Nutrition: Fats & Lipids

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the chemical structure, classification, dietary functions, physiological roles, and nutritional guidelines of fats and lipids based on the HOSA Canada Nutrition lecture.

Lipids

The chemical name for fats, which are organic compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

Glycerides

The structural form of the majority of dietary fats, composed of fatty acids attached to a glycerol base.

Triglyceride

The chemical name for most natural fats, characterized by three fatty acids attached to a glycerol base.

Satiety

A feeling of fullness and satisfaction after a meal, promoted by the slower rate of digestion of dietary fats.

Saturated Fatty Acids

Fatty acids in which each carbon is filled with hydrogen; they are heavy, dense, solid at room temperature, and mostly of animal origin.

Unsaturated Fatty Acids

Fatty acids that are less heavy and less dense than saturated fats, remaining liquid at room temperature.

Essential Nutrient

A nutrient whose absence creates a specific deficiency disease, or one that the body cannot manufacture in sufficient amounts and must obtain from the diet.

Lipoproteins

The major transport vehicles for lipids in the bloodstream, composed of triglycerides, protein (apoprotein), phospholipids, cholesterol, and other fat-soluble substances.

Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL)

Lipoproteins responsible for carrying fat and cholesterol directly to cells.

High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL)

Lipoproteins that carry free cholesterol from body tissues to the liver for breakdown and excretion.

Phospholipids

Amphiphilic triglyceride derivatives in which one fatty acid has been replaced with a phosphate group, making them partially hydrophobic and partially hydrophilic.

Lecithin

A key lipid substance produced by the liver consisting of glycolipids, triglycerides, and phospholipids; it serves as a membrane building block and aids in fat and cholesterol transport.

Eicosanoids

Signaling hormones that regulate bodily functions such as immunity and inflammatory responses, and act as messengers for the central nervous system (CNS).

Sterols

An amphipathic subgroup of steroids that regulates membrane fluidity and cellular signaling, consisting of plant-derived phytosterols and animal-derived zoosterols.

Cholesterol

The most important zoosterol, which adds fluidity to cell membranes and is vital for hormone production and human metabolism.

Adipose Tissue

Fat stored in the body that pads and protects vital organs, insulates against temperature changes, and makes up the myelin sheaths of neurons.

Visible Fats

Fats that are obvious and easy to see—and thus easier to control in the diet—such as butter, margarine, salad oils, dressings, lard, and visible meat fats.

Invisible Fats

Dietary fats that cannot be cut out of food and are harder to control, found in items such as cheese, the cream portion of homogenized milk, nuts, seeds, olives, avocados, and lean meat.

Atherosclerosis

An underlying blood-vessel disease linked to all lipoproteins, specifically associated with an excess intake of cholesterol and saturated fat from animal sources.

Trans-Fatty Acids

Fats that elevate total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels while lowering HDL cholesterol levels.

Dietary Reference Intake: Saturated Fatty Acids

The recommendation to consume less than $10\%$ of total daily calories from saturated fatty acids by replacing them with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Dietary Reference Intake: Cholesterol

The recommendation to limit dietary cholesterol intake to less than $300\,\text{mg/day}$.