Full Answer
Fatty acids are the building blocks of the fat in our bodies and in the food we eat.
They have important biological functions, structural and functional roles, and stored as triglycerides in an organism, are an important source of energy.
The two types of polyunsaturated fats are omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids which refers to the distance between the beginning of the carbon chain and the first double bond. Examples of Omega-3 fatty acids are found in foods from plants like soybean oil, canola oil, walnuts, and flaxseed. Examples of Omega-6 fatty acids are found in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds. Omega 6 fats, when over consumed can be inflammatory to the body so having a balanced ratio between both and avoiding overconsumption of Omega 6 Fatty Acids is optimal.
monounsaturated fats are simply fat molecules have a single carbon-to-carbon double bond, meaning two fewer hydrogen atoms than saturated fat and a bend at the double bond. Oils that contain monounsaturated fats are typically liquid at room temperature. Examples include: olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, safflower oil and sesame oil.
Fatty acids have many important functions in the body, stored as triglycerides in an organism, are an important source of energy . If glucose isn’t readily available for energy, the body then uses fatty acids to fuel the cells instead.
Fatty acid molecules are then connected together in groups of three, forming a molecule known as Triglycerides . Triglycerides are a type of fat that are the most common type of fat found in your body. They come from foods, such as butters and oils but and also from other fats you eat.
If we recall from our earlier Cell Membrane blogs, cell membranes are primarily composed of lipids, specifically phospholipids and a few cholesterol molecules. Phospholipids are the lipids which have phosphate in their molecular structure. It is an important component of cell membrane. It is made up of two hydrophobic fatty acid tails and a hydrophilic head consisting of a phosphate group. The two constituents are joined by a glycerol molecule. Phospholipids are what support the cell membranes unique structure due to their hydrophobic (non-polar) tails and hydrophilic heads (polar). This means that heads of the molecules face outward and are attracted to water whereas the tails face inside away from the water allowing them to arrange themselves in a sphere form in aqueous solutions.