Question

Most dietary fats will ________.

A) enter the lymphatic system
B) enter the colon and become "food" for bacteria
C) be converted to bile in the lumen of the intestine
D) be converted to short-chain fatty acids for absorption with other water-soluble nutrients

Answer 1

Most dietary fats will enter the lymphatic system after being reassembled into chylomicrons within the intestinal cells. These chylomicrons are transported through lymphatic vessels to the circulatory system. The correct option is 1.

Step-by-step explanation:

Most dietary fats will enter the lymphatic system. During digestion, pancreatic lipases and bile salts break down triglycerides into free fatty acids, which pass through the intestinal membrane.

These free fatty acids are then reassembled into triglycerides within the intestinal cells and packaged into chylomicrons, which are phospholipid vesicles that contain fats and cholesterol.

The chylomicrons allow these lipids to move within the aqueous environment of the lymphatic and circulatory systems. They exit the enterocytes by exocytosis and enter the lymphatic system through lacteals in the villi of the intestine.

From there, chylomicrons travel to the circulatory system, where they can proceed to the liver or be stored in adipose tissue. The correct option is 1.