Nutrition 120

Module 02

Lecture 01

 To get an idea of someone’s diet, you must monitor them for 17 days at least. One day
does not indicate nutrient intake and diet.
 Where do we find high fat?
1- Avocado
2- Nuts
3- Peanut butter
4- Butter, margarine, oils
5- Fries, onion rings
6- High fat yogurt, ice cream, full fat milk (3.25% milk fat, so 3.25 g of ft per 100mL).
7- Doughnuts and brownies (grain product bc they’re made with mostly white flour).
 Potatoes are high in starch, but barely any fat.
 Add 1tbsp of butter  11g of fat
 Mash them and add milk and butter  9g fat
 Hashbrowns have 23 g of fat.
 98% of all fat we eat comes as triglycerides.
 Has a glycerol backbone and 3 fatty acids.
 For fatty acids and health:
1- chain length of fatty acid
2- degree of saturation
 Short chain has 2-4 carbons.
 Medium has 6 to 10.
 Long have 12-22.
 Medium chains are important for infants because they have trouble absorbing the
longer ones.
 Majority we eat are long chain.
 Saturation means how full of hydrogen the fatty acid is.
 When fatty acids and glycerol are joined, each fatty acid loses an OH and the stems on
the glycerol lose H.
 The product is water, this is called a condensation reaction.
 All fatty acids have a methyl/omega/n-end and the other end is an acid group COOH
(which gets attached to the glycerol backbone).
 Usually, they are named starting from the acid group, but in nutrition it is the opposite.
 Methyl end is what impacts health.
 Palmitic acid  16:0. 16 carbons and zero double bonds.
 Stearic acid  18:0. Found in meat and tropical oils.
 Oleic acid (omega 9)  18:1n-9. 1n means one double bond. 9 is the first carbon double
bond. Found in olive oil.
  Linoleic acid (omega 6)  18:2n-6. Double bonds in fat will always be separated by 3
carbons. So, if my first double bond is at 6, the second is at 9. Can be found in any
vegetable oil.
 Alpha-linolenic acid (omega 3)  18:3n-3. Found in nuts and flax.
 Alpha-linolenic and linolenic acid are the only 2 essential fats in our diet.
 Omega 6 means first double bond is at 6th carbon. Its linoleic acid.
 EPA (omega 3 fish oil)  20:5n-3 important for heart health.
 DHA (omega 3 fish oil)  22:6n-3 important for brain and eyes.
 All naturally occurring fats are a combination of all many fatty acids.
 Olive oil is the best source of monounsaturated fats.
 Coconut oil is the highest source of saturated fat.
 Margarine stick and corn oil are highest sources of trans fat.
 Canola oil is the second-best omega 3 alpha linolenic acid. Flaxseed oil is the first.
 Alpha linolenic acid is usually in plant-based foods.
 Essential fatty acid deficiency causes:
1- Scaly dermatitis.
2- Excess water loss through skin.
3- Impaired growth.
 Role of fat in diet:
1- Source of calories
2- Provides essential fatty acids (18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3)
3- Carries fat-soluble vitamins.
4- Palatability (taste and feel of food).
 Role of fat in body:
1- Insulation
2- Protection of skeleton and organs.
3- Energy storage
4- Precursor for synthesis for other biomolecules. (Ex is eicosanoids which are
biological messengers and phospholipids for cell membranes).
 Phospholipids are another type of fats made of 2 fatty acids, glycerol backbone, and a
phosphate group.
 Cholesterol is a lipid that makes bile acids and steroid hormones.
 Trans fats are made by hydrogenation.
 Purposes of hydrogenation:
1- Transform an oil into a harder fat. Ex: to make it spreadable, use in baking.
2- To enhance shelf life of processed foods.
 Hydrogenation is adding heat and pressure to add hydrogen gas across double bonds to
make it hydrogen saturated.

Lecture 02
 In hydrogenation, 18:2n-6 is hydrogenated it becomes 18:0. But it is not just stearic acid.
There is a trans formation where the hydrogens at the double bond site are opposite
each other. So we also get 18:1t.
 Trans fats are a category of fatty acids.
 Because cis fatty acids have a bend in their shape, they are liquid at room temperature.
 Food sources of trans fats:
1- Hard/hydrogenated margarine
2- Shortening
 Peanut butter has a negligible amount of trans fats.
 Cookies, crackers, premixes, frozen waffles were full of trans fats.
 Trans fats are 32% from baked food and processed foods.
 Ingredient list on products have the ingredients listed based on most amount to least
amount.
 Trans fats contribute to coronary heart disease (CHS).
 Fats digestion: enzymatic breakdown of food to its smallest absorbable unit.
 Fat absorption: transfer of digested food components across absorptive surface of the
GI tract into the blood or lymph.
 Fat metabolism: various pathways that nutrients take following digestion and
absorption.
 Read difference between lymph and portal circulation. Section 3.5.
 Fat digestion only begins in the small intestine.
1- Bile acid from liver enters the small intestines and emulsifies fat.
2- Emulsifying means breaking down fat into smaller droplets.
3- Pancreas releases lipases which are fat digesting enzymes.
4- Lipases separate the glycerol backbone and the fatty acid chains.
5- Micelle forms: bile acids surround the fatty acids. Bile acids have a portion that’s water
soluble that will face out.
 Mucosal cells absorb the micelles.
1- If fatty acid is less than or equal to 12 Carbons is considered soluble enough and is
absorbed into portal vein, then to liver then directly to the blood.
2- If fatty acid is greater than or equal to 14 C it will be reformed into a triglyceride. The
triglyceride will be packed into a chylomicron. Chylomicrons are large and head to the
lymph system, then to the blood, then to the liver.
3- Bile acids are majorly reabsorbed, some go out as feces. Enterohepatic circulation is the
reabsorption of bile acid.
 Vitamins A, D, and K are fat soluble.
 Bile acids summary:
1- Bile acids are made from cholesterol, cholesterol is made in the liver.
2- Bile acids are required for emulsification of fat and formation of micelles.
3- Reabsorbed and recycled 3-5 times per meal. Only 5% is lost in feces.
 Whole oatmeal, citrus, fruit pulp, inside of legumes are full of soluble fiber.
 Cholesterol is usually absorbed into chylomicrons  into lymphs  into bloodstream 
high blood cholesterol.
 Soluble fiber binds to cholesterol and stops it from being absorbed and takes it to feces.
 Soluble fiber also binds to bile acid and takes into the feces, causes less bile acid
reabsorption.
 Liver now makes new bile acids by taking cholesterol from the blood causing low blood
cholesterol.
 Low cholesterol means lower risk of CHD.
 Metabolism:
 Lipoproteins exist in only blood and lymph. Made of cholesterol, triglycerides, proteins,
and phospholipids.
 Proteins are ID cards to dock at certain cells.
 Lipoproteins carry fat around in the body and prevent the fat from layering out.