Northeast Section Dinner Meeting
with NY/CNJ IFT and Rutgers University

Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Piscataway, New Jersey

Speaker & Topic
Peter Jones, Professor at McGill University School of Dietetics and
Human Nutrition, Montréal, Canada
Nutraceuticals from Oils and Fats: The Way Forward

Fat has had a bad reputation nutritionally, but new evidence reveals the critical role of fat in metabolism and many physiological functions. This opens the door for developing lipid-based products with targeted activity as "nutraceuticals". Dr. Jones and co-workers at McGill University have developed a cooking oil that is beneficial to weight loss. Two promising studies on a new blend of cooking oil have shown that it enables people to heighten their metabolism, lower their cholesterol and, in some cases, lose weight. Results of the study 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, Jones and his team tested an oil made of medium chain triglycerides (MCT) versus long chain triglycerides (LCT). Now labeled Functional Oil, the MCT oil designed for participants was composed of 67 percent tropical oils, 13 percent olive oil, six percent coconut oil and five percent flaxseed oil. The Functional Oil works in fighting fat because it goes directly to the liver where it heightens metabolism (a key in maintaining a healthy body weight) and is burned as energy. The oil is not stored in the body as fat. Data also suggests 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. Dr. Jones will discuss changing perspectives on fats and oils in nutrition, and how products such as Functional Oil can make important contributions to health.

2003 Hans Kaunitz Award
Mariana Diaz, Graduate Student, University of Massachusetts
Use of Caseinophosphopeptides as Natural Antioxidants in Oil-in-Water Emulsions