saturated fat

American  

noun

Nutrition.

saturated fats plural

1. a type of single-bond animal or vegetable fat, as that found in butter, meat, egg yolks, and coconut or palm oil, that in humans tends to increase cholesterol levels in the blood.

---

saturated fat Scientific  

1. A fat with a triglyceride molecule containing three saturated fatty acids. All carbon atoms in the fatty acid chains of saturated fats are connected by single bonds. Most fats derived from animal sources are saturated fats. Eating foods high in saturated fats can lead to elevated cholesterol levels in the blood.

2. Compare unsaturated fat

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• saturated fats
  plural

Etymology

Origin of saturated fat

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

saturated fat

Tallow consists of a much higher amount of saturated fat compared to our own sebum.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

The potential benefits of coffee, however, can be diluted or eliminated by the stuff many people add to it, the authors said, like sugar, syrups and creamers with a lot of saturated fat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

One cup of Man Cereal has an astounding seven grams of saturated fat.

From Salon ● May 23, 2026

However, the carnivore diet encourages eating lots of meat of all kinds — including cuts of red meat that are high in saturated fat.

From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026

Further, to assure the chicken is as low in saturated fat as possible, Perdue uses only polyunsaturated soybean oil.

From The Perdue Chicken Cookbook by Perdue, Mitzi