Cholesterol Manager

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol gets a lot of negative publicity. With all of the information out there on the internet it would be easyu to get very confused and assume that all cholesterol is BAD. Most people are surprised to learn that cholesterol is actually necessary for our existence. It is also surprising is that our bodies specificaally our liver actually produces cholesterol naturally. To sum this up cholesterol isn’t all good, nor is it all bad — it’s a complex topic and one worth knowing more about.
Cholesterol is a major component of all cell membranes and is used to make essential molecules such as hormones, fat-soluble vitamins, and bile acids to help you digest your food. You may also see a measurement for triglycerides on your lipid panel. Like cholesterol, triglycerides are a type of blood fat. To break all that down - cholesterol serves three main purposes. It aids in the production of sex hormones - it’s a building block for human tissues - and it assists in bile production in the liver.
 
Hormone Manufacturing
One of the most important jobs of cholesterol is to aide in the production of hormones. Cholesterol is stored in the adrenal glands, ovaries and the testes and is converted to steroid hormones. These steroid hormones perform other vital duties to help the body function properly. Without this function from cholesterol human could have issues with weight, sex, digestion, bone health and mental status.
Digestion
Cholesterol is used to help the liver create bile which aids us in digesting the food that we eat. Bile is an acidic gel like substance that starts the breakdown of undugested food. The organ that assists in the storage of bile produced by the liver is the gall bladder. Without the bile our bodies are unable to properly digest foods, especially fats. When the fat goes undigested it can get into the bloodstream and cause additional problems such as blockages of the arteries and cause heart attacks and heart disease. Needless to say that too little cholesterol is just as bad for the heart and intraveinous system as too much cholesterol.
Building Blocks
Cholesterol is a structural component of cells. Cholesterol along with polar lipids make up the structure of each and every cell in our bodies. Cholesterol is there to basically provide a protective barrier. When the amount of cholesterol increases or decreases, the cells are affected. This change can affect our ability to metabolize and produce energy. This can ultimately affect other aspects of our bodies' function such as food intake and digestion.


We measure cholesterol production in the blood, but it is actually found in every cell in the body. The Harvard Special Health Report Managing Your Cholesterol explains cholesterol as a waxy, whitish-yellow fat and a crucial building block in cell membranes. Cholesterol also is needed to make vitamin D, hormones (including testosterone and estrogen), and fat-dissolving bile acids. In fact, cholesterol production is so important that your liver and intestines make about 80% of the cholesterol you need to stay healthy so only about 20% comes from the foods you eat. And yet we place so much emphasis on the cholesterol in the foods that we eat.


How does cholesterol cause coronary heart disease (CHD)?
Coronary Heart Disese is caused by cholesterol when the blood vessels to the heart - the coronary arteries - become narrowed or somewhat blocked by a gradual build-up of a fatty coating on the inside walls. This coating is usually a build up od LDL cholesterol cells. The LDL cholesterol cells begin to oxidize and become hard. The hardening (of the artery) is a condition called atherosclerosis.

HDL cholesterol is tasked to remove LDL cholesterol from the circulation, thus protecting against CHD. So the balance between the two substances is vital. Individuals with a high level of HDL and a low level of LDL in the blood are the least likely to suffer from a stroke or heart attack caused by choles