What are Lipids?

A lipid is a kind of organic molecule found in living things. The texture of the lipid would be either oily or waxy. If looking for the source of the lipids, then we could see it in algae, meat, butter, etc. Lipids are nothing but consist of long chains of Carbon and hydrogen molecules. The biological function of lipids is as “Lipid bilayers” which would be the base of many cell membranes. Lipid also acts as an energy reserve.

Types of Lipids

There are 2 types of Lipid-based on their structure complexity

Simple Lipids

• Fats: These are esters of fatty acids with glycerol. 
• Oils are fats in the liquid state here. 
• Waxes: Wax are esters of fatty acids with larger molecular weight monohydric alcohols.

Complex Lipids

• Phospholipids: These contain fatty acids, alcohol, and phosphates. They also include nitrogen-containing bases and other substituents.
• Glycolipids: These lipids contain fatty acids and sphingosine including carbohydrates. 
• Other Lipids (Complex): Lipids like sulfolipids and amino lipids. Lipoproteins are also included here.

Lipids in simple words are nothing but fatty compounds which involves in performing a few functions in the body. They are part of the cell membrane and have the power to control what to let in and out of the cell. Fats biologically are compounds that are insoluble in water and help proteins in their function. They are also known as triglycerides (One molecule of glycerol and three fatty acids).