We get it. Most of you just read the article title and thought you were back in an 8th grade science class. Before you skip over this blog you should know two things: there won’t be a test at the end of this blog post, and you really SHOULD know what this is. Phospholipids are actually important and pretty interesting. Keep reading to see why you need to know this stuff.
What are Phospholipids?
Phospholipids (pronounced fäsfōˈlipids) consist of a hydrophilic or (water loving) head and a hydrophobic (or water fearing) tail. Phospholipids like to line up and arrange themselves into two parallel layers, called a phospholipid bilayer. This layer makes up your cell membranes and is critical to a cell’s ability to function. Think of it like a balloon with a string trailing from it (actually two, if you really want to envision it). The head (the balloon in our example) is glycerol. The two chains (strings) are hydrogen and carbon molecules. Remember the water lovin’ and water hatin’ part; they come in to play further in this blog post. Phospholipids are an integral part of cells. They are structural components of cell surface membranes and the membranes within the cells because they help maintain their strength, flexibility, and integrity.
What role do phospholipids play?
Some refer to phospholipids as the “molecule of life” because without them, we would suffer critical cellular dysfunction resulting in significant health consequences. The long fatty acid chains of a phospholipid avoid water because of their insolubility. Phospholipid bilayers are critical components of cell membranes, acting as a barrier to the passage of molecules and ions into and out of the cell.
Phospholipids and liposomes: how they help the effectiveness of supplements.
You’ve heard us talk about liposomes before. Here’s where we connect the dots form phospholipids to our turmeric product! Liposomes are most often composed of phospholipids. Here’s a fun fact: The word liposome derives from two Greek words: lipo (“fat”) and soma (“body”); it is so named because its composition is primarily of phospholipids. The use of liposomes is to function as a carrier of dietary and nutritional supplements. Phospholipids play a huge role in that. Phospholipids are the primary building blocks of cellular membranes. These membranes are the “containers” that hold the living matter within each cell. In addition to functioning as a skin for each cell, keeping the insides in and the outsides out, phospholipid membranes provide protection from chemicals and pathogens that can derail and/or destroy the necessary life functions that take place within each cell. Phospholipids make ideal liposomes. Remember the love/hate relationship we talked about earlier? It is this very love/hate relationship with water that allows phospholipids to form cellular membranes — and liposomes as well. As phospholipids are exposed to water-based solutions, they align themselves in a double-layer configuration – phosphates toward the water and fatty acids away from the water (the two strings, remember?).
And that is what makes our new and improved all-natural turmeric extract so amazing! We incorporate this technology in our Turmeric Liposome Complex and the results are that the product is now more bioavailable than ever. You’re getting more out of the product because of this technology.
If you want to learn more about our product with perhaps a tad less chemistry involved, visit our website and check out our “Buy Now Online” page to learn more.
