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Concept
Map 1
Concept
Map 2
Ahead to Olestra 2. Food and Biomolecules
Chemical
Concepts
Our emphasis will be
on three concepts of chemistry in this Olestra
unit.
| Energy
available |
can be determined
from |
The
type and amount of food we eat |
| Enzymes |
enable our bodies |
to
metabolize foods |
| Intermolecular
forces |
explain |
the
fate of fats, fat substitutes and vitamins in our
bodies |
We will see how
researchers used these simple chemical concepts to invent
and develop olestra and we will use these principles
ourselves to evaluate and decide on nutritional issues
Micro/Macro
and Symbolic
Representation
 |
Remember that
chemistry uses macroscopic, large scale
observation to help describe and understand
matter at the unseeable, molecular level. |
Then, we
use what we believe are valid molecular predictions to
postulate new behavior at the observable level. You
will see in this unit how Proctor&Gamble scientists
observed, then postulated in the development of olestra.
And one final note:
perhaps the most difficult thing about chemistry is that
we have to find ways to represent both macroscopic and
molecular phenomena. Pay close attention to how we
do that. We use many conventions of notation.
Sometimes a carbon atom is a capital
"C", sometimes it is a sphere, sometimes other
representations are used. Be aware that a vivid
imagination is essential in unraveling these
representations developed by chemists over the last three
centuries!
|
|
Olestra 1. Introduction Food is a major
part of all of our lives. We spend countless hours
thinking, preparing, and enjoying all types of food from
the quick snack to the holiday feast. This ChemCases.com
unit will help you learn more about all food molecules,
their digestion, and a new fat replacement molecule, Olestra, which has been developed by
the Procter and Gamble Corporation.
 |
Olestra is available in many
snack foods such as chips, crackers, popcorn and
cheese puffs. Let's begin by looking at some
information on the typical American diet and how
this creates a possible need for fat substitutes
in our diet. Roughly 30 % of all
Americans are overweight and this obesity is a
major public health problem, second only to
cigarette smoking as an avoidable cause of death.
Diet, of course, plays a major role in this.
Food, as it supplies all of our dietary needs,
can be thought of as proteins, carbohydrates,
fats, vitamins and minerals. While we get many of
our daily calories from carbohydrates and
proteins, the most concentrated supplier of
calories is fat with 9 kcal (remember that a food
calorie is actually 1000 calories from your
chemistry class) per gram. In addition, most of
us like to eat fat rich foods- in our ice cream,
our chips, our other dairy products, and many
other food sources. This "fat Tooth"
that many of us have may be an evolutionary
holdover from the early cycle of feast and famine
that we faced as a species. Today, though, fatty
foods are everywhere and this has resulted not
only in obesity, but other life shortening
diseases such as heart disease, vascular disease,
and cancer. You might look at some information
on foods and food research.
|
| Numerous health organizations
(see http://www.shapeup.org and
others) have recommended that Americans
reduce their total dietary intake of calories,
fat, and the particular types of fat that we eat.
In later sections, we will study the basic about
fats, including the different types such as
saturated, unsaturated, hydrogenated fats that
contain potentially harmful trans-fatty
acids, and how all of these relate to serum
cholesterol levels in your blood. We will
take a detailed look at the chemistry of the
dietary fat replacement molecule Olestra. We will
learn why Olestra tastes like a fat, feels like a
fat, cooks like a fat, but provides no calories.
This story also has interesting aspects because
of the original development of Olestra as a
cholesterol lowering drug nearly three decades
ago, and the current controversies surrounding
Olestra regarding possible vitamin and mineral
depletion and digestion problems.
For
now though, head back to the Olestra
Concept Map and begin your
adventure in Chemistry!
|
Bread and Cheese: Carbohydrate
and Fat Rich Foods
|
|
