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A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone, and fatty acids that each contain a long linear or branched chain of carbon (C) atoms.
A young adult human's fat stores average between about 15–20 kg (33–44 lb), but varies greatly depending on age, sex, and individual disposition. [10] In contrast, the human body stores only about 400 g (0.9 lb) of glycogen , of which 300 g (0.7 lb) is locked inside the skeletal muscles and is unavailable to the body as a whole.
Lipid metabolism is the synthesis and degradation of lipids in cells, involving the breakdown and storage of fats for energy and the synthesis of structural and functional lipids, such as those involved in the construction of cell membranes. In animals, these fats are obtained from food and are synthesized by the liver. [1]
Saturated fatty acids have no C=C double bonds. They have the formula CH 3 (CH 2) n COOH, where n is some positive integer. An important saturated fatty acid is stearic acid (n = 16), which when neutralized with sodium hydroxide is the most common form of soap. Arachidic acid, a saturated fatty acid
A significant proportion of the fatty acids in the body are obtained from the diet, in the form of triglycerides of either animal or plant origin. The fatty acids in the fats obtained from land animals tend to be saturated, whereas the fatty acids in the triglycerides of fish and plants are often polyunsaturated and therefore present as oils.
Fats may be classified as saturated or unsaturated depending on the chemical structure of the fatty acids involved. Saturated fats have all of the carbon atoms in their fatty acid chains bonded to hydrogen atoms , whereas unsaturated fats have some of these carbon atoms double-bonded , so their molecules have relatively fewer hydrogen atoms ...
Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that are required by humans and other animals for normal physiological function that cannot be synthesized in the body. [1] [2] As they are not synthesized in the body, the essential fatty acids – alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid – must be obtained from food or from a dietary supplement.
Elaidic acid is a trans fat with negative health effects. Full hydrogenation results in the conversion of all of the unsaturated fats into saturated fats by transforming all of the double bonds in the fat into single bonds. Partial hydrogenation reduces some, but not all, of the double bonds by the partial replacement with single bonds.