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FAT WAR page 73

Jay E. Fisher, M.D. and Laura H. Gruskin, M.D. announce
the opening of their new Farmington Hills office

As obstetricians and gynecologists, we provide a full range
of routine and specialized services:
I preconception counseling and infertility treatment
I comprehensive prenatal and obstetrical care
I Pap smears, breast exams, cancer screenings
I treatment for PMS, endometriosis and menopause

West Oakland

Evening appointments are available. We also
participate with most major insurance plans
and are on staff at William Beaumont Hospital.

Call now for an appointment: .

(810) 848-1479

34505 W. 12 Mile Rd.

ObGyn

Farmington Hills, Suite 195
(between Farmington and Drake roads)

Dr. Alan Cutler: Substitutes can harm.

Jay Fisher, M.D.,

Laura Gruskin, M.D.,

graduated from Wayne

is a graduate of the

State University School

University of Michigan

of Medicine in Detroit

Medical School in Ann

and completed his

Arbor and completed her

obstetrics and gynecology

obstetrics and gynecology

residency at Beaumont,

residency at Beaumont,

Royal Oak.

Royal Oak in 1994.

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THE DETROI T JEWISH NEWS

DONALD E. GALE, D.D.S.

74

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very large number," he said.
"Some will realize what is hap-
pening and cut down on products
that contain olestra. Internists,
family physicians and specialists
like myself should expect to see a
significant increase in patients
describing these exact symptoms
but having no clue about their ori-
gin ,'
"What's more worrisome is not
knowing if olestra will remove fat-
soluble vitamins and other nu-
trients from the digestive tract,"
Dr. Cutler says. "Vitamins are be-
ing added but there are many oth-
er fat-soluble substances, like the
carotenes, that may prevent heart
disease and macular degenera-
tion. If olestra removes them,
then people are at risk for these
diseases."
"The point is we don't know
how clinically important these nu-
trients are and we don't have a
clear idea about olestra's effect on
them which makes the questions
and the answers unclear," Dr.
Cutler says. "And finally, there is
no proof that olestra will help
people lose weight because it re-
duces the percentage of calories
from fat in the diet."
The Center for Science in the
Public Interest (CSPI) has sought
to stop the approval of olestra by
the FDA and is now spending
thousands of dollars on TV com-
mercials in the three test market
areas to describe the adverse ef-
fects of olestra. CSPI has asked
the company to voluntarily with-
draw its products from the mar-
ket and has set up a hotline to
receive health complaints from
people who consume the products
so that it can force the FDA to
withdraw its approval.
Olestra is "a great big experi-
ment with the health of the
American public," says Myra
Karstadt, a senior scientist at
CSPI. Her concerns are similar
to many in the health care area.

W

hom to believe? The in-
dependent researchers
who speak out against
the fat substitute or the
paid consultant-scientists at P &
G over the last 25 years who
spent $200 million touting
olestra's admirable qualities.
Meir J. Stampfer, professor of
epidemiology and nutrition at the

Harvard School of Public health
is skeptical that olestra will help
Americans lose weight.
"Intuitively, it makes sense:
Eating something with fewer
calories than its traditional coun-
terpart should help control
weight," he said. "But experience
hasn't borne this out. When peo-
ple eat low fat or non fat foods,
they make up the calories with
bigger portions or other foods.
That's also true for sugar substi-
tutes: People who consume them
are no more successful at losing
weight than people who don't."
The answer most likely lies in
moderation. As Ms. Roney and
Dr. Cutler advise, no one food, not
even butter, is bad. Eating too
many fatty foods, however, is a
poor diet and will increase body
fat. Therefore, they say, the key
to good nutrition is to choose a
balanced diet that contains a va-
riety of wholesome foods and a lit-
tle bit of fat.
The problem is that people of-

ten eat too much of what's enjoy-
able. Most animals don't eat be-
yond their physiological_,
requirements, but the human—
species does. For instance, hu-
mans love to eat sweets and have
been doing so since prerecorded
times. To meet this craving and
the need to control our weight,
sugar substitutes were developed,
beginning with saccharin about
a hundred years ago, reaching
nutritional and economic impor-
tance.
The fact is fats are needed in —`
the average human beings diet;
it's just that too many tend to
overdo it. Natural fats are com-
binations of saturated, mono-un-
saturated and poly-unsaturated
fatty acids which transport fat-
soluble nutrients to the intestine
for absorption.
Dietary guidelines recommend /
the limit of fat to 30 percent ofC\
daily caloric intake but most
Americans average about 35 per-
cent. ❑

A Heavy History

Fat substitutes aren't new to the consumer.

RUTHAJN BRODSKY SPECIAL TO THEJEWISH NEWS

T

o satisfy the consumer
and produce a noncaloric
substance that gives the
illusion of fat, fat substi-
tutes were • developed. They
aren't new.
The first were carbohydrate-
based, appearing in the 1960s
and are still the most widely
used. They replace fat's bulk
and moistness, but lack it's
cooking qualities. Fat substi-
tutes are identified on food la-
bels as dextrin, modified food
starch, cellulose and various
gums providing only 1 to 4 calo-
ries per gram.
A second type are protein-
based, of which Sirriplesse is the
most well-known. The FDA ap-
proved that Sirnplesse could be
marketed in frozen desserts and
in 1990, the NutraSweet Com-
pany introduced Simple Plea-
sure.s frozen dairy dessert as the
first products made with Simp-
lesse, which also is kosher.
The fat substitute is made by
cooking and blending egg white
and milk protein or from whey
protein concentrate, creating
a texture and consistency usu-
ally attributed to fat Because
its components have been used
as foods, sRfety studies and test-
ing by the FDA were not re-
quired to use the product as a
thickener or texturizer in frozen
dessert products.
Simplesse works like this: A
gram of protein containing 4
calories replaces 3 grams of fat
containing 27 calories. That
means a tablespoon of mayon-
naise could drop from 99 calo-

ries to 30, and an 87-calorie ta-
blespoon of salad dressing could
be a 21-calorie tablespoon.
Therefore, NutraSweet sought
FDA approval for use in other
products such as mayonnaise,
salad dressing, yogurt, butter,
dips and such, and has suc-
cessfully marketed products
with Simplesse.
However, Simplesse only
works in cold foods; it can't be
used in cooking because baking
or frying causes it to lose its
creaminess.
Olestra was discovered by
Proctor & Gamble back in 1968
when they began to research
the nature of fat digestibility.
Scientists found that when su-
crose was present during cer
tain chemical reactions, a new
material was created that
couldn't be digested or absorbed
and therefore not contribute
calories.
According to the company,
olestra is almost a carbon copy
of regular fat, with a molecule
of sugar at its core instead of
glycerine, and up to eight fatty
acids attached to the core in-
stead of the customary three.
Because this new molecular
structure doesn't break down to
its component parts during di-
gestion. and is excreted, olestra
had to be approved as a new
food additive rather than as
"generally recognized as safe
(GRAS)" by the FDA. On the
other hand, Simplesse is GRAS
because natural ingredients and
common food processes are used
to make the product. 0