Tag: Saturated fat digestion

According to nutritional experts, fats and proteins take significantly longer to digest than carbohydrates, and this is especially true for saturated fat. The precise time it takes to digest saturated fat depends on numerous factors, but it can often take several hours just for the initial breakdown to occur in the stomach and small intestine.

Over 90% of dietary fat is in the form of triglycerides, and understanding their journey through the digestive system is crucial. Here we explore how are saturated fats digested in the body, a multi-step process involving the mouth, stomach, and most significantly, the small intestine.

Your body expends more energy to break down fats than carbohydrates or protein, and the type of fat you consume plays a significant role in this process. A key question in nutrition science is, is saturated fat harder to digest than unsaturated fat? Yes, and the answer is rooted in their distinct molecular configurations.