It is commonly mistaken by many that cholesterol is bad for your health, but in fact, cholesterol is actually an essential element for our body; it is just having too much of it causes us problems.
How cholesterol is produced?
The majority of cholesterol is produced naturally by our liver, about 75% of it, and the rest of it is coming from the foods that we eat- meat to be exact. Cholesterol does not dissolve in our blood so it needs to be carried by lipoprotein in our blood.There are two types of lipoprotein in our blood; Low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL is commonly referred as the bad cholesterol as it tends to build-up in the artery walls as plaque and HDL is the good cholesterol as it carries the LDL from blood back to our liver and then remove it from our body all together.
Why does our body need cholesterol?
Cholesterol has different functions in our body.
It helps to build and maintain cell membranes.
It is essential in the process of cell permeability
It helps to convert sunshine to vitamin D.
Cholesterol helps in the synthesis of most steroid hormones such as, estrogens, progestins, androgens, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids
Our liver receptors collect LDL from our blood and pass it down to intestine for breaking down and then remove it from our body. However, when there are too much of LDL for the receptors to handle, excessive LDL in our blood will lead to accumulation of plaque buildup against the artery walls. Fortunately, HDL carries LDL from our blood back to liver for decomposition so ideally the higher level of HDL is better for our health.
What if we have high blood cholesterol?
There are no symptoms for having high cholesterol; symptoms are usually for other diseases caused by high cholesterol. Therefore, it is recommended to have your cholesterol levels checked once a year and try to keep them in optimal levels. High levels of cholesterol can cause heart disease and increase the risks of heart attack.
Although high cholesterol can be genetic or causes of other diseases such as diabetes or liver failure, but maintaining a healthy diet, exercise regularly and avoid excessive consumption of alcohol are ways to keep our cholesterol level in optimal levels.
How cholesterol is produced?
The majority of cholesterol is produced naturally by our liver, about 75% of it, and the rest of it is coming from the foods that we eat- meat to be exact. Cholesterol does not dissolve in our blood so it needs to be carried by lipoprotein in our blood.There are two types of lipoprotein in our blood; Low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL is commonly referred as the bad cholesterol as it tends to build-up in the artery walls as plaque and HDL is the good cholesterol as it carries the LDL from blood back to our liver and then remove it from our body all together.
Why does our body need cholesterol?
Cholesterol has different functions in our body.
It helps to build and maintain cell membranes.
It is essential in the process of cell permeability
It helps to convert sunshine to vitamin D.
Cholesterol helps in the synthesis of most steroid hormones such as, estrogens, progestins, androgens, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids
Our liver receptors collect LDL from our blood and pass it down to intestine for breaking down and then remove it from our body. However, when there are too much of LDL for the receptors to handle, excessive LDL in our blood will lead to accumulation of plaque buildup against the artery walls. Fortunately, HDL carries LDL from our blood back to liver for decomposition so ideally the higher level of HDL is better for our health.
What if we have high blood cholesterol?
There are no symptoms for having high cholesterol; symptoms are usually for other diseases caused by high cholesterol. Therefore, it is recommended to have your cholesterol levels checked once a year and try to keep them in optimal levels. High levels of cholesterol can cause heart disease and increase the risks of heart attack.
Although high cholesterol can be genetic or causes of other diseases such as diabetes or liver failure, but maintaining a healthy diet, exercise regularly and avoid excessive consumption of alcohol are ways to keep our cholesterol level in optimal levels.
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