What is Phospholipid

Phospholipids are components of the body’s cells, discovered by Uauquelin in 1812 in the human brain, and in 1844 the Frenchman Gohley for the first time from the egg yolk to isolate exogenous components of phospholipids, and is therefore called lecithin. The naming of lecithin has been continued for a long time, until today will still let many people on the “phospholipid family” can not distinguish, in fact, the true meaning of lecithin is only a part of the phospholipids, phospholipids also include ceruloplasmin and phosphatidylinositol, and so on.

When it comes to phospholipids, we must talk about cells and cell membranes. Because all living organisms – animals, plants and microorganisms, are composed of a cell, the outer layer of the cell is called the cell membrane, many organelles within the cell also has a membrane structure, which constitutes the membrane structure of the main substance is phospholipids.

Foods rich in phospholipids

Soybeans, mushrooms, egg yolks, walnuts, nuts, fish roe, chicken, duck, fish and animal offal.

Phospholipids were first discovered in egg yolks and were often called “lecithin”.

Later, people found that soybean is a natural source of lecithin is richer and easier to obtain, so now whether the industry used as additives or people used as nutrients, health care products of lecithin, the vast majority of soybean lecithin is extracted from soybeans, just customarily inherited the name of lecithin.

Why is it easy for modern people to lack of phospholipid intake?

Because many modern people worry about obesity, intentionally eat less meat, especially fat meat, animal offal, eggs and so on;

At the same time, modern food processing fine, refined oil, salad oil, etc. so that the original rich lecithin reduction;

Because lecithin is not heat-resistant, more than 50 degrees Celsius after the activity is easy to lose, cooking methods will also affect the intake;

Small children and the elderly are more likely to have insufficient intake because of limited food choices and digestion and absorption ability;

Students are overloaded with learning, white-collar life and workplace stress, all of which will consume a lot of lecithin, so that the need to increase.

At the same time, we all know that the human body due to the increase in age, the deterioration of the living environment and the impact of bad habits, the body of a large number of free radicals, free radicals will be directly oxidized cell membrane phospholipids, resulting in damage to the structure of the cell membrane, which directly affects the physiological function of the cell. Some people compare phospholipid PC to the “building material of cell membrane”. The intake of phospholipids PC will have a positive impact on many of our bodily functions.

Understanding the Phospholipid Family

What we often refer to as phospholipids is a mixture of several active phospholipid components with different structures and functions.

Some of them are: phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidic acid (PA) and others. The lecithin that people often say is actually more specifically referred to as phosphatidylcholine (PC), which has the largest content in the phospholipid functional groups and can affect human health in many ways, therefore, the content of phosphatidylcholine in the product becomes an important criterion for us to judge the difference in the quality of lecithin products.

Health effects of phospholipids

1、Cell membrane can not do without phospholipids
Our body consists of cells, and phospholipids are the main components of cell membranes.

Not only that, phospholipids play a significant role in promoting the growth of cell tissues, activating cells, maintaining metabolism, basic metabolism and balanced secretion of hormones, and enhancing the body’s immunity and regenerative power.

2、Promote brain development

Phospholipids account for up to 30% of the brain cells, and a higher proportion of brain cells, accounting for about 70-80%. Phospholipid supplementation for women during pregnancy is also very beneficial for fetal brain development. Simply put, phospholipids are responsible for you being so smart!

In addition, the brain’s neurotransmitter – acetylcholine reduction is the main cause of Alzheimer’s disease, and phospholipids in the choline can be combined with the human body in the acetyl to get acetylcholine, thus providing the brain with adequate information transmission material, and thus extremely beneficial to Alzheimer’s disease patients.

3、Vascular scavenger
Excessive cholesterol in the blood is the main cause of arteriosclerosis.

Cholesterol is like limescale attached to the blood vessels in the human body, over time, it will make the blood vessels less elastic, blood flow obstruction, and cause heart and brain diseases. Diseases such as high blood pressure, blood clots, cerebral hemorrhage, etc. are all caused by the large amount of cholesterol and lipids deposited on the walls of blood vessels.
Just like detergents can clean limescale, phospholipids can emulsify neutral fats and deposited cholesterol into harmless particles that dissolve in water and are easy to metabolize; at the same time, it inhibits the deposition of excess fats in the blood vessel wall and relieves the pressure on the cardiovascular and cerebral vascular walls.

4、Anti-aging
The reason why people age, the root cause is cellular aging.
Cells continue to cycle the process of death and regeneration, is the process of cellular consumption of phospholipids. If the phospholipids consumed by people every day can not be supplemented, the cells will be in a state of nutritional deficiencies, loss of vitality and gradual death, ultimately leading to the aging of the human body.

Application areas of phospholipids

1、Cream and dairy products are the common field of phospholipids, its good emulsification properties make the fat particles uniformly dispersed, so that its fluidity is better and more stable.
2, bakery products, phospholipids can improve the processing characteristics of the dough, so that the moisture distribution is more uniform, and at the same time can form a complex with proteins to increase the stability of the product. In addition, phospholipids can make bakery products easier to release the mold, the appearance of flat and beautiful.
3, candy, chocolate, etc., emulsifier is candy, chocolate and other commonly used additives, can make the product mix more evenly, do not produce sugar, separation and other phenomena.
In addition, the good dispersibility of phospholipids can also promote the dissolution of particles, such as milk powder, soybean flour, etc., not only to enhance the product characteristics, but also to give the product health care value, with nutrition and improve the duality.