ABOUT CHOLESTEROL

The Necessary Evil in Our Body!

In normal levels cholesterol will do you no harm, but if it is found in excessive amounts – called High Cholesterol or Hypercholesterolemia – it will endanger you, silently and deadly. It is silently, because high cholesterol does not give you any signs or symptoms. Deadly, since neglected high cholesterol condition may lead to an acute heart attack which might be hard to overcome.

Cholesterol is a normal substance in our body

Cholesterol is a normal substance found in and produced by our body, the liver in particular. There is actually no need to have additional cholesterol intake, since the liver may fulfill all body requirement for cholesterol. Cholesterol is a fatty substance that circulates in our blood stream to be sent to the body parts that produces important materials for the metabolism of our body

Cholesterol is needed in the formation of sex hormones which controls the development and function of our reproduction system. It’s also used to produce hormones that controls metabolism of salt. Other usage of cholesterol is in the production of Vitamin D that plays an important role in the metabolism of body calcium and last but not least, the formation of bile salts that enhances the absorption of fat in our intestine. Thus, it is quite useful.

Types of cholesterol

Cholesterol comes in two forms; Low Density Lipoprotein or LDL and High Density Lipoprotein or HDL. For simplicity of discussion I will not go into the chemical aspects of cholesterol.

Please be aware of LDL, this is the ‘Bad Guy’! LDL is responsible for the formation of plaques in blood vessel’s lining. LDL is the one that generates atherosclerosis and causes the narrowing of blood vessels which further may lead to stroke. Stroke is a condition of insufficient blood stream to the brain. Thus, LDL is the type of cholesterol we should lower.

HDL, on the contrary, is the ‘Good Guy’ which works opposite to LDL. HDL removes plaques in the blood vessels that are deposited by LDL. It is the one that cleans up the evil done by LDL. Thus, it is important to take care of HDL and increase its level as much as possible. Don’t let it down.

External sources of cholesterol, are you controlling it?

The external source of cholesterol comes in our food. Food that contains cholesterol producing materials is originated from animals and diary products. On the other hands, vegetables do not contain cholesterol. Edible oil originated from plants also contains materials that may produce cholesterol, both LDL and HDL.

It is a general rule, that the tastier the food, the higher chance that it increases your blood cholesterol. In culinary science, fat is really a taste enhancer in the processing of food and dishes. It is fat that makes food delicious, crispy and appetizing. Most people do like delicious food, like I do. I cannot imagine to eating non-fat, non-cholesterol, steamed or boiled food all the time. I think, the best way to run our life is be aware of the danger and know our limits. Agree?

So, the problem is that we do not specifically attend to our food intake. We do not check our limits. We may loose control to so many temptation offered by the food industry. Our lifestyle, including our eating habits should be blamed for this. Let us see what we can do about this in another page to discuss high cholesterol prevention.