Oils and fats on food: is it possible to have a healthy diet?

Abstract

Oils and fats are an important part of our diet as components of many food formulations. Thus, they are retailed for domestic or hostelry uses and broadly used by food industry for the elaboration of margarines, ice cream, canned food, pre-cooked dishes, bakery, confectionary, chocolates, etc. Chemically, the main component of oils and fats are triacylglycerols (TAGs), which account for up to 95% of their total weight. They consisted of a molecule of glycerol esterified with three fatty acids, usually the saturated, palmitic and stearic, the monounsatu�rated oleic, and the polyunsaturated, linoleic or linolenic, all with 18 carbons excepting the palmitic which has 16 carbons. Out of those most common fatty acids, we can found other fatty acids present only in certain oils such as saturated medium chained fatty acids like lauric and myristic, which contain 12 and 14 carbons respectively.