LIPIDS AND FATS

2. WHATISLIPID?
Inbiologyandbiochemistry,alipidisamacrobiomoleculethatissolubleinnonpolarsolvents.Nonpolarsolventsaretypically
hydrocarbonsusedtodissolveothernaturaloccurringhydrocarbonlipidmoleculesthatdonotdissolveinwater,includingfatty
acids,waxes,sterols,fat-solublevitaminssuchasvitaminsA,D,EandK.

3. Theseareimportant nutrientsinyourbodybuteatingtoomuchespeciallyunhealthy
fatssuchassaturatedfatsandtransfatscanleadtoaheartdisease,cancer,
obesity.Lipidsalsoserveotherfunctionssuchasmaterialsforcellmembrane,
insulationtomaintainbodytemperature,aidindigestion,andasasignalmolecules.

4. There aredifferentclassificationsoflipids:triglyceride,phospholipid,waxandsteroid.Thelipidisthemost
variedintermsofstructurebuttheyarecommonpropertyofbeinginsolubleinwater.
Fatandoilarethemostcommonexamplesof lipids.Theyareundertriglyceridesbecausetheyarethemost
composeof glycerolandthreefattyacids.
Fatsreferstosolidtriglycerideusuallyfromanimalssourcessuchasmeat,milk,butter,margarine,eggsand
cheese.
Oilrefersto aliquidtriglyceridefromplantsources.Examplesareoliveoil,Cornoil,sunfloweroil andsoybean
oil.
Animalfatscontaionhighpercentagesofsaturatedfattyacidswhileplantsoilaremostlyunsaturatedfatty
acids.