Question

Why are unsaturated fats preferable to saturated fats for an individual whose caloric intake must be limited?

Answer 1

Saturated fatty acids lack double bonds between the individual carbon atoms, while in unsaturated fatty acids there is at least one double bond in the fatty acid chain. overabundance of saturated fats is thought to promote bad cholesterol. Saturated fats are difficult to digest; unsaturated fats are relatively easy to digest.

Interms of caloric intake limit, let us consider ΔHrxn (Energy released on Comustion)

The degree of saturation of the fatty acid governs the quantity of energy contained within. The presence of double bonds in unsaturated fat lowers the energy of the molecule, with respect to a saturated fat which has only single bonds. The reasoning is simple: the bond energy of a single bond is approximately 3.5 eV and that of a double bond is 6.4 eV. Therefore, the breakdown of two single bonds releases more energy than one double bond (7eV versus 6.4 eV). This confirms that a saturated fat has more energy than an unsaturated.

This is the reason why are unsaturated fats preferable to saturated fats for an individual whose calorific intake must be limited.

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