Glycerol Unit Converter

Glycerol (also called free glycerol or glycerin) is a small three-carbon molecule that forms the structural backbone of triglycerides, the main storage form of fat in your body.

When stored fat is broken down through a process called lipolysis, each triglyceride molecule releases one glycerol molecule and three fatty acids. A blood test for free glycerol measures the concentration of this unbound glycerol circulating in your plasma, reflecting how actively your body is mobilising its fat stores.

Free glycerol is also clinically important because standard triglyceride assays actually measure total glycerol. When free glycerol is abnormally high, it can cause triglyceride results to appear falsely elevated, a phenomenon known as pseudohypertriglyceridemia.

Circulating free glycerol comes primarily from the breakdown of stored triglycerides in adipose (fat) tissue. Smaller amounts are released when lipoprotein lipase in blood vessel walls breaks down triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, and the liver can also generate glycerol from glucose-derived intermediates.