Triglyceride Breakdown
Fats are mostly stored as triglycerides in adipose tissue and are an important energy store in mammals. When needed, triglycerides are broken down into diglycerides or free fatty acids (FFAs) and glycerol. However, the breakdown of triglycerides is the rate-limiting step in lipolysis (fat breakdown) because hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), the body’s most powerful fat-burning enzyme, needs to be activated in order for triglyceride breakdown to occur. In fact, HSL needs to move from the cytosol to the lipid droplet in fat cells so it can do its job and break down the triglycerides.
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