Triglycerides

What are triglycerides?

Triglycerides or triacylglycerols are fats composed of glycerol and 3 fatty acids. They are the most common lipids in the human diet.

Triglycerides Digestion

In the small intestine, triglycerides are broken down by the enzyme pancreatic lipase into glycerol and fatty acids, which are then absorbed into the intestinal cells with the help of bile acids.

Triglycerides in the Human Body

Triglycerides in the fat stores in the abdomen and under the skin provide mechanical and thermal insulation to the body. During fasting for more than a day, a low-carbohydrate diet or heavy exercise, stored triglycerides can be, depending on the body needs, broken down to provide energy (about 9 Calories per gram) or converted to glucose or amino acids.

Medium- and Long-Chain Triglycerides (MLCT)

Medium- and long-chain triglycerides (MLCT) are artificially produced triglycerides, also called structured triglycerides; they have both medium and long-chain fatty aids attached to one glycerol molecule. In Japan, MLCT oil has been approved as a “Food for Specified Health Use” (FOSHU), since it is considered safe and supposedly suppresses the accumulation of the body fat ^[1,2], but more studies are warranted.

Transport of Triglycerides in the Blood

In the blood, triglycerides are transported by lipoproteins (compounds of lipids and proteins). Low and Very Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL and VLDL) contain high amount of triglycerides and High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) contain low amount of triglycerides.