Difference Between Lipids And Fats

Lipids are a type of chemical molecule that is largely insoluble in water. Lipids, which include fats and oils, are high-energy molecules having a chemical composition that is dominated by carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Fats are a concentrated source of energy that protects human tissues and organs while also assisting in the regulation of body temperature. Fats also aid in the utilisation of the four fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K by the body.

What Are lipids?

Lipids are a type of organic molecule that is soluble in organic solvents but insoluble in water. They’re a diversified bunch of atoms and molecules.Lipids, for the most part, are liquids. However, some lipids, such as fats, are solids, though.The three main types of lipids are triglycerides, phospholipids, and steroids. The most frequent form of lipid is triglycerides. Triglycerides are also known as natural fats.

What are fats?

Fats are an oily material found under the skin and surrounding the organs of the body. Fats are often solid at room temperature due to the high saturation of fatty acids. Oils, which are liquids at normal temperature, are the form of unsaturated fat. Fats are often derived from animals, while oils are derived from plants. Saturated fat and trans fat are the two forms of fat .

Difference between lipids and fats

Evidence Associating Dietary Fats and Other Lipids with Chronic Diseases:

The first documented evidence of a link between diet and atherosclerosis was Ignatovski’s (1908) observation that rabbits fed meat, milk, and eggs acquired arterial lesions that resembled atherosclerosis in humans. The dietary component responsible for hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis in rabbits was later found by Anitschkow and Chalatow (1913). Many animal species were found to be susceptible to dietary cholesterol in subsequent years, but this phenomenon was dismissed as a laboratory curiosity with no bearing on human nutrition or the rising incidence of CHD and related diseases in the Western world during the first half of the twentieth century.

In 1916, De Langen, a Dutch physician working among Java, observed that native Indonesians had lower plasma cholesterol levels than Dutch colonists, and linked this finding to a considerably lower occurrence of CHD in the indigenous. He also noticed that Javanese stewards on Dutch passenger ships who ate traditional Dutch food had high plasma cholesterol levels and had a significant risk of coronary heart disease. For more than 40 years, these discoveries, published in Dutch in an obscure publication (De Langen, 1916, 1922), went unreported. Rosenthal observed in 1934 that the distribution of atherosclerosis and atherosclerotic disorders in many parts of the world corresponded to fat and cholesterol consumption (Rosenthal, 1934a,b,c) .

The serum-cholesterol-lowering properties of PUFAs were found in the early 1950s, prompting epidemiologic and human experimental studies. The impact of dietary cholesterol was unknown until the 1960s, when multiple careful human studies revealed that it had a small but significant influence. In reviews of the topic by Keys (1957, 1975) and Ahrens (1977), the early development of these principles, as well as the debates, may be discovered (1957). The epidemiologic and experimental evidence on the association between serum cholesterol and CHD, between diet and serum cholesterol, and between diet and CHD is reviewed in detail in the following sections of this chapter.

Effects of Dietary Fats on Plasma Lipids:

The effects of dietary fat on plasma phospholipids were investigated in depth. The relative levels of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin, and lysophosphatidylcholine were unaffected by the kind of dietary fat. The molecular species of phosphatidylcholine, on the other hand, were significantly impacted. During both saturated and unsaturated feedings, more than 90% of the fatty acids at the alpha-position were saturated.

Effects of Dietary Fats on Lipoproteins:

Higher intakes of most fatty acids boost high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, with the exception of trans-monounsaturated fatty acids, which drop HDL cholesterol to the same extent as carbohydrates when either is substituted for other dietary fatty acids.

Conclusion:

Lipids are a large and diverse group of molecules found in all living organisms and foods, and are distinguished by unique physicochemical properties such as non-polarity and solubility in organic solvents. “Fat provides energy to the body, protects organs, promotes cell growth, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, and aids in the absorption of critical nutrients.”