From KATV:
New Potato Chip Can Help with Weight Loss
Location: Arkansas
Reporter: Anne Pressly
Posted: February 09, 2007 12:01 PM EST
URL:
http://www.katv.com/news/stories//395759.htmlArkansas -
Potato chips that can actually help you lose weight? It may sound too good to be true but a healthier version of your favorite snack could soon be at a grocery store near you.
That's thanks to research at the University of Arkansas. If you're watching you're weight these snacks are likely banned from your diet.
But researchers in the Food Science Lab at the U of A in Fayetteville are working to make it so you can have your chips and eat them, too. They have developed oil that could actually help you lose weight and believe it or not, itÂ’s a form of Trans fat. The fatty acid long thought to unhealthy is the key ingredient.
(Andrew Proctor, PhD, Professor of Food Science)"There isn't a large change in the chemistry of the oil; it's a very small change. But it could have a very significant impact in terms of the healthfulness of the product."
Dr. Andrew Proctor along with graduate assistants has found a way to manipulate soybean oil so that it's rich in conjugated linoleic acid or C.L.A. C.L.A. is a natural Trans fat.
And studies show C.L.A. not only can help you shed pounds, but also reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer.
The acid is found naturally in some dairy products but not there's not enough C.L.A in milk or steaks to make a difference in your waistline.
(Andrew Proctor)"In order to get enough in our diets, we have to take about 3-grams of this material a day. To do that, we'd have to take an inordinate amount of animal fats into the diet."
So the researchers are finding a want to integrate C.L.A. in to healthier foods like salad dressings. But so far, potato chips have proven to be a receptive to the healthier oil.
Graduate student Vishal Jain oversees the oil conversion process in the lab. He takes one liter of soy oil and exposes it to high intensity ultra violet light.
Iodine is used as a catalyst to achieve the transformation. After 6-days of exposure the oil is now rich in C.L.A.
(Vishal Jain, graduate students)"Just for point of reference, how many potato chips can be made from this much oil? 700-kilos of potato chips, around 4-pounds of potato chips.?/FONT>
That's 80-percent of your recommended daily value of C.L.A.
(Jain)"Even a 1-oz serving will give us 28-grams of C.L.A., which is a lot."
But Dr. Proctor is quick to point-out that his healthy potato chips will not work miracles.
(Proctor)"We wouldn't want to use this as a means to encourage a high-fat dietÂ…We could produce more healthier potato chips using C.L.A., then say you can eat as much fried food as you want, so it's all part of a healthy diet."
Proctor and Vishal have received a 275-thousand dollar grant from the USDA to build a plant in which the oil can be produced on a larger scale.
If results are positive foods rich in C.L.A. could be in your neighborhood supermarket within the next couple of years.
Copyright 2007 katv, LLC
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What next...so now potato chips processed with a type of trans fat can help you lose weight. What kind of food will they come up with next?
