Can someone please explain the difference between saturated fats and unsaturated fats?
“Unsaturated” simply means “containing a carbon chain that has double or triple C-C bonds in it”. “Saturated” means that each carbon has its full complement of hydrogen atoms bonded to it. “Polyunsaturated” simply means “having more than one double bond”. Because of the shape of the molecules, unsaturated fats tend to have less of the symmetry requried for long range order, so they tend to remain as liquids at body temperature, as opposed to saturated fats which tend to be (soft) solids. Because saturated fats tend not be liquids, they can plate out on the inside surface of blood vessels which can lead to increased changes of blocked arteries, heart attacks and strokes. Unsaturated fats remain as liquids so do not have this same blocking ability.
