Health Benefits of Lecithin - Its Advantages to Your Daily Life

Lecithin is a general term given to any yellowish-brown substance that is found in both animal and plant tissues as well as in egg yolk that contains a rich Supply of fatty acids, phosphoric acid, glycerol, glycolipids, triglycerides and phospholipids.

Health Benefits of Lecithin - Its Advantages to Your Daily Life

Health Benefits of Lecithin - Its Advantages to Your Daily Life

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Health Benefits of Lecithin - Its Advantages to Your Daily Life

Health Benefits of Lecithin - Its Advantages to Your Daily Life

The major phospholipid content in lecithin obtained from soya and sunflower include phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylinositol. Phosphatidylcholine is a major component of the phospholipid content of cell membranes thus, it is present in all cellular organisms. Because of its importance as a key ingredient of lecithin, phosphatidylcholine is sometimes used synonymously with lecithin.

Soybean oil is one of the major sources of lecithin. Lecithin is produced when gum substances in the plant oil that cannot be reMoved by simple water degumming and wax substances is mixed with food acid or acid anhydride.

Studies show that lecithin obtained from soy beans has the ability to dramatically reduce cholesterol and triglycerides level while increasing HDL or "good cholesterol" levels in the blood.

People who are on niacin medication to lower their cholesterol level have low Supply of choline as a side effect. These people therefore, need to take an increased amount of lecithin to replenish the depleted Supply of choline in their diet. Lecithin obtained from egg is not a threat to the health of those on low cholesterol diet because the lecithin found in egg prevents the absorption of its cholesterol content.

For pharmaceutical purposes, lecithin makes a good wetting, stabilizing and dispersing agent. It also helps in the emulsification and encapsulation of food and the perfect ingredient in the production of fat solutions to be used intravenously.

An example of lecithin's emulsifying property is its ability to keep cocoa and cocoa butter in a candy bar tightly packed together. It is also used to combine with butter, margarines and oil for easy spreading, and used to reduce spattering during shallow frying.

Lecithin has multiple uses in the food manufacturing industry. It is the substance that makes candies and other confectioneries hard or soft, helps maintain consistency in the mixture of ingredients, lengthens shelf life of some food products and regulates sugar crystallization and viscosity of chocolates. It can also be used as a substitute for the more expensive ingredients. It is a key component of cooking sprays to prevent food from sticking to the frying pan when cooking.

Lecithin can be used as substitute ingredient for the fat and egg requirements in making dough for bakery products. It helps in the even distribution of ingredients when making the dough, increases dough volume and preserves the yeast in the dough when frozen.

For pharmaceutical purposes, lecithin makes a good wetting, stabilizing and dispersing agent, helps in the emulsification and encapsulation of food and an ideal component of intravenous fat infusions for dextrose.

Lecithin is an important component in the manufacture of paints as it protects surfaces that have been painted with printing ink, protects paint surfaces from developing rust, acts as a color enhancer, prevents the formation of foam in water-based paints and helps in dispersion of fats in latex-based paints.

In the construction industry, lecithin is also used as a release agent for plastics. A release agent prevents freshly installed concrete from adhering to the surface of plywood, overlaid plywood, steel or aluminum. It is used as an additive to prevent formation of sludge in motor lubricants, anti-gumming agent in gasoline and used as an antioxidant in the manufacture of textiles and rubber.

Health Benefits of Lecithin - Its Advantages to Your Daily Life

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