ABSTRACT
Thus, it should be evident that fats, also known as lipids, are vital for life, and without them, life as we know it could not exist. Special compounds that exist within the lipid layers and in lipids are suspended in the aqueous media, within both cells and subcellular particles, and are required for numerous important biochemical operations. One example is cholesterol, a fatty alcohol at home in lipid matrices but insoluble in water. Cholesterol is a precursor of the male and female sex hormones, the androgens and estrogens, and many other hormones, including vitamin D. Cholesterol is thus also essential for life. Lipids and lipid-soluble compounds may also form complexes with proteins that are water soluble, thus essentially introducing these proteins as lipoproteins into the lipid layers. Lipoproteins might be considered to have properties that are both hydrophobic, from the lipid component, and hydrophilic, from the protein component. Overall, the relations between aqueous and lipid phases are complex but, in a healthy organism, function together in a harmonious manner.
