Saturated fat

"Saturated fat" means that all available carbon atoms are occupied by a hydrogen atom. You can see this in the picture on the right. The important thing to take away from this is that unlike unsaturated fats, saturated fats are highly stable, and not likely to turn into free radicals or go rancid when exposed to heat, oxygen, or light. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what you should be cooking with – yes, saturated fats, like grass-fed butter and virgin coconut oil.

Hydrogenated – The term "hydrogenated" literally means they're blasting the chemical structure of the fat with extra hydrogen to bond to the carbon atom. This makes the fat solid at room temperature, and is essentially a man-made way to "create" a saturated fat. This chemical process wreaks physiological havoc, as trans fats are essentially poisonous to the body. At the cellular level, trans fats replace saturated fat in the cell membrane, and sometimes the essential fatty acids as well. When this occurs, HDL goes down, and Lp(a) goes up, thereby increasing the risk of heart disease.

Short, Medium, and Long Chain – You should also be aware that there are short, medium, long chain, and very long chain fatty acid versions of fat. You'll hear more about the benefits of each below.

Short Chain Fatty Acids

These fats have 4 to 6 carbon atoms and they're always saturated fats. You'll find these types of fats in butterfat from cows and goats, and these fats are excellent. They're antimicrobial, and serve as great sources of energy as they're broken down quite readily. Instead of needing bile salts to emulsify them, they absorb directly from the small intestine to the liver for a quick conversion to energy.

Medium Chain Fatty Acids

These fats have 8 to 12 carbon atoms and are found mostly in tropical oils like coconut oil, and in butterfat. There are numerous benefits associated with regular consumption of these fats as well, as they're anti-viral and anti-microbial. They also serve as a very efficient fuel source, as your body breaks these down very easily in the liver by way of the small intestine as described above.

Long Chain Fatty Acids

These fats have from 14 to 18 carbon atoms. Examples are monounsaturated fats like olive oil, polyunsaturated fats like GLA, and then a saturated fat like stearic acid that's found in beef tallow. There are reasons to like these saturated fats, too.

Very Long Chain Fatty Acids

These fats have from 20-24 carbon atoms. Most of these fats are unsaturated like EPA and DHA. Since these are not saturated, we won't discuss this type any further.

So now that we have a basic understanding of the different chemical structure of fats.