The large quantity of fat eaten everyday in the United States and Europe usually come in the form of butter, eggs, whole milk, cream, meat, fish and poultry fats, and cheese in various combinations. Fat, at 9 calories per gram, holds over twice the amount of calories than protein or carbohydrate, which yield four calories each per gram. We will discuss further how over-consumption of fats can lead to a shortened lifespan, caused by heart attacks and strokes, obesity, and other diseases.
Fats (scientifically classified as lipids) contain the elements of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in various combinations depending on whether it is animal and vegetable fat. Examples of animal fats are butter, lard, cream, milk, eggs, and the fat in meats. Vegetable fats most commonly found are soybean oil, olive oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil and peanut oil. These types of fats can be found in nuts, coconuts, avocados, margarine and other vegetable fats used in cooking. Fats do not dissolve in water, and by nature they are odorless and tasteless. They are found in most bodily tissues, particularly in combination with other proteins, vitamins, or minerals. Some vitamins can only be absorbed through the body by fat, such as Vitamins A, D, and E.
In order for fats to be used by the body, they must first be digested and broken down into basic parts before being absorbed. They are absorbed in this way: After the food is chewed and enters the stomach, the digestive system adds a fat enzyme called lipase, to begin the digestion of the fat. Enzymes or ferments are unique chemicals made by the body to help process foods. In the digestive system they are very important for the breakdown of all foods before their nutrients can be absorbed.
How are fats digested? The fat enzyme of the stomach, lipase, starts to work on the fats consumed. However, it is a rather weak enzyme, so the rest of the digestion is continued by steapsin, the fat enzyme excreted from the pancreas, and by bile, which is made by the liver. In the bile, there are acids and salts which, together with steapsin, break the fats into the smallest molecules and particles possible. These small particles of fat can then be absorbed through the lining of the small intestine and then pass either into the liver or directly into the blood stream as chyle, a milky or creamy serum.
How fats are absorbed? When the fat particles are brought to the liver, they continue to be chemically broken down and changed before they enter the blood stream in the form of cholesterol, phospholipids, fatty acids, lecithin, and other forms of fat. Much of the fat is broken down by the liver cells into cholesterol, which is excreted into the bile and goes back again into the intestine in various chemical forms. Once in the intestine, some of the cholesterol is reabsorbed again along with other fats and some is removed from the body through the bowels. If the amount of the cholesterol in the bile becomes too high, then it filters out of the bile and forms gallstones, which can produce bouts of pain and indigestion, and may require a trip to the surgeon.
Now that the fats or lipids have entered the blood stream, they circulate and are deposited in the various bodily tissues and in the great body storehouses called fat depots. These are located in the abdomen, on the hips, the chest, around muscles, under the skin, in the liver, and elsewhere. The fats consumed in the diet are called exogenous fats. The liver and other tissues, however, manufacture equally important quantities of fats or lipids normally found in the blood stream. These are called endogenous lipids. These lipids are manufactured from proteins and carbohydrates through certain remarkable processes inherent in vital bodily tissues and glands such as the liver or the adrenal glands. Energy and vital cellular constituents for the body result from these lipids. When present to excess, their effects become devastating to humans, as shown in the chapters on overweight and atherosclerosis.
We now come to the fats circulating freely in the blood stream. Let’s see how they get into the artery walls to actually damage or destroy the artery with atherosclerosis. Extensive research in experimental animals has been able to demonstrate how these lipids can leave the bloodstream and enter the artery wall within 24 hours. The atherosclerosis produced in these animals becomes indistinguishable from the atherosclerosis seen in human arteries. However, the exact details of the mechanism whereby fats actually enter into the wall of the artery are not yet known. What is known and what is important is that there is a definite ratio or relation between the amount of fats in the blood stream and in the artery wall, and this is surprisingly predictable in most cases. Also, the relationship of the fats in the artery wall itself is very close to that in the bloodstream. This direct relationship between the two seems to be in fairly constant balance.
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