Question

Explain the digestion of fats.

Answer 1

Lipids
Foods, such as meats, dairy products, seeds, nuts, and oils, contain dietary fat. Fat is a common example of a lipid, and in this lesson, you will learn about the unique way lipids, such as fats, are broken down and absorbed out of the digestive tract.

A lipid is defined as a fat-like molecule that does not have the ability to dissolve in water. This inability to dissolve in water adds an element of difficulty to fat digestion. Because fat does not like water, it tends to clump together and form large droplets as it moves through your digestive system. By the time fat reaches your small intestine, it has not been digested at all. So, dietary fat in the small intestine looks like a fairly large glob of fat.
These globs remain until bile, that is produced in the liver and stored in the gallbladder, mixes with the large fat droplets. Bile contains bile salts, which act as an emulsifier of lipids. The term 'emulsify' means to break large fat droplets into smaller droplets. And, that is exactly what we see happening here in the small intestine. The bile salts break up and coat the fat to form much finer droplets. These finer droplets have more surface area, and this aids digestion because the fat-digesting enzyme pancreatic lipase can only act on the surface of the fat droplet.
The enzymes of the small intestine are responsible for almost all of the fat digestion. When pancreatic lipase acts on the lipid, it breaks it down, which results in free fatty acids and monoglycerides, the two digestive products of lipids. These products are much easier for your small intestine to handle, and they have very little trouble being absorbed out of your digestive tract.