Preview

Cholesterol, the good, the bad and the ugly!

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1616 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cholesterol, the good, the bad and the ugly!
Cholesterol, the good, the bad and the ugly! Lipids are a forgotten and unreferenced building block in the human body. Why is it when we talk about healthy lifestyles, that lipid’s and the major functions it provides for us is not mentioned. Sure some of its lower members are recounted daily like proteins and fats, but there is so much more to learn and understand. In the next developing paragraphs I will be discussing and explaining the functionality of lipids, fats, cholesterol, and how it all comes together to provide the body with the energy and strength to perform its daily functions. First, we must learn what lipids are. Lipids are an organic compound in the body that make up about 18-25% of body mass in a lean built adult. Lipids have similar qualities like carbohydrates, Tortora, G. & Derrickson, B. (2014) explain that “like carbohydrates, lipids contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Unlike carbohydrates, they do not have a 2:1 ratio of hydrogen to oxygen.” (pg. 45) With the slight differences than carbohydrates this makes lipids usually smaller, and so fewer polar covalent bonds. Making most lipids unsolvable in solvents like water or plasma, they are called hydrophobic. Tortora & Derrickson (2014) manage to articulate that
Because they are hydrophobic, only the smallest lipids (some fatty acids) can dissolve in watery blood plasma. To become more soluble in blood plasma, other lipid molecules join with hydrophilic protein molecules. The resulting lipid–protein complexes are termed lipoproteins. Lipoproteins are soluble because the proteins are on the outside and the lipids are on the inside. (pg.45)
The result of this makes it possible for lipids to cross plasma membranes as the now soluble lipoprotein; this is also how they transport vitamins. In all accounts though, lipids hold the most important function and that is the storage of energy. Energy is obtained by the oxidization of the lipids in the body. Where are the lipids coming from though, how

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    water soluble and not lipid soluble, it remains in the vacuole when the cells are healthy. If the…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Lipid Digestion

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Therefore, larger molecules of monoglycerides and long-chain fatty acids require more effort to digest. Fortunately, the bile supplied by the gallbladder is able to break down these large molecules as well as the smaller ones. As stated earlier, Bile molecules have hydrophobic ends and hydrophilic ends. (1) The hydrophobic ends sticks to each fat molecule and the hydrophilic ends protrude to prevent the molecules from sticking together. The combined structures of fat molecules and bile molecules create micelles. Once fat molecules become micelles, lipases break down fat molecules into fatty acids and smaller monoglycerides, which allow them to pass through the small intestine where fatty acids are converted to triglycerides. They combine with cholesterol, phospholipids and protein to form a structure called a chylomicron. The protein coating of the chylomicron makes it water-soluble so it can travel through the lymph vessels and eventually the bloodstream.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wgu Biochemistry Task 1

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A: Fats are made up fatty acids and a glycerol. They are stored in cells known as adipocytes throughout the body. When the body needs energy the stored fats are broken down through the process of metabolism and beta oxidation (Livestrong.com, n.d.). For example, triacylglyceride or triglyceride are broken down into their separate parts, fatty acid chains and a glycerol. The body will always metabolize the glycerol first because it is easier to break down for energy but it does not produce the same long lasting energy effects that the fatty acid chains create. The fatty acid chains are broken down into 2 carbon pieces each, which then form acetyl CoA. Acetyl CoA can then enter…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Chemistry Food Acids - Eei

    • 5436 Words
    • 22 Pages

    Fats and oils (lipids) are hydrophobic organic compounds, which are formed as a result of triesters of glycerol and three fatty acid chains (carboxylic-acids). These undergo a condensation reaction to form a triglyceride-molecule and the by-product, three molecules of water [1]. The general structure of triglyceride can be presented below:…

    • 5436 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sc121 Unit 2 Assignment

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Therefore, the plasma membrane is said to be selectively permeable. So, this is where Cholesterol comes in. What is Cholesterol? Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance made in the liver and other cells. It’s also found in certain foods, such as dairy products, eggs, and meat. There are two different types of Cholesterol. There is LDL and…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lab Stuff

    • 2229 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Fats are stored in the body in fat deposits, which serve as stored energy for the organism. Fat deposits under the skin can also provide insulation for an animal, while fat surrounding vital organs provides protection and cushion for the organs. Although fats, carbohydrates, and proteins all serve as energy sources, digesting fat macromolecules releases much more energy than an equal amount of the others. One gram of fat can provide about 38 kilojoules of energy, compared to around 17 kilojoules of energy from one gram of carbohydrate or protein.Steroids are another category of lipids. The macromolecules in this category all share a similar structure of four linked rings of carbon atoms.…

    • 2229 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cholesterol molecules are found in the non-polar lipid layer of the cell membrane. These cholesterol molecules make the membrane impermeable to some water soluble molecules and also help to keep the membrane flexible within a wide range of temperatures.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    SC121 Unit 2 Assignment 1

    • 545 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What are the benefits of Omega-3 and Omega 6 fatty acids? o Are lipids able to cross the plasma membrane on their own? If not, how do they cross the membrane?…

    • 545 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lipids are organic compounds which consist of hydrogen oxygen and carbon. When fatty acids are combined together, they form lipids. The energy storage lipids, tri-glycerides, are formed when three fatty acids and bonded together with a molecule of glycerol. The energy for this process is usually undertaken by the body, which will bond together fatty acids and glycerol in order to make tri-glycerides for energy storage in the form of fat.…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hdl and Ldl

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages

    HDL means high density lipoproteins, Lipoproteins are a combination of lipid and proteins. They are very essential for the body to restore tissues and cell membranes. High density lipoproteins move very easily throughout the blood, they do not get stuck in it. HDLs are produced by the combination of unsaturated fats, cholesterol and protein. These tend to carry cholesterol from the tissues to the liver to be broken down.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lipids release large amounts of energy when broken down. 12.. You look at the label on a container of shortening and see “hydrogenated vegetable oil.” This means that during processing the number of carbon–carbon double bonds in the oil was decreased. What is the result of decreasing the number of double bonds? a. The oil now has a lower melting point. b. The oil is now a solid at room temperature. c. There are more “kinks” in the fatty acid chains. d. The oil is now a derivative carbohydrate. e. The fatty acid is now a triglyceride. 13. The portion of a phospholipid that contains the phosphorous group has one or more electric charges. That makes this region of the molecule a. hydrophobic. b. hydrophilic. c. nonpolar. d. unsaturated. e. saturated. 14. Molecule X is soluble in ether, an organic solvent, but it is not very soluble in water. Based on this information, what class of biological macromolecules does molecule X belong to? a. Nucleic acids b. Carbohydrates c. Proteins d. Enzymes e. Lipids 15. In a biological membrane, the phospholipids are arranged with the fatty acid chains facing the interior of the membrane. As a result, the interior of the membrane is: a. hydrophobic. b. hydrophilic. c. charged. d. polar. e. filled with water. 16. The monomers that make up polymeric carbohydrates like starch are called: a. nucleotides. b. trisaccharides. c. monosaccharides. d. nucleosides. e. fatty…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lipids (also known as fats) are nonpolar, insoluble molecules gained within the body trough digestion of food. Triglycerides, a type of lipid that serve as storage units for energy have 3 fatty acid chain tails made up of carboxylic acid and a fatty carbon chain attached to a glycerol backbone. These molecules can be saturated or unsaturated contingent on the bond types and hydrogen number in the molecule. Anytime a fatty acid is removed from a glyceride molecule, dehydration synthesis occurs and a water molecule is taken away. This helps to break the bonds, also called esterase linkages, within the molecule. These bonds house the energy within the triglyceride. After…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lipids are a macromolecule that has two functions: to protect and warm the body and to store energy. Lipids protect the body by keeping a layer of fat…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Skinny Fat Cells

    • 200 Words
    • 1 Page

    In the article, "Can Skinny Fat Beat Obesity", discusses a type of adipose tissue, called beige fat cells, that can help solve prevention in obesity, and beige fat as an evolutionary conserved mechanism for adaptive thermogenesis. In this situation, I believe there are many ways a person can be involve with obesity and it can also be involve with being skinny. There is one way or another, a person can have obesity if they are not eating or taking care of their body right. In the text, it explains in a deeper condition of being lipids, it explained about lipids being in a diverse group of different chemical compounds. They share one main characteristic and that is that they do not dissolve in water. And explained fatty…

    • 200 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    [36] Kates, M. (1972). Techniques of Lipidology: Isolation, Analysis and Identification of Lipids. Pp. 385–…

    • 10016 Words
    • 41 Pages
    Better Essays