What are the steps in fat digestion, absorption, and transport?

Transport: They travel with the lymph until they are poured into the blood stream in the thoracic duct near the vena cava. Digestion: Bile salts from the liver aid in emulsifying the fat in the small intestine, which means breaking it down into very small droplets so they can be acted on by the enzymes. Lipase is produced by the pancreas and poured into the small intestine to break the ester bond in the triglyceride.

Fat digestion begins in the small intestine where bile emulsifies dietary fats, allowing pancreatic lipase to break them down into fatty acids and glycerol. These breakdown products are then absorbed into the intestinal epithelial cells and reassembled into triglycerides. These triglycerides are then packaged into chylomicrons, which are transported via the lymphatic system to the bloodstream. In the bloodstream, lipoprotein lipase breaks down the triglycerides in chylomicrons, allowing fatty acids to be taken up by cells for energy or storage.