Fat
hideFats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are generally triesters of glycerol and fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at normal room temperature, depending on their structure and composition. Although the words "oils", "fats", and "lipids" are all used to refer to fats, "oils" is usually used to refer to fats that are liquids at normal room temperature, while "fats" is usually used to refer to fats that are solids at normal room temperature. "Lipids" is used to refer to both liquid and solid fats, along with other related substances. The word "oil" is used for any substance that does not mix with water and has a greasy feel, such as petroleum (or crude oil) and heating oil, regardless of its chemical structure.
Fats form a category of lipid, distinguished from other lipids by their chemical structure and physical properties. This category of molecules is important for many forms of life, serving both structural and metabolic functions. They are an important part of the diet of most heterotrophs (including humans). Fats or lipids are broken down in the body by enzymes called lipases produced in the pancreas.
Examples of edible animal fats are lard (pig fat), fish oil, and butter or ghee. They are obtained from fats in the milk, meat and under the skin of the animal. Examples of edible plant fats are peanut, soya bean, sunflower, sesame, coconut, olive, and vegetable oils. Margarine and vegetable shortening, which can be derived from the above oils, are used mainly for baking. These examples of fats can be categorized into saturated fats and unsaturated fats.
For more information about Fat, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with fat
Nutrigenomics researchers replicate gene interaction with saturated fat
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Tufts University researchers have identified a gene-diet interaction that appears to influence body weight and have replicated their findings in three independent studies. Men and women carrying the CC genotype demonstrated ...
Fat collections linked to decreased heart function
Nov 13, 2009 |
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Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that fat collection in different body locations, such as around the heart and the aorta and within the liver, are associated with certain decreased heart ...
Mood improves on low-fat, but not low-carb, diet plan
Nov 09, 2009 |
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After one year, a low-calorie, low-fat diet appears more beneficial to dieters' mood than a low-carbohydrate plan with the same number of calories, according to a report in the November 9 issue of Archives of Internal Me ...
Children who often drink full-fat milk weigh less
Nov 03, 2009 |
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Eight-year-old children who drink full-fat milk every day have a lower BMI than those who seldom drink milk. This is not the case for children who often drink medium-fat or low-fat milk. This is one conclusion of a thesis ...
For dialysis patients, skinny is dangerous
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Dialysis patients with low body fat are at increased risk of death—even compared to patients at the highest level of body fat percentage, according to research being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd ...
Slimming gene regulates body fat
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Scientists at the University of Bonn, Germany, have discovered a previously unknown fruit fly gene that controls the metabolism of fat. Larvae in which this gene is defective lose their entire fat reserves. Therefore the ...
Exercise keeps dangerous visceral fat away a year after weight loss (w/ Video)
Oct 29, 2009 |
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A study conducted by exercise physiologists in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Human Studies finds that as little as 80 minutes a week of aerobic or resistance training helps not only to prevent ...
Research on Childhood Obesity May Help Fight Epidemic
Oct 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- More than 16 percent of children and adolescents in the United States are overweight-a doubling of the estimated incidence of overweight among children and a tripling of the rate among adolescents ...
Location of body fat affects risk of blood clots in men, women
Oct 26, 2009 |
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The location of extra pounds appears to affect the risk of blood clots in middle-aged people, but affects men and women differently, researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Big on obesogens: Biologist believes industrial pollutants contributing to America's obesity epidemic
Oct 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- With obesity emerging as a leading health threat to Americans, it’s easy to blame a couch-potato culture addicted to calorie-rich foods. But UC Irvine biologist Bruce Blumberg doesn’t believe ...
Redefining obesity's health risks: Scientists make the case for new body fat assessment
Oct 19, 2009 |
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The body mass index (BMI) has long been the yardstick in deciding who is at risk because of their weight. BMI is essentially a measure of density, identifying 'under-' and 'over-weight' risk groups. Recent studies however ...
Ethnic background may be associated with diabetes risk
Oct 06, 2009 |
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Fat and muscle mass, as potentially determined by a person's ethnic background, may contribute to diabetes risk, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & ...
Baby mammoth preserved in frozen soil heads to Chicago
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Oct 04, 2009 |
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Sucked to her death in a muddy river bed, a baby woolly mammoth spent 40,000 years frozen in the Siberian permafrost where her body was so perfectly preserved traces of her mother's milk remained in her belly.
Diabetes drug shows promise in fighting lethal cancer complication
Sep 24, 2009 |
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Insulin resistance, the hallmark of type 2 diabetes and a condition often associated with obesity, is paradoxically also an apparent contributor to muscle wasting and severe fat loss that accompanies some cancers, according ...
Obesity hinders chemotherapy treatment in children with leukemia
Sep 22, 2009 |
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Obesity is an important factor contributing to chemotherapy resistance and increasing relapse rates among children with leukemia, according to recent findings published online first in Cancer Research, a jour ...
