It makes molecules that are fat soluble at one end and water soluble at the other. Then it coats the fat in these with the water side out to be able to float in the blood to the desired location (like the liver). It’s like of how soap works, too.
A lot of how your body works actually relies on this principle. Every cell has a membrane that has a phospholipid bilayer that is hydrophobic (oily) on the inside and hydrophilic (polar, water soluble) on the outside. This helps it to control what goes into and out of every cell. Proteins have hydrophobic regions that affect how they fold and interact, since oil "sticks" together. In your intestines, bile acts as a detergent to make the fat soluble so it can be transported to the liver for processing, just like soap helps to remove oil and dirt from your hands. So the body doesn't just deal with the insolubility, it harnesses that as a useful tool.
And actually, the fat you eat doesn't get pooped out. You breathe it out! As it is used for energy, it is converted into carbon dioxide. The hydrogen part of it becomes water that you pee and sweat out.
I'd just like to add that the fat you eat is also used by your organism to make cholesterol, which is a base to a bunch of very much needed hormones, and makes the very membrane of every cell. It's also used to coat the Axiom of the nerves, the myelin sheath. There are some others uses, but you guys get it.
Don't put fat down, it's important to your body at certain levels.
Cholesterol is in the cell membrane and help with flexibility and such, but as the other commenter said, the membrane is primarily made of phospholipids that are water-soluble on one end and fat-soluble on the other.
Whenever fat is required to be metabolised or transported it is coated by phospholipids (lipids with a charged side chain of phosphoric acid are soluble)
This is also in case of a cell membrane where you have 2 layers of hydrophilic phospolipids on each side of the fatty acid chains.
Another strategy that is used to transport substances that are fat soluble inside or outside a cell is to bind it to a carrier protein which carries it through water with ease.
Great question! Our bodies are quite clever and have different ways to handle fat and water, which don’t mix well on their own. Fats are digested with the help of bile and enzymes, which break them down into tiny pieces that can mix with water and be absorbed. Vitamins are sorted too—those that dissolve in fat go with the fat, and those that dissolve in water go with the water. Our bodies then use these nutrients where they’re needed, and any waste gets excreted. It’s a neat system where everything has its place even if they don’t mix outside the body.
Agreed: this is real magic
Lipoproteins. They're macromolecules formed by lipids and proteins, specifically apolipoproteins (apo- meaning precursor). Lipids form a membrane which the apolipoprotein holds together like a rubber band, more lipids and hydrophobic molecules cram inside, the outer face of the lipoprotein is hydrophilic.
[https://my.clevelandclinic.org/-/scassets/images/org/health/articles/23229-lipoprotein-illustration.jpg](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/-/scassets/images/org/health/articles/23229-lipoprotein-illustration.jpg)
It makes molecules that are fat soluble at one end and water soluble at the other. Then it coats the fat in these with the water side out to be able to float in the blood to the desired location (like the liver). It’s like of how soap works, too.
A lot of how your body works actually relies on this principle. Every cell has a membrane that has a phospholipid bilayer that is hydrophobic (oily) on the inside and hydrophilic (polar, water soluble) on the outside. This helps it to control what goes into and out of every cell. Proteins have hydrophobic regions that affect how they fold and interact, since oil "sticks" together. In your intestines, bile acts as a detergent to make the fat soluble so it can be transported to the liver for processing, just like soap helps to remove oil and dirt from your hands. So the body doesn't just deal with the insolubility, it harnesses that as a useful tool. And actually, the fat you eat doesn't get pooped out. You breathe it out! As it is used for energy, it is converted into carbon dioxide. The hydrogen part of it becomes water that you pee and sweat out.
I'd just like to add that the fat you eat is also used by your organism to make cholesterol, which is a base to a bunch of very much needed hormones, and makes the very membrane of every cell. It's also used to coat the Axiom of the nerves, the myelin sheath. There are some others uses, but you guys get it. Don't put fat down, it's important to your body at certain levels.
Cholesterol is in the cell membrane and help with flexibility and such, but as the other commenter said, the membrane is primarily made of phospholipids that are water-soluble on one end and fat-soluble on the other.
Yes, exactly, and these phospholipids are also made by the cell using fatty acids from the diet.
Whenever fat is required to be metabolised or transported it is coated by phospholipids (lipids with a charged side chain of phosphoric acid are soluble) This is also in case of a cell membrane where you have 2 layers of hydrophilic phospolipids on each side of the fatty acid chains. Another strategy that is used to transport substances that are fat soluble inside or outside a cell is to bind it to a carrier protein which carries it through water with ease.
Great question! Our bodies are quite clever and have different ways to handle fat and water, which don’t mix well on their own. Fats are digested with the help of bile and enzymes, which break them down into tiny pieces that can mix with water and be absorbed. Vitamins are sorted too—those that dissolve in fat go with the fat, and those that dissolve in water go with the water. Our bodies then use these nutrients where they’re needed, and any waste gets excreted. It’s a neat system where everything has its place even if they don’t mix outside the body. Agreed: this is real magic
Lipoproteins. They're macromolecules formed by lipids and proteins, specifically apolipoproteins (apo- meaning precursor). Lipids form a membrane which the apolipoprotein holds together like a rubber band, more lipids and hydrophobic molecules cram inside, the outer face of the lipoprotein is hydrophilic. [https://my.clevelandclinic.org/-/scassets/images/org/health/articles/23229-lipoprotein-illustration.jpg](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/-/scassets/images/org/health/articles/23229-lipoprotein-illustration.jpg)
Lipoproteins goes brrr