Triglycerides comprise 95% of the lipids in foods. They are the storage form of fat in the body and primary fat in blood. Lipids share the common property of insolubility in water and solubility in the fat solvents. Fats, fatty acids, fatty oils, waxes, sterols, and esters of fatty acids all belong to this group, the lipids. Chemically, lipids are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Dietary lipids are a source of energy, and they can be converted to other essential tissue constituents, or converted into stored energy as reserve fat in adipose tissue.

While high-fat diets in industrial nations are often linked to higher rates of degenerative disease and obesity, a small amount of dietary fat is required for optimal health. This fact is overlooked by many. Fat serves as a high-energy food, facilitates the digestion and metabolism of other nutrients and forms structural and functional components of cell membranes. Fats play a key role in the transport and absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K, and the carotenoids and beta-carotene).

When fat is eliminated from the diet, one’s body will synthesize some fatty acids from protein and carbohydrates to meet its needs. However, one fatty acid, linoleic acid, is essential and cannot be synthesized. It must be obtained from food or supplements. Linoleic acid is an important building block for the prostaglandins, hormone-like substances. It is known that omega-3 fatty acids are essential to normal development of vision and brain function.

Triglycerides
Triglycerides are the primary form of fat and comprise the bulk of fat in foods, stored fat in the body, and are a primary form of fat in the blood. Triglycerides are the lipids that provide calories or energy to the body. Triglycerides exist in many shapes and sizes, but they all exhibit a similar structure which is glycerol molecule with three fatty acids attached. The physical characteristics of a given fat are determined by the degree of saturation of its fatty acids.

Saturation
Fatty acids are composed of chains of carbon atoms, usually sixteen to eighteen in number but ranging between two and twenty. If all carbon atoms on the fatty acid chains are bound to a maximum number of hydrogen atoms, the triglyceride or fatty acid is said to be saturated. If two joined carbon atoms can bind on additional hydrogens, the fat is said to be monounsaturated. If more than one hydrogen atom can be accepted, the fat is polyunsaturated. Linoleic acid in safflower oil is a polyunsaturated fatty acid. Oleic acid in canoloa and olive oils is a monounsaturated fatty acid.

Unsaturated fats are more fluid at room temperature than saturated fats. For example, safflower oil, high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, is liquid at room temperature, while lard, high in saturated fats, is solid. This is because the saturation with hydrogen atoms gives the fatty acids a regular shape which fits closely together like stacked spoons. Unsaturated fatty acids are kinked and do not lie in a compact fashion. Therefore, the saturated fats are more dense and solid; unsaturated fats are less dense and fluid.

Hydrogenation
Hydrogenation describes the process of adding hydrogen atoms at the double bonds of unsaturated fatty acids. Hydrogenation is used to increase the shelf life of fats and to change liquid unsaturated fats to a firm, semisolid form. Hydrogenation solidifies liquid corn oil to margarine. Hydrogenation converts some unsaturated fatty acids from their natural cis configuration to the trans configuration. These trans fatty acids are under investigation for their potential cancer causing properties and ability to impair prostaglandin synthesis.

Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a white crystalline substance found in egg yolk, all animal fats, bile, gallstones, nervous tissue, and blood. Cholesterol is present in almost all body tissues but is concentrated in the liver, blood, and brain. Cholesterol, the best known type of sterol (an alcohol), is only synthesized in animals. Ergosterol and sitosterol are the most common sterols produced by plants.

It has been proposed that cholesterol is the cause of ateriosclerosis and heart disease when in fact scientist know that pure cholesterol does not cause ateriosclerosis. Furthermore, they know that elavated blood cholesterol is a symptom -- not a cause -- of heart disease. If cholesterol is not the cause, then what is?

Our understanding of the cause of heart disease is being revolutionised by new understanding of an amino acid in our bodies called homocysteine. Low levels of homocysteine are necessary but elavated levels are harmful. Research by Dr. Kilmer S. McCully, and others, has proven that it is excess levels of this homocysteine that is the culprit. We now know that a deficiency of B vitamins in the diet (vitamin B12, vitamin B6, folic acid) triggers heart disease by raising the level of homocysteine in the blood. This is good news because this is something we can do something about! Click Here to learn how you can get Free Vitamin B-12.

Elavated cholesterol (LDL in particular) does play a secondary role. LDL carrys homocysteine to the blood vessels. So, lowering LDL is a good idea, but only because it carries the homocysteine.

Linoleic Acid
Linoleic and linolenic acid are essential polyunsaturated fatty acids that can be obtained only from dietary sources. Quality sources include vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds. Arachidonic acid can be synthesized within the body when adequate linoleic acid is available. Omega 3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fatty acids plentiful in fish oils and are critically important because they are necessary for the proper development of the brain and vision. Many health professionals now recommend that everyone supplement their diet with an Omega 3 supplement like OMEGACIN⁺.

Dietary Requirements
Americans are eating less fat than ten years ago according to the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Yet, Americans still have a long way to go to reach the recommended goal of less than 30 percent fat calories and less than 10 percent saturated fat calories. The NHANES reported Americans average 34 percent of their calories (82 grams) from fat and about 12 percent (29 grams) of it from saturated fat.

No Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) has been established for fat. Fats are one of the macronutrients, but as little as 10 percent of calories with sufficient linoleic acid will meet basic requirements. Some nutritionists suggest the essential fatty acid, linoleic acid, should provide 1 to 2 percent of the total calories in the daily diet.

The National Academy of Sciences suggests an RDA of 15 to 25 grams of dietary fat to ensure an adequate intake of essential fatty acids and to provide a carrier for fat-soluble vitamins. The fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids can be obtained through fortified foods, such as vitamin D from nonfat milk. However, the elimination of all fats from the diet is unwarranted and practically impossible because they coexist with proteins and carbohydrates in many foods. The general guideline is to limit your fat to no more than 30 percent and no less than 15 percent of calories and not exceed 10 percent of calories from saturated fats.

References:

Garrison Jr., R.PH., Robert & Somer, M.A., R.D., Elizabeth, The Nutrition Desk Reference, 3rd ed., New Canaan: Keats Publishing, 1999,
pp 53-54, 57, 60-62
McCully, M.D., Kilmer S. & McCully, Martha, The Heart Revolution, New York: Harper Perennial, 1999, pp 1-10

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