Fat substitutes of the future may do more than reduce your
fat intake, thanks to University of Georgia research.

Casimir Akoh, a food science professor with the UGA College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is developing fat
substitutes designed with added health benefits.

“People are asking, ‘What’s in this oil for me?’ and
that’s
the question I’m trying to answer,” he said. “I’m
working
on fats that are beneficial, but don’t make you too
fat.”

To do this, Akoh modifies the fat to enhance the way our
bodies
absorb it. He is also creating new fats with nutritional
benefits.

Lower Cholesterol, Improve Brain Development

“When these new fats are absorbed, they will help boost
your immune system,” Akoh said. “When added to food
products, they help improve food properties and can help
hospital
patients recover quicker, help lower cholesterol, and even
improve
brain development.”

Akoh is fashioning a variety of healthy, digestible
low-calorie
fat substitutes, called structured lipids, by exchanging
properties
of one fatty acid for those of another. One of his fat
substitutes
was created from medium- and long-chain fatty acids from fish
oil.

To create the new fat substitutes, Akoh uses enzymes to blend
long-chain fatty acids, like those in vegetable and fish oils,
with short- or medium-chain fatty acids. The long-chain fatty
acids provide nutritional qualities, while the short- and
medium-chain
fatty acids metabolize faster and provide quick energy.

“The combination of fatty acids is important,” he
said, “because they each deliver benefits via two different
physiological pathways: the long chains through the lymph
system,
and the short and medium chains through the circulatory
system.”

It Has to Taste Good

“Consumers want foods with minimal to no fat or calories,
but they also want foods that taste good,” he said.
“Because
several foods containing fat replacers don’t compare favorably
with their full-fat counterparts, it’s difficult for some people
to maintain a reduced-fat diet regime.”

A perfect example is the fat replacer Olestra, which was
developed
by Proctor & Gamble. Olestra is used as a fat substitute in
such snack products as fat-free Pringles potato chips.

“Our bodies don’t absorb or metabolize Olestra,”
said Akoh. “This causes Olestra to have side effects like
abdominal cramping and loose stools.”

Despite the possible side effects, Akoh said consumers do get
health benefits from Olestra as a replacement for conventional
fat.

Unlike Olestra, which is marketed to people on reduced-fat
diets, Akoh’s new oils would be targeted to more specific
consumers.

Helping Targeted Groups

“We’re trying to develop these oils for specific groups,
like people with cystic fibrosis or AIDS patients,” he said.
“The oil would be created especially for their health
needs.”

In lab tests, Akoh’s fish-oil structured lipid (fat
substitute)
has been shown to reduce cholesterol by 49 percent and boost the
immune system by increasing thymus cells 19 percent. The thymus
is a ductless gland composed mainly of lymphoid cells. It plays
a part in the body’s immune system.

“This could be of benefit to AIDS patients who have low
T-cell counts,” he said.

These new fats could be used in salad dressings, beverages,
infant formulas and medical intravenous solutions. So far,
though,
they haven’t made it into the commercial market.

“Right now, there’s no single, ideal fat replacer that
can recreate all the functional and sensory attributes of
fat,”
Akoh said.

“Consumers just have to remember that there’s no ‘magic
bullet’ to achieving dietary goals,” he said. “You
should
combine proper nutrition, dietary variety, a healthy lifestyle
and regular exercise, and reduce your total dietary fat by
choosing
foods formulated with fat replacers.”

(Jane
Sanders contributed to this article.)