Fats Flashcards
What is the major role of fat in the body?
Provides a concentrated source of energy to fuel the body’s work
What are the major building blocks of triglycerides?
Fatty acids
Triglycerides
The major class of dietary lipids, including fats and oils - Glycerol + 3 fatty acids = Triglyceride
What is the backbone of triglycerides?
Glycerol
A fatty acid carrying the maximum number possible of hydrogen atoms (having no points on unsaturation)
Saturated fatty acids
What foods contain saturated fatty acids
Found in all animal foods (meat, poultry, full fat dairy) and some tropical oils (palm and coconut)
A fatty acid with one or more points of unsaturation
Unsaturated fatty acids
What foods contain unsaturated fatty acids
Found in both plant and animal foods
A fatty acid containing only one point of unsaturation
Monounsaturated fatty acids
A fatty acid in which 2 or more points of unsaturation occur
Polyunsaturated fatty acids
Essential Fatty Acid
a fatty acid that cannot be made by the body in amounts sufficient to meet physiological needs
What are the 2 essential fatty acids
Linolec acid and linolenic acid
What are the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids
Lower blood pressure, reduce triglycerides, enhanced defense against cancer, reduce inflammation in arthritis and asthma sufferers
What are the benefits of omega 6 fatty acids
Fights inflammation, reduces the risk of heart diseases, lowers blood pressure
Which fats are typically liquid at room temp?
Unsaturated fatty acids
The process of adding hydrogen to unsaturated fat to make it more solid and more resistant to chemical change
Hydrogenation
Helps fat travel back and forth across the lipid containing cell membranes
Phospholipids
Function of cholesterol
- Used to make bile for digestion
- Used to make sex hormones
- Made into vitamin D
A type of lipoprotein that transports newly digested fat (mostly triglycerides) from the intestine through lymph and blood
Chylomicron
Clusters of lipids associated with protein that serve as transport vehicles for lipids in blood and lymph
Lipoproteins
What are the 4 main types of lipoproteins?
- Very Low density lipoprotein (VLDL)
- Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL)
- High Density Lipoprotein (HDL)
- Chylomicron
What is the function of LDL?
Carries cholesterol to body cells
What is the function of HDL?
Carries cholesterol in the blood back to the liver for recycling or disposal
What is the sign of raised LDL levels in the blood?
A heart attack bc LDLs in the blood tend to deposit cholesterol into the arteries
