Many see the word saturated or unsaturated fats and automatically think “unhealthy”. But the definition regarding the biochemistry of saturated fats or unsaturated is still widely misunderstood. Saturated fats are long chains of lipids that consist of only single typically carbon to carbon bonds. Foods that contain saturated fats are butter, whole milk, margarine, cheese, and vegetable oils. Saturated fats are recommended to be consumed less than 10% of the time, because of its high association with the production of LDL (low density lipoproteins- bad cholesterol). Saturated fats are unable to undergo further biochemical breakdown, thus causing atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (hardening of the blood vessels). Unsaturated on the other hand contains at least one double carbon to carbon bond, allowing for biochemical break down during reactions and increases the production of HDL (high density lipoproteins). Food sources for unsaturated fats are, avocado, olive oil, canola oil, and soybean oil. Another very popular unsaturated fat is Omega 3 fatty acid (DHA and EPA). Unsaturated lipids are typically liquid in room temperature, and spoil rather fast, which is why saturated fats are produced at higher rates.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:08:35 +0000
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