Gaelle-Anne Freiberg
I think we can agree that we’ve all been sitting in science class one day when the teacher says something along the lines of, “Everything is matter and matter is made up of what we call atoms, they’re the smallest unit of matter.” and you might have been like, “Gee man, that’s a lot of atoms” or “How will I ever use this information in the real world?”, or perhaps you won’t care because you’d have been looking down at your phone, wondering when class would end, – all are acceptable reactions more or less… . And, more times than not, the teacher would continue by saying, “You’re made of matter!” –WOW, who would’ve known!? And yes that was sarcasm if you couldn’t tell –, “You see this pencil, it’s made of a heck ton of atoms!” and so on. Now, despite how basic the Everything Is Made of Atoms Speech may sound, perhaps even boring, it contrastingly opens up so many possibilities. Possibilities? How so? Today, we explore some basic chemistry to something the majority of people love, food. Specifically, we’re going to talk about fats and oils, the food group which receives the most hate. We’ll explore basic understanding of different food groups, the molecular gastronomy of fats and oils and how fats are metabolized and utilized in the human body.
Before we can go any further, we must have a basic understanding of food and food groups; the main food groups consist of fats, carbohydrates, protein, water, vitamins and minerals. The first three, respectfully, provide our body with fuel, i.e energy so that we can go through the day capable of meeting mental and physical tasks. They also have different functions in the body, for example, fats protect the body’s internal organs and help produce certain hormones, proteins allow your cells to grow, repair, and are essential for a myriad of processes in the body and carbs are your body's preferred and main energy source . Fats, proteins and carbs are additionally referred to as macronutrients because our bodies need a large amount of them to function properly. It’s also possible to break down these nutrients into sub-categories to differentiate between the different types of fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Vitamins and minerals do not provide the body with energy, but are essential for your body to work properly and are sometimes referred to as micronutrients, where our bodies need small amounts of them to function. Last is water, a necessity, which regulates body temperature, rids your body of waste, as well as protects sensitive tissues and your spinal cord.
Now that we’ve got a basic understanding of different food groups, let’s talk about fats and oils. The majority of the time, we forget to mention oils when we talk about fats. The difference between fats and oils is their physical state at room temperature; fats are solid at room temperature while oils are a liquid state. They’re produced by both plants and animals and store energy, as such they are burned through oxidation.
Fats and oils consist of strings of carbon atoms bonded with hydrogen atoms where there are 10-20 carbon atoms in each string; most fats have strings joined together at an end.
When we distinguish between fats, we look at the degree of saturation in fatty acids; we describe, within its structure, the amount of double bonds of carbon to carbon and how full a fatty acid chain is of hydrogen atoms. Saturated fats have the maximum number of possible hydrogen atoms attached to carbon atoms; therefore each atom of carbon has two hydrogen atoms attached to it through single bonds; they will further be packed easily together because of the single bonds and thence pack more energy. Their single bonds affect their geometric shape; in the case of saturated fats we obtain tetrahedrons. Unsaturated fats on the other hand have some carbon atoms bond to a carbon atom through a double bond, and as such attach to 1 hydrogen atom. They therefore don't pack together as easily. There are also poly-unsaturated fats which have multiple pairs joined together through double bonds and mono-saturated fats simply have two carbons joined together with double bonds. Unsaturated fats have a messier geometric configuration because some carbon atoms will have double bonds and single bonds while some will simply have single bonds, which results in kinks; think of it like if the double bonds disrupt a repeating pattern. This geometric shape has consequences on physical properties such as melting point; Saturated fats have higher melting points than unsaturated fats because they are packed tighter in a more stable configuration than that of unsaturated fats. Believe it or not, the differing melting points in fats actually affect how fats are metabolized in the body!
As such, fats with higher melting points such as saturated fats will take longer to digest because thanks to their single bonds, they are more tightly packed together. Unsaturated fats are correspondingly easier for the body to digest since their double bonds result in a molecule which isn’t as tightly packed. Saturated fats are rather inert molecules to say the least, and they tend to react slowly with other molecules, carrying no charge. The high majority of fats are digested in the small digestive system; with the liver producing bile and the pancreas producing enzymes, fats are broken down into fatty acids. Due to their high melting points, they tend to be deemed unhealthy; when they accumulate in the blood vessels of a human for example, room body temperature isn’t warm enough to melt the fat. If the blood vessel becomes clogged as a result, one has higher chances of strokes and high blood pressure; They also raise levels of LDL(bad cholesterol). This is actually why organisms that live in naturally colder environments are more than not, better sources of unsaturated fats; their bodies require fats that don’t get clogged in their bloodstream. As such, most plants and fish are sources of unsaturated fats whereas mammals like us, with higher body temperatures are sources of saturated fats.
In terms of their effects on our brains, consuming saturated fats versus unsaturated fats have contrasting effects. Additionally, unsaturated fats like poly-unsaturated fats contain omega 3 fatty acids which boost cognitive function by increasing the release of acetylcholine, a significant neurotransmitter involved in improving memory and overall brain function by influencing synaptic communication, helping coordinate the firing of neurons and influencing plasticity of neurons. Saturated and trans fats on the other hand, can result in the breakdown of brain cell neuroplasticity, which creates inefficient information processing. Fats overall are a necessity in a healthy diet by supporting cell growth, the production of certain hormones and providing you and your body with energy. That said, it’s also important to know the differences between unsaturated and saturated fats and the varying ways they affect the body.
In today’s world, we’ve learned to label all fats as “bad” and “to avoid”, when in reality, fats are anything but bad; Fats are delicious fascinating structures of carbon and hydrogen atoms, as well as mixtures of fatty acid compounds that provide our bodies with energy and many other benefits. Once we understand what fats are, how they are built, their metabolization & utilization processes, and their effects in the body, we can truly learn to appreciate fats in all their glory.
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