AN ABUNDANCE of the Good Fat    Excerpt from Pasture Perfect, By Jo Robinson

"In 1999 researchers discovered another health benefit of grass-fed products: They're the richest known source of another good fat called conjugated linoleic acid or CLA. CLA may be one of our most potent cancer fighters. Animals given very small amounts of CLA a mere 1.5 percent of their total calories had a 60 percent reduction in tumor growth in a study published in Cancer Research. CLA may fight cancer in people, as well. Recently Finnish researchers found that the more CLA in a woman's diet, the lower her risk of breast cancer. Women who consumed the most CLA had an amazing 60 percent lower risk. According to the research team, "A diet composed of CLA-rich foods, particularly cheese, may protect against breast cancer in postmenopausal women."

What the researchers failed to mention is that cheese from a grass-fed ruminant has five times more CLA than cheese from a grain-fed animal, according to Tilak Dhiman a professor in Utah State University's Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences Department. Professor Dhiman estimates that if you are an omnivore you may be able to lower your risk of cancer simply by eating daily one serving of meat, one slice of cheese and one glass of milk from a grass-fed cow. If the products are from an ordinary grain-fed cow, however, you would have to eat five servings of meat, cheese and milk to reap the same benefits."

_{*************************************************************}

The following are excerpts from a Sept. 2000 Teagasc Research Publication.  Teagasc provides integrated research, advisory and training services for the agriculture and food industry in Ireland.

• A survey of the CLA and trans-fatty acid content of a large range of foods has revealed that Irish foods have a relatively high CLA content, likely due to the relative importance of pasture grazing in this country.

CLA - A Health-Promoting Component of Animal and Milk Fat     

In Ireland, approximately 85% of manufacturing milk is produced from Spring calving herds on pasture. Hence the levels of CLA in manufacturing milk were monitored over a full manufacturing season. The CLA content of milk varied throughout the Summer season, from a low of 5.5 mg/g fat in March to a high of 16 mg/g fat in May. Highest CLA levels were observed during May and September, which coincided with periods of lush grass supply. However, in a parallel study grass allowance was shown to have a significant effect on CLA levels (Fig. 2).

CLA was significantly lower when the grass allowance was at the lowest level (16 kg grass DM/cow/day) compared with the higher levels (20 kg and 24 kg/cow/day).

**************************************************************************************

Effects of CLA on human mammary cancer cells

A dose-dependent decrease in cell proliferation was seen in human cancer cells treated with bovine milk fat enriched with CLA. All milk fat samples significantly lowered (p < 0.05) cell number to approximately 7 - 9% of control cells at a CLA concentration of 20 ppm CLA in the incubation medium, following 8 days of incubation (Fig. 3). The 0 control cells were incubated in the absence of milk fat (red bar).

These results suggest that CLA in milk fat is cytotoxic towards mammary cancer cells and the results demonstrate the potential of CLA-enriched milk-fat-containing foods in cancer prevention in humans.

***********************************************************************************