New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Unsaturated fat

An unsaturated fat is a fat or fatty acid in which there is one or more double bond in the fatty acid chain. A fat molecule is monounsaturated if it contains one double bond, and polyunsaturated if it contains more than one double bond. Where double bonds are formed, hydrogen atoms are eliminated. Thus, a saturated fat is "saturated" with hydrogen atoms. The greater the degree of unsaturation in a fatty acid (ie, the more double bonds in the fatty acid), the more vulnerable it is to lipid peroxidation (rancidity). Antioxidants can protect unsaturated fat from lipid peroxidation. Foods containing unsaturated fats include avocado, nuts, and soybean, canola, and olive oils. Meat products contain both saturated and unsaturated fats. Usaturated fats are liquid at room temperature.

Related Stories
 


Health & Medicine News

April 5, 2026

Scientists have uncovered a powerful new clue in the mystery of brain aging: a single protein called FTL1. In aging mice, higher levels of this protein weakened connections between brain cells and led to memory decline. But when researchers reduced ...
Scientists have created an artificial saliva using a sugarcane protein that can protect teeth and fight bacteria. The key ingredient, CANECPI-5, binds directly to enamel, forming a shield against ...
A new study reveals that gut bacteria and metabolites may hold the key to detecting serious digestive diseases earlier and more easily. Using AI, scientists found that biomarkers linked to one condition can often predict others, showing these ...
Many people think that occasional binge drinking is harmless if they otherwise drink in moderation, but new research suggests that assumption may be dangerously wrong. A large U.S. study found that people with metabolic dysfunction–associated ...
Warming across the U.S. is far more uneven than it looks at first glance. While only about half of states show rising average temperatures, most are heating up in specific ways—like hotter highs or warmer lows. These hidden shifts vary by region, ...
A new pill called baxdrostat is showing strong results in lowering dangerously high blood pressure in people who don’t respond to standard treatments. In a large global trial, patients saw their blood pressure drop by nearly 10 mmHg, a meaningful ...
Scientists have created a programmable drug system that can zero in on cancer cells with unprecedented accuracy. Built from synthetic DNA, it only activates when it detects a precise combination of ...
A new clinical trial suggests that what people eat could finally offer real relief for Crohn’s disease, a condition that has long lacked clear dietary guidance. Researchers found that a “fasting-mimicking diet” — involving just five days a ...
A new gene therapy is giving people born deaf the chance to hear, often within just weeks. In a small but groundbreaking study, researchers delivered a working copy of a key hearing gene directly into the inner ear using a single injection. All ten ...
A new study reveals that aging lungs may play a major role in why flu and COVID can become so dangerous for older adults. Researchers found that certain lung cells can trigger an exaggerated immune response, creating clusters of inflammatory cells ...
A newly identified gene mutation may help explain why schizophrenia patients struggle to update their understanding of reality. The mutation disrupts a brain circuit involved in flexible ...
A new study suggests that one of the most widely used health metrics, BMI, may be getting it wrong for a large portion of the population. By comparing BMI classifications with precise body fat measurements using advanced DXA scans, researchers found ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET