Tyler, Lipids

Most people can say they know someone with either heart disease or struggling with cholesterol. Cholesterol is a lipid that is vital to parts of cell membranes and certain hormones. Lipids are insoluble in water due to its fatty material but must be transported to their desired destination through the bloodstream. To make this process possible the lipids are covered in a coat of water-soluble lipoproteins that make the lipid temporarily soluble. What makes the lipid soluble and able to travel through the bloodstream are hydrophilic side groups of proteins.

When the lipids and proteins mix their densities can vary into two different groups. The Low-Density Lipoproteins or LDL’s are considered to be the least healthy and this is because if there is too much of it, it causes fatty deposits called plaques in the walls of blood vessels. On the lighter side, High-Density Lipoproteins or HDL’s are rich in protein and low in cholesterol unlike its counterpart. HDL’s are known as good cholesterol due to the fact that they travel through the vessels, collecting unneeded cholesterol and sending it back to the liver.

To help determine what kind of cholesterol is in what foods you can check to see what type of fat is in your foodstuff. If a food item is high in saturated fat then you are increasing both you high and low-density lipoproteins thus making it unhealthy. On the other hand, food with unsaturated cholesterol only increases your high-density lipoproteins which helps clean your blood vessels. The worst type of fat is trans-fatty acid, which increases your LDL levels and actually decreases your HDL level.

Hydrophobic- physical property of a molecule

This was another very insightful article that I will be able to apply to my final presentation. I was looking for more information on the subject of lipids and cholesterol so this chapter has come in handy. In addition, I can even use this information to improve my own diet.

Baird, Colin. Chemistry in Your Life. New York: H.W. Freeman and Company, 2006 pgs. 363-635