Richard Crooks's Website
About Lipids
Lipids are another major class of biological macromolecule. Unlike carbohydrates, most proteins, and nucleic acids which are hydrophilic which means they are readily soluble in water. Lipids are hydrophobic, which means they repel water. This can be seen if you make salad dressing, which is usually oil (a lipid) and vinegar (which is mostly water) and see that they separate.
Lipids have important roles in biochemistry due to this hydrophobic property. There are two main types of lipid: triglycerides and steroids.
Triglycerides are the most widespread of lipids.
Steroids are another type of lipid which have an unusual ring structure which forms hormones, and cholesterol.
Phospholipids are a special type of lipid structure which also have a phosphate group attached to them.
Different types of fat are talked about in diets, what do these terms mean chemically?
Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are always talked about as healthy fats. What are these?
Trans fats are well known as bad fats, but what are trans fats?