Cholesterol is material that’s waxy and fatty.
We spend a lot of time eating foods that don’t have much of it and we get our blood tested for it, but what is this strange substance that’s responsible for damaging our hearts?
High-density lipoprotein cells which need to export fat molecules. The lipids carried include cholesterol, phospholipids, and triglycerides, amounts of each are quite variable. It’s found in the blood and in all of the cells of the body. In fact, cholesterin can be a good thing – you’re supposed to have some.
Your body actually puts it to good use when it’s making cell membranes and putting together the building blocks of hormones. So why do we worry so much about having it if we need it?
Too much cholesterol in the body results in hypercholesterolemia. This is the technical term for high cholesterol. When your body has more than it can use for its everyday processes, the rest of it ends up floating freely in the blood. When this happens, it begins to become deposited on the blood vessel walls.
Where does all this come from? Interestingly enough, your body actually produces about ¾ of the cholesterol in your blood. The remaining ¼ of your blood comes from the foods you eat.
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that’s found in all the cells in your body. Your body needs some cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help you digest foods. Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs. Is also found in foods from animal sources, such as egg yolks, meat, and cheese.
If you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can combine with other substances in the blood to form plaque. Plaque sticks to the walls of your arteries. This buildup of plaque is known as atherosclerosis. It can lead to coronary artery disease, where your coronary arteries become narrow or even blocked.
People often have high because genetically they’re designed to produce more, regardless of what they eat. Sometimes people have high cholesterol mainly due to eating too much of it.
All cholesterin is not created equal. The bad kind of steroid is LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and triglyceride (which comes from fatty foods). The good kind is HDL (high-density lipoprotein).
LDL is the kind of sterol that gets deposited on your blood vessel walls and HDL actually goes and picks up the bad cholesterol to help keep it away from your blood vessel walls. Naturally, you want your LDL levels to be low and your HDL levels to be high.
Many people can manage high cholesterin levels by improving their diet. That consists of eating a low amount of saturated fat and a high amount of fiber. Physical activity is also one way to raise your HDL levels. However, sometimes genetics overrides your lifestyle and medication is required to lower your blood cholesterol levels.
It’s important that you get a yearly checkup and have your blood cholesterol levels measured. This will help you to determine if you need to make improvements in your lifestyle or medication routine. High cholesterol leads to the hardening of the arteries called atherosclerosis. It’s a major cause of heart disease.
