Tag: different nutrients in food

Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that humans and other animals must ingest because the body requires them for good health but cannot synthesize them. Two essential fatty acids, linolenic and linoleic acid, cannot be synthesized in the body and must be obtained from food. These basic fats, found in plant foods, are used to build specialized fats called omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

Fatty acids are long, straight chain carboxylic acids. A fat molecule is formed when three fatty acids molecules combine with one glycerol molecule to yield a triglyceride (another name for fat) along with three water molecules. Fats are not easily digested and are transported and stored as triglycerides.

Dioscorea spp, commonly known as Yams belong to family Dioscoreaceae. The true Yams, belonging to the genus Dioscorea are grown throughout the wetter tropics for their stem tubers. They are important sources of food for millions of people in the tropics, especially in the south western Nigeria where they are a staple food. Dioscorea is a large genus with about 600 tropical or subtropical species. Yams constitute a cheap source of carbohydrate foods and are nutritionally better than cassava because of a higher proportion of proteins. They also contain more of vitamin C.
In recent years, wild species have been much used for the extraction of steroidal sapogenins which can be converted into cortisone, into the testosterone (male hormone) and the oestrogens as well as progesterones (female hormones). Three wild species particularly D. composita, D floribunda, D. mexicana have been used as a source material for the manufacture of oral contraceptives. In this way this genus has contributed significantly towards controlling the world population.

Gaucher disease is a rare genetic disorder characterized by the deposition of glucocerebroside in cells of the macrophage-monocyte system. The disorder results from the deficiency of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase.

The term Lipid was coined by Bloor.

Carbohydrates which includes  sugars and starches, contain 4 calories per gram, and are considered one of the main sources of energy for the human body. Fats on the other hand give 9 calories per gram,which is approximately 2.5 times more energy than carbohydrates. Moreover, fats contain more carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds than carbohydrates or proteins and are therefore richer in energy. 

Meats, dairy products, seeds, nuts and oils contain dietary fat which needs to be broken down to be absorbed by the system. While the bile contains bile salts that emulsifies and pancreatic lipase acts to break lipids, to be absorbed in the blood stream this goes through further breakdown process in the small intestine where lacteals found in the villi of the intestinal wall help the lipids to pass through the  lymphatic system.

Lipids are fat-like molecule that cannot dissolve in water. When these reach the small intestine, the enzymes present there responsible for fat digestion acts on it. The pancreatic lipase breaks lipids down, resulting in free fatty acids and monoglycerides. Further, these are resynthesized into triglycerides which enter the lymphatic capillaries and lacteals present as the finger-like projections of the villi these acts on the lipids so as to be absorbed before they enter the bloodstream.