For the Love of LIPIDS

We love lipids - because fats carry flavor! But what are lipids and are they all the same? What about saturated vs. unsaturated fatty acids - just WHAT are they saturated (or unsaturated) with? Which fats are the most healthy and which should we try to avoid? We do need some fats right? But how much? And... dare I say it... what about those evil TRANS FATS??? Where do they come from? What ARE they? Do they come from space? Watch and find out.

Links to videos I reference:

Want more?

[Penguinprof]

Thanks so much for your comment... I actually did apply to the YouTube EDU Guru program! Maybe next year. I love teaching and making these videos but I'm not so good at marketing! Still, I'm pleased with the slow, steady growth of the channel - it's all word of mouth, so please SPREAD THE WORD! And THANKS!

[katehamilton]

The Prof is a genius! Thanks for finally making this clear, I’m 51 years old

[Penguinprof]

Alkenes (unsaturated hydrocarbons) react more readily with electrophiles than alkanes (saturated hydrocarbons), which are essentially unreactive. The case of free radicals is special because they can react with alkenes by addition to double bonds (the "positions left to bond" that you mention), but they also readily react with alkanes by H- abstraction. Basically, free radicals react with just about anything they find; the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats is probably small.

[george]

OMG. I am middle aged and have struggled with the concepts of saturated/unsaturated etc for ever! (Even after researching health/diet oriented websites.) This is the first explanation I've seen that makes everything crystal clear. Thank you so much.

[camryn]

Your videos are AWESOME! I took a gap year and am returning to school for biochem. You're refreshing my memory :) Love your love for penguins too

[pandakabob]

I love you Penguin Prof! Youre helping me through med school! Ill be sure to thank you when I finish too! :3

[sethvesga]

Great, just great video, I just started Med School and this is the review I needed for the class I missed, thank you so much.

[lewnpapadopoulos]

Yeah! First! Why does this channel has so few subscribers and why does this video has so few views? It's amazing and amazingly simple! It should have been among the next Youtube EDU Gurus! Great video! Keep up the good work!

[Machek]

I am 11 and I . went from being stuck on the P.T.o.t.E to learning about Polar Covalent Atomic Bonding, thanks to you! I know more about chemistry than my teachers

[weredoughz]

Came here for Homer, left with TONS of knowledge.

[Muuip]

Great presentation!
Great info!
Clear and pleasant voice.
Thanks for uploading.

[REIQ]

Awesome work, thank you for the education!

[androiddevteamyeo]

Thank you from Korea!
Your videos are extremely helpful!
Please continue making biology videos.

[katiewoodfield]

Penguin Prof you are awesome but...please update your information re: dietary fat.  Although there are many studies over the past 15 years disproving the connection between dietary fat and cardiovascular disease, you may find the most recent (Sep 2014) year-long NIH study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Bazzano et al) interesting (scroll down for abstract).  Or check out the research done by Phinney & Volek. 

High carb diets are killing people and causing unnecessary morbidity.  Low fat diets often (about 65% of the time) lead to carbohydrate intolerance.  People soon become diabetic & suffer from inflammatory diseases.  Americans are going blind, losing limbs, developing arthritis and heightening occlusion of cardiac arteries from lipid-phobia.  High fat diets are safer and offer more satiety than high carb. Even the ADA is on board now with high fat low carb (HFLC) diets.

I realize that this info may seem like the world is upside down, but check it out on your own and you'll see.  I think of it like finding out that Columbus did not actually "discover" America.  The facts speak for themselves.  Best, a Penguin Prof die-hard

Effects of low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets: a randomized trial.
Bazzano LA, Hu T, Reynolds K, Yao L, Bunol C, Liu Y, Chen CS, Klag MJ, Whelton PK, He J.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Low-carbohydrate diets are popular for weight loss, but their cardiovascular effects have not been well-studied, particularly in diverse populations.
OBJECTIVE:
To examine the effects of a low-carbohydrate diet compared with a low-fat diet on body weight and cardiovascular risk factors.
DESIGN:
A randomized, parallel-group trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00609271).
SETTING:
A large academic medical center.
PARTICIPANTS:
148 men and women without clinical cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
INTERVENTION:
A low-carbohydrate (<40 g/d) or low-fat (<30% of daily energy intake from total fat [<7% saturated fat]) diet. Both groups received dietary counseling at regular intervals throughout the trial.
MEASUREMENTS:
Data on weight, cardiovascular risk factors, and dietary composition were collected at 0, 3, 6, and 12 months.
RESULTS:
Sixty participants (82%) in the low-fat group and 59 (79%) in the low-carbohydrate group completed the intervention. At 12 months, participants on the low-carbohydrate diet had greater decreases in weight (mean difference in change, -3.5 kg [95% CI, -5.6 to -1.4 kg]; P = 0.002), fat mass (mean difference in change, -1.5% [CI, -2.6% to -0.4%]; P = 0.011), ratio of total-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (mean difference in change, -0.44 [CI, -0.71 to -0.16]; P = 0.002), and triglyceride level (mean difference in change, -0.16 mmol/L [-14.1 mg/dL] [CI, -0.31 to -0.01 mmol/L {-27.4 to -0.8 mg/dL}]; P = 0.038) and greater increases in HDL cholesterol level (mean difference in change, 0.18 mmol/L [7.0 mg/dL] [CI, 0.08 to 0.28 mmol/L {3.0 to 11.0 mg/dL}]; P < 0.001) than those on the low-fat diet.

[paulinarenteria]

You are very self explanatory! Thank you so much for your helpful videos!

[SquatFull]

You may need to update your comments on heart disease and saturated fats.

[aphelelelmngini]

She is a genius, nice video, keep them coming

[assitank]

Loving this whole series! Thank you so much!!

[IndicaDreaming]

Would if be true to say that saturated fats are more open to attack from free-radicals because they have positions left to bond where as saturated fats do not?

[OrtenciaP]

love it!!! you are sosoososo good at teaching :) amazing job!