Saturated fat

A fat whose fatty-acid chains contain no carbon–carbon double bonds. Its fatty acids are fully saturated with hydrogen at those carbon positions.

Fatty acid: A carboxylic acid with a hydrocarbon chain, used in fats and other lipids. Saturated fats are built from fatty acids whose chains lack carbon–carbon double bonds.
Van der Waals force: An intermolecular attraction arising from temporary or permanent electrical dipoles. Close packing of straight saturated chains strengthens these attractions between molecules.
Dietary fat: Fat consumed in food, supplying energy and essential fatty acids and aiding absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. Saturated fat is one category within the fats people obtain from their diets.
Low-density lipoprotein: A lipoprotein particle that transports cholesterol from the liver to tissues and contributes to atherosclerosis when elevated. Replacing some dietary saturated fat with unsaturated fat generally lowers LDL cholesterol.
Carbon–carbon bond: A covalent bond joining two carbon atoms. Saturation distinguishes chains with only single carbon–carbon bonds from unsaturated chains.
Melting point: The temperature at which a solid changes into a liquid at a specified pressure. Saturated fats tend to have higher melting points than comparable unsaturated fats.
Butter: A dairy product made by churning cream, composed mainly of milk fat and water. Butter is a familiar food source containing substantial saturated fat.
Atherosclerosis: A disease in which plaques containing lipids and other material build up in artery walls. Blood-lipid changes associated with diet are studied partly because of their relation to this disease.
Triglyceride: A lipid made of glycerol esterified to three fatty acids. Most dietary saturated fat occurs in triglycerides containing one or more saturated fatty acids.
Cis–trans isomerism: A form of geometric isomerism caused by restricted rotation around a double bond. Unlike unsaturated chains, saturated chains have no double bond that can create cis or trans forms.

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