Tag: fats

Obesity is an abnormal increase in the proportion of fat cells mainly in the viscera and subcutaneous tissues of the body.

Bile salts are essential for the emulsification of fats, which breaks large fat globules into smaller droplets to increase the surface area for lipase enzymes to act upon.

Retinol is Vitamin A, which is fat soluble. A deficiency in Vitamin A leads to xerophthalmia, a condition characterized by dry eyes and potential blindness.

Bile salts emulsify fats (a physical process aiding digestion) and also form micelles, which are necessary for the absorption of fatty acids and monoglycerides across the intestinal wall.

Fats are energy dense, providing approximately 9 kcal/g (often cited as 9.3 kcal/g), whereas carbohydrates and proteins provide approximately 4 kcal/g.

The excess carbohydrates and proteins are stored in the body as fats. It gets converted into energy during excessive physical work. Essential fatty acids are those fatty acids which play an important role in the biological process and they can be metabolized easily. These acts as a fuel rather getting deposited as fat in the body. The human body cannot synthesize essential fatty acids. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature as they have double bonds. The essential fatty acids are unsaturated as they have double bonds. Saturated fatty acids have the single bond and are solid at room temperature.

While glycogen is used for short term energy storage in the liver and muscles, fat is the primary form for long term energy storage in the body due to its high energy density.

Vitamins A, D, E, and K are the fat soluble vitamins, meaning they are absorbed along with dietary fats and stored in the body's fatty tissues.

Lacteals are specialized lymphatic capillaries located in the villi of the small intestine that absorb dietary fats (chylomicrons) that are too large to enter the blood capillaries directly.

In human and most other mammals, acetyl Co-A formed in the liver during oxidation of fatty acids can enter the citric acid cycle or can be converted to the "Ketone bodies" (e.g., Acetone, Acetoacetate and D - $\beta $ hydroxy butyrate) for export to other tissue.