -- an all-natural blend of tropical oils, flaxseed oil and phytosterols derived from plants -- should not be seen as a miracle diet aid.

It should be seen as a way to keep off extra pounds that can lead to obesity and maintain a healthy lifestyle, Peter Jones told a news conference.

"We're not exactly targeting this so much as a weight-loss approach but as weight maintenance,'' Jones said.

"Someone who is leading a normal, active lifestyle and is putting on weight gradually, if they want to reduce the amount of weight they're putting on every decade this would be one of the ways to go, combined with a strategy that includes exercise and adherence to Health Canada's diet recommendations.''

Jones' research, funded by the Dairy Farmers of Canada and Vancouver-based biotech company Forbes Medi-Tech, was based on two clinical trials involving a total of about 40 men and women who were about 11 kilograms overweight.

For one month, some of the participants were given a diet of foods such as scrambled eggs, french toast, spaghetti and raw vegetables -- nand the functional oil. The other participants had the same diet, but with other oil, such as olive.

After a break of about four weeks, the process was repeated with participants switching to either the functional oil diet or the other oils.

The results have been published in four medical journals, including The International Journal of Obesity and Metabolism.

Jones concluded both sexes noticed an increase in metabolism levels and a reduction in so-called bad cholesterol by 15 per cent. This was a result of the liver burning the oil as energy instead of absorbing it and storing it in the body as fat.

As for weight loss, however, men lost only about half a kilogram per month while women did not experience any measurable weight loss.

Functional oil, patented by Forbes Medi-Tech, must still undergo further testing by Health Canada before it can be sold in grocery stores.

© Copyright 2003 Canadian Press

http://canada.com/national/story.as...95-8447A064457A

What do they mean by 'tropical oils'?

What are "tropical oils"?
This term refers to coconut, palm kernel and palm oils.

Coconut oil in particular is the richest known source of MCT's .. medium chain triglycerides. There are quite a few discussion threads around our forums about coconut oil as thyroid and metabolism booster. You coudl try a search, I'm sure you'll come up with a lot of information.


Doreen

What's the difference between coconut oil and coconut milk ??? I can't find anything labelled "coconut oil" in the stores. But, I've seen "coconut milk."

I read, I think, in Mary Enig's 'Know Your Fats' that she recommends a blend of coconut, olive and sesame oils. She said you had to warm it to mix it but then it stayed liquid. I was just going through the book but couldn't find it. Can anyone else help out with this?

I was going to try it. sounds very similar to what this article is discussing, but would be ok for cooking.

Amy