Digestion of Fat, Board Presentation from February 24th
The following images are from the Blackboard from class on February 24th:
Some Interesting Lipids
The Wonderful World of Lipids
The figure below explains why free fatty acids cannot build up to a high concentration in blood. Free fatty acids resemble detergents and therefore they can disrupt membranes of cells if they increase in blood. In fact, this is what happens in Type 2 diabetes.
In addition to triglycerides and phospholipids, there are other important structural lipids such as waxes. Below are two important examples of waxes that each have the common fatty acid, palmitic acid, as a component. First is the main wax from spermaceti, which for several hundred years was the preferred oil for lamps, and therefore, spurred the expansion of whaling industry. The second wax is triacontanyl palmitate, the main wax in beeswax. Note the very long 30-carbon chain that gives beeswax it solid like nature.
Class and Exam on Tuesday, February 17, Cancelled Due to Snow
The exam and the class scheduled for today has been cancelled and moved to Friday, February 20, 2015 due to snow. See you Friday!
Questions from Students concerning the Exam
I’ve had quite a few questions over the past few days. I will answer those questions in this post.
1. What numbers do I need to know for the exam?
Answer: I do not mind answering this question although I think I have mentioned the important ones several times in class. You have to know the Atwater numbers for carbohydrates, fat, and protein. Another number that would be good to know is the approximate amount of glucose that can be stored as glycogen in the muscle and liver. It would be a good idea to know what is the breakdown of energy in the diet contributed by the macronutrients in the average American diet. You also have to know some other percents–but in most cases I think you will be able to figure these out. You do not need to know numbers for the glycemic index of particular foods. You do have to know what a high glycemic index tells us about a food or a process.
2. The following question was asked by several students–How did finding out the mechanism of glucose uptake into the enterocyte, which involves co-transport of glucose and sodium into the cell and that sodium was absolutely required for uptake of glucose, save the lives a millions of children from severe diarrhea?
Answer: Good question. This was told to me by a physician (who is quite old now) who used to travel in developing countries to treat children. He said that early on when children had severe diarrhea they had very little to help the child and many children died because of the dehydration and lack of energy caused by the diarrhea. Then when the discovery was made concerning the glucose transporter, some pediatrician tried putting sodium into water with glucose and gave it to a child and it worked! And the news traveled like wild fire among third world physicians. Before this, he said, it was unthinkable to put sodium into something the child drank. After all, who would give sodium to someone dying of thirst in the dessert? Because of this discovery, Ross laboratories developed Pediacare, which is a commercial product that contains salt and glucose and other electrolytes. Also, Gator aid was established for athletes, and this really took off too-especially due to promotion through commercials by Michael Jordan and other sports stars.
So now it is accepted that sodium helps with rapid transport of glucose and water into the enterocyte, but at one time, this was not known. This is an example where bench biochemistry influenced the health and welfare of many people!
Class on Friday, February 6, 2015
Whole wheat Lasagna made with whole wheat pasta, tofu fried in olive oil, and spinach:
Board Presentation on Tuesday, February 3, 2015
The Board Presentation on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 was an example of carbohydrate digestion and absorption after a full night’s sleep in a healthy individual who was not diabetic. The breakfast consumed, a stack of pancakes containing some 2,000 Kcal of carbohydrate, was certainly a large one but still possible. The student was well able to handle this much carbohydrate!
How to cure obesity 
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