How do triglycerides and phospholipids differ from each other?

You may know a little about triglycerides if you've had blood work done to check your cholesterol and lipid levels, but you may not know too much about phospholipids. Although these two lipids have similar structures, they both play very different roles in your body. read more

Both phospholipids and triglycerides have an glycerol group to which their other functional groups are attached, but where triglycerides have three fatty acid chains bonded to the glycerol, phospholipids replace one of the fatty acid chains with a phosphate group. read more

Phospholipids form a double-layer membrane -- or bilayer -- around the contents of the cell, with the phosphate heads facing both the inside and outside of the cell, and the fatty acids in rows that face each other within the membrane, helping to form a water-repelling barrier. read more