 Commonly called fats (from the Greek "lypos", fat), lipids are contained in food of animal and vegetable origin.
Substances with very different chemical nature, lipids also have some very different biological functions.
Among the most important, they act as energy reserves and are a valuable aid in the conservation of cells’s structure.
A common feature in all fats is the insolubility in water.
Depending on the degree of complexity of the chemical structure, they are divided into simple, complex and derivative fats.
The most variable part is the chain of fat acids.
The most useful classification from a nutritional point of view is the one that divides fat acids into saturated and unsaturated.
The saturated fats are most present in food of animal origin (butter, lard, margarine, cheese, fat meat).
The unsaturated fats instead are found in foods of vegetable origin (seed oil, olive oil).
At room temperature the first ones are solid-pasty, the second ones liquid.
The unsaturated fats are absolutely preferable to the saturated ones that, facilitating the deposition of cholesterol in the artery wall, are responsible for many diseases.
The unsaturated fats instead lower the level of cholesterol and, if accompanied by vitamin E, give the maximum benefits.
The linoleic and the linolenic acids are essential fats that our body is unable to synthesize and must necessarily include by food.
They also go under the name of vitamin F and their lack in the diet causes diarrhea, skin dryness and exfoliation.
We find the linoleic acid in corn oil, soy oil, grape seed oil and dried fruit.
We find the linolenic in linseed oil, nuts and fish (especially salmon and blue fish).
Starting from the linoleic acid the body is able to produce the omega-6, and from the linolenic the omega-3, fat acids that are very important for preventing cardiovascular diseases.
arininchi 19/08/2008
alimentazione 
crescere un bambino 
salute 
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