Trans Fats

When it comes to lipids, there can be many misconceptions on what is true and what is false about them. For instance, before reading this chapter I thought saturated fats and trans fats were essentially the same thing. I thought trans fats were just another form of saturated fats. All I remember being taught about these two fats were that they were bad for you and you should never eat them. After reading the section on lipids, I know they are not the same thing at all. According to the reading, the chemical structure of saturated fatty acids is a chain of carbons in a single chain while in trans fatty acids the hydrogens on the carbons and on opposite sides of the chains and create a double bond (Smith & Collene, 2016). Most saturated

Now that I know that saturated fats and trans fats are not the same thing, I was curious to learn more about how trans fats are made and why they are used. There are some naturally occurring trans fats, so not all trans fats are man-made. According to the American Heart Association artificially trans fats are made by a process where hydrogen is added to an oil, mainly vegetable oil, and the process makes the fat from a liquid to a solid (2015). The purpose of these trans fats is that they are inexpensive to make, they last a long time, and they help give food the taste and texture that we like (American Heart Association, 2015). I believe I have learned some very useful information. I will use this information to help me read a food label more correctly when I go to eat something. This information will help me also better understand what I am putting in my body if I were to see these two fats on a food label, and why I really should not be eating trans

I thought that one should avoid fat at all cost. When I read the chapter I learned about these amazing things called essential fatty acids. These you need to eat in order to maintain a healthy diet. There are two main types of essential fatty acids: omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. According to the reading, omega-3 fatty acid, known as eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA), has 20 carbons and 5 carbon double bonds and is found in fatty fish (Smith & Collene, 2016). Also in the reading, omega-6 fatty acid, known as docosahexaenoic acid(DHA), has 22 carbons and 6 double bonds and is also found in fatty fish (Smith & Collene, 2016). The reading also talks about some important uses for these fatty acids like both are important for brain function and the nervous system, and omega-3 is very important for vision, concentration, and used as an anti-inflammatory, and omega-6 is important for fetal nervous system and brain development during pregnancy (Smith & Collene, 2016). After reading about these two essential fatty acids, I was interested in finding out additional information about the benefits and important uses that these two provide. An article in Advances in Nutrition: An International Review Journal, talks about how both omega-3 and omega-6 have been both linked to fetal development, improved cardiovascular function, and improved cognitive functioning in people