Absolutely Small, Chapter 16: Fat, It's All About the Double Bonds

This chapter discusses fats. What is a fat? What is a saturated fat, a monounsaturated fat, a polyunsaturated fat? All of this involves the nature of the chemical bonds that hold carbon atoms together. The issues are how many double bonds there are and where they are located in fat molecules. The difference between normal healthy fats and trans fats are shown to be caused by the difference in the shapes of the fat molecules caused by the type of double bond. How trans fats are generated in the chemical processing of natural fats is described. Cholesterol is also discussed and its importance as a component of cell membranes is explained.