Rb?

[Bill]

Thanks for all of your research and help on this site. What is your opinion of the "Smart Balance" products? Thanks for your input, Bill

[R.B.]

Bill,

Balancing the Omega 3s and sixes and ensuring a supply of long chain Omega 3s trials suggest may for many reduce the risk of a number of conditions.

I am sure there are lots of products that are starting to take this message on board and should be applauded for that. A balanced product is clearly better than an unbalanced product. It is then back to a question of what is the ideal balance. Some argue 1:1 some 1:4 some higher. My personal preference is to 1:1 or 1:2.

Omega 6 is predominant in the western diet, and in many products so arguably the problem is avoiding it.

Butter has saturated fats but in more neutral in Omega 3:6 terms.

It is complex.

[Mary Jo]

Hello R.B. - Please don't take offense at this as I am SINCERELY just joking around BUT when Bill asked the question about the Smart Balance products I was like...........good, just a straight forward question and now we'll get a straight forward answer. I use Smart Balance too, so his question interested me as well. Anyway, after reading your answer I had to chuckle to myself and my first thought was ........ ya know.....R.B. should be a politician because you sure no how to talk in circles and skirt the issues. Hahahahahahahahha! TOTALLY teasing you R.B.......but had to share what I thought.

Love & hugs,

Mary Jo

[R.B.]

HI Marejo,

Yes I am slightly avoiding the question. It was a pretty wide question. They have a wide and different product range. They are clearly trying to produce healthier products eg Smart Balance, which has to be applauded, and is a great step forward as far as fats balance goes. There are unanswered questions as to how fats that are manipulated are metabolised. The products contain additional vitamins, but a number of preservatives etc. Are the preservatives and manipulated fats good or bad. I do not know. I have not looked in any depth at the subject.

On the basis many of us already have a lot of omega six in our diet, and cows have been around for quite a while, I use a tiny bit of butter (which has a small amount of omega 3 and 6 in a balance of around 1:2 depending on what the cows ate.).

Udo Erasmus suggests mixing olive oil and butter to make a spread which I keep meaning to try.

[Mary Jo]

Hi R.B.

Thanks. I sure hope you know I was only teasing you. Cause I was.

Mary Jo

[Bill]

Thanks, RB. Maybe, if I'm understanding one point you made correctly, eating smart-balance and other similar products is still ingesting Omega-6, whether balanced or not, and since we westerners already eat too much Omega-6, the balanced products may, at best, be a neutral factor, and not really affecting the imbalance we already have in our diet. Is that right? Bill (Marejo, is the confusion couch still in the same place?)

[TSund]

What IS "SMart Balance"? I suppose I should google elsewhere, but I appreciate you all so much more...

[Bill]

"Smart Balance" is a brand of product that "balances" Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats. They produce "butter", mayonaisse, and cooking oil, and that's all I know for sure. I'm not the expert here, for sure, but studies have shown that the brain, in particular, functions best with the proper ratio of O3 and O6, so these products supposedly have the proper ratio, according to them. Right now, I'm sitting here eating Smart Balance potato chips "with a wallop of Balance in every bite" on Marejo's confusion couch waiting for RB to come back. Love, Bill

[Faith in Him]

Bill,

Thank you for bringing this up. I was wondering about this myself. I personally do not understand the Omega thingys but I'll buy Smart Balance if we determine it is better for you.

Joining Mary Jo on the confusion couch and waiting for the outcome.

Tonya

[R.B.]

It is not simple.

Most westerners have high levels of stored omega 6 which will take some time to balance out. Fat content can take years to change. The time to change the content of body fat half is about 600 days and change has been observed to be still going on 5 years later.

You might like to read some of Udo Erasmus's work, although things have moved on in production terms for `margarines'.

To make vegetable fats solid in general terms requires modification of them. Many companies have moved on from hydrogenation which produces trans fats. Trans fats now have to be listed and it is accepted they may be harmful. People were raising alarms 40 years ago but nobody would listen.

There are potential long term risks for all modified fats which may be new to the body. Concerns are being express about esterified fats by some.

Equally butter can contain pesticides, antibiotics etc.

So the reality is that the decision is a judgement call.

I have not looked at the product in sufficient depth to form an opinion if better or worse than butter, but am wary of modified fats. I do not know how smart balance is produced, or how the fats are treated which is also a factor - see Fats that heal Fats that Kill - Udo Erasmus.

I would aim for a balance of 1:1 maybe hoping to actually achieve 1:2. 1:4 is within the suggested limits which vary from expert to expert, and is much better than 1:10 or 1:50.

We all have to make diet and lifestlye choices. We are very sophisticated and complex have spent a very long time adapting to natural foods. You have to do your reading and form a view.

[Mgarr]

Diana Dyer blends her own olive oil & butter (60% olive oil to 40% butter) in the food processor- or suggests a product called Olive-It (reg. trademark).

Mary

[TSund]

Well, R>B I guess I know why my holistic doc likes "Udo's Oil". (I had NO idea why it was named as such.