General information about fatty acids
The excess of dietary carbohydrates (those which are not required for energy production and glycogen synthesis) is converted to fatty acids in the liver during the fed state; they organise into carbon chains — the so-called fatty acid chains.
Fatty acid chains are composed of 2C atoms containing Acetyl-CoA molecules.
We can divide fatty acids based on the number of the double bonds they have:
- Saturated fatty acids (no double bonds, considered as not that healthy)
- Unsaturated fatty acids (have double bonds, considered as healthy)
Saturated fatty acids
Saturated fatty acids are the simplest ones — in which all the fatty acid chains have single bonds.
Several foods contain a significant proportion of saturated fatty acids; for example animal products such as cream, cheese, butter, milk dairy products and fatty meats.
There are also vegetable products with high saturated fat content, such as coconut and palm oil (Table 1).
| Name | C atom number | FOOD which contains |
| BUTYRIC ACID | 4 | BUTTER |
| LAURIC ACID | 12 | COCONUT OIL, PALM OIL, BREAST MILK |
| MYRISTIC ACID | 14 | COW'S MILK & DIARY PRODUCTS |
| PALMITIC ACID | 16 | PALM OIL AND MEAT |
| STEARIC ACID | 18 | MEAT AND COCOA BUTTER |