Mobile formatting disclaimer
A chapter in my bio textbook talks about cis fats and trans fats but doesn’t explain why trans fats are bad for the body. You never see labels on food wrappers about how many cis fats a food has, only the trans fats. I know how they’re different structurally, trans fats just have hydrogen atoms on different sides and cis fats have them on the same side. How does the positioning of a hydrogen atom make a food bad for you?
In: 1
So, like a lot of things in science, we know the “why” but not really the “how.”
Scientific studies have shown that diets high in trans fats are high in LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and low in HDL (“good” cholesterol). This combination is a double threat for heart health. *How* this happens is something we really don’t know at this point.
Trans fats are unhealthy because they are not fats that your body is able to synthesize or break down at all. Your body can only metabolize fats with a cis configuration, the enzymes which interact with fats won’t recognize a trans double bond
[removed]
geometric configuration directly affects chemical interaction. think of it like a 3d puzzle that not only does the shape need to fit in some way but colors match as well(electron bounds(atomic balancing of electrons vs protons+neutrons) of elements making up the molecule. this is wildly over simplified…
Latest Answers