Make Entry -- Become an Editor -- Most Popular: (10, 25, 50, 75, 100)

   Help

Saturated Fat

Saturated fats are made up of triglycerides with fatty acids that have hydrogen atoms in every available spot; because they are fully saturated with hydrogen, they are called saturated fats. They lack the double-bond atoms found in unsaturated fats, and therefore cannot absorb iodine. Saturated fats may have from one to twenty-four carbon atoms.

Most saturated fats are solid at room temperature. For this reason, more saturated fats are found in warm-blooded creatures and creatures that live in warmer climates, while cold-blooded creatures and those who live in cold water tend to have unsaturated fats. Plants, too, tend to be unsaturated.

Saturated fats are resistant to oxidation and do not become rancid at room temperature. This resistance to rancidity and oxidation is the reason that unsaturated fats are sometimes hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated when being prepared for human consumption: they keep better.

Saturated fats have a very bad reputation in nutrition, but new studies indicate that a portion of the unhealthiness, at least, may come from the changes that occur in saturated fat when it is cooked.

Web Resources On Saturated Fat

Cholesterol, Saturated Fat & Trans Fat
Wikipedia: Saturated Fat

Book Resources On Saturated Fat

The Cholesterol Myths : Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease by Uffe Ravnskov
The composition of rats maintained on diets high in carbohydrate and saturated fat but devoid of unsaturated fatty acids by Harold G. Loeb

Site Maps: Most Recent | Clusters | Browse
New: Graduate Student Job Opportunity