SELF REFLECTION ON LIPID

NUR AFIQAH FITRI BINTI MOHAMAD (70849)

I have learned that lipids are important because it protects our organs by acting as cushion. Lipids also act as long term energy storage for our body and thermal insulators to maintain our body temperature. Besides that, they also serve as source of fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). Though there are significances, we should monitor our consumption of fat containing food products. There are three classifications of fat which are saturated fats, trans fats and unsaturated fats. First, saturated fats are derived largely from animal products like dairy and eggs. Second, trans fats are used to extend the expiry limit of processed foods. Lastly, unsaturated fats are derived from vegetables and plants like olives and nuts, high omega food like salmon.

NUR FATANAH BINTI PINI (70935)

Based on my understanding, lipid is another name for fat. It is a molecule containing hydrocarbons and constituting the building block of living cells' structure and function. The lipid can also be defined chemically as an insoluble substance in water but soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloroform. This contains the hydrocarbon side chain that serves as energy stores, forms a bilayer which is an essential component of biological membranes and functions as intracellular and intercellular signaling molecules. A fat molecule consists of two kinds of parts, a glycerol backbone, and three fatty acid tails. Glycerol is a small organic molecule with three hydroxyls (OH) groups, while a fatty acid consists of a long hydrocarbon chain attached to a carboxyl group.

Fat is divided into two that are saturated fat and unsaturated fat. Saturated fat is unhealthy fat while saturated fat is healthy fat. Too much intake of saturated fat will increase LDL-cholesterol (bad cholesterol) which can cause coronary heart disease. Saturated fats do not have a double bond between the molecules therefore there is no gap and the fat is saturated with hydrogen molecules. If we replaced the intake of saturated fat with unsaturated fats, it will help lower cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is a natural substance that made up by our body. The cholesterol is mostly located in our bloodstream (75%) which is produced by the liver while the remaining cholesterol (25%) comes from the food that we eat. Unsaturated fat has a double bond so it has a gap and it is broken up the chain of hydrogen molecules. Examples of food for saturated fats are dairy products such as milk, cheese, and meat, butter margarine and shortening. For unsaturated food, it can be classified into two which is monosaturated and trans fat. The example of monosaturated is olive, peanut, canola and other vegetable oils. Trans fats undergo a process called hydrogenation that causes the food to harden more such as potato chips and cookies.We usually assume that the fat will bring us many bad impacts, but it actually gives us many benefits if we consume it in the correct amount.