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Fat molecular structure

To see chemical structures of the following molecules, click here. To see all fat topics, see the fat index.

Fat, like all food, is actually made up of individual molecules, which are made from atoms linked together by bonds made of pairs of electrons. Fat is made mostly of long chains of carbon atoms attached to each other and to hydrogen atoms. At one end of the fatty acid from which fat is made, there is a carboxyl group, COOH. This carbon is known as the alpha carbon. For the convenience of nutritionists, the carbon at the other end of the fatty acid is called the omega carbon. Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

Fats that are important in nutrition include saturated fats, monounsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated fats. Saturated fats have no carbon-carbon double bonds, monounsaturates have one double bond, and polyunaturates can have many.

Saturated fat is the one full of lots of Calories. It has only single bonds between the carbons and hydrogens.

Unsaturated fats contain double bonds between carbon atoms. These double bonds can be in two shapes, cis where the hydrogen atoms are on the same side, and trans, where they are on opposite sides of the double bond. Cis double bonds are natural in food. Trans double bonds are artificially produced by manufacturing solid fat from vegetable sources. They are unnatural, hazardous trans-fats. Trans-double bonds result from the chemical process used to make margarine from plant oils, and that unnatural double bond is not metabolized by our bodies. Those molecules "clog" the normal processes in the body, leading to cancer in particular. It would not surprise me if one day we accept the danger of trans-fats the way we currently accept the hazard of nicotine and cigarettes.

Cis fats are further divided into omega-6 and omega-3 fats. Omega-6s are necessary to cause inflammatory molecules to fight off infections. But omega-3s are essential to prevent inflammation caused by stress and oxidative hazards like trans-fats and smoking. Before modern times, our diet had a ratio of 1:2 of omega-3 to omega-6 fats in the diet. Today the ratio is about 1:20 in most people's diets. This causes unnoticeable but severe low-level chronic inflammation in most people leading to much age-associated chronic disease like diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Omega-3 fats are now accepted to be very beneficial. Canola, soybean, and olive oils are great for your health because they contain omega-3 fats. However, blue green algae are eaten by fish are produce specific longchain (20-22 carbon atoms long) omega-3 fatty acids that are especially important for health of the brain. As of 2007, it is recommended that everyone get 1,000 mg of fish oil daily - pregnant and nursing moms too!

For comparison of butter, margarine, and olive oil, click here.

FROM LINUS PAULING DIET AND OPTIMAL HEALTH MEETING MAY 18-22, 2005
For those with patience, here are my notes from one of the best professional meetings for M.D. and Ph.D. professionals involved in nutrition professionally. They have not been edited, and are slowly moving on to the appropriate web pages of Nutrition Investigator. Any mistakes are my own, but I have done my best to capture relevant exciting information I learned at this conference.

Palm oil is major consumed fat. Three questions are answered below: I. Does it make you fat?, II. Does it cause heart disease? and III.Does it cause cancer?
I. Dansinger JAMA 2005 diet study
Atkins vs Zone vs Weight watchers vs Ornish Diet
No differences were found between these diets. People who followed them actively lost 1-2 kg in 12 months. Successful dieters who adhered to diet eventually lost 5 kg. Failures gained 5 kg. Because these diets have substantially different requirements for consuming or avoiding fat, the study demonstrates that FAT HAS NO EFFECT, the only factor to consider in a diet is calories.
II. WINS trial of 2400 women for 5 years.

III. Coronary Heart Disease
High oil in diet good to lower cholesterol
High fat diet reduces CHD 50% vs. high carb/lo fat diet; high fat diet drops CHO from sugars substantially, reducing free radical damage
Trans fats raises LDL, lowers HDL, causes 60% increase in CHD in women, 25% increase in men
Most foods in US have removed trans-fats, but restaurants have not.
McDs has in Europe,but not in US
Linolenic acid (omega-3) does not provide benefit, must be fish oils EPA and DHEA