IPHY 2420 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Monounsaturated Fat, Polyunsaturated Fat, Sterol
Document Summary
Fats: triglycerides, which are essential to the diet. Triglycerides are composed of 1 glycerol and 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acid is an essential part of our diet because our bodies cannot make them naturally. 95% of fats in our diets are triglycerides: phospholipids are water soluble fats that are not essential for our bodies but we sometimes consume them in the diet anyway, sterols are fats with multiple carbon rings. The most popular example of sterol fats is cholesterol. Our bodies can make sterols naturally, so we do not need cholesterols in the diet. Exogenous cholesterols are cholesterols we consume from our diets. Vegans eat a 0% cholesterol diet but since our bodies do not need cholesterol, they are not missing out on anything important in that regard. The rda is less than 300 mg per day. The blue backbone structure is the glycerol and the 3 squiggly lines are the fatty acids.