Cholesterol Levels

In order to understand why it is important to lower cholesterol, it is necessary to first understand what cholesterol is. Cholesterol is a fatlike waxy substance and is produced by the liver. Although cholesterol has purposes and is important to overall health and body function, too much cholesterol in the body has damaging effects.

The Controversy

High Cholesterol is a very common diagnosis by doctors nowadays when dealing with patients. Cholesterol has been identified as to increase the risk of heart diseases. But what is Cholesterol at all?

Cholesterol is a substance produced by the human liver. The body produces Cholesterol to build up acids that help with the digestion of fat that we eat with our meals. Cholesterol is also supposed to build and repair cell. It is also part of the process to produce estrogens and the testosterone hormone. Most people affected by high Cholesterol have never heard of what Cholesterol is and what it does.

Have you seen the latest drug commercial? You know, the one where the guy is walking down a spiral stair case with numbers printed on each step gradually going lower. He’s talking about how your doctors have told you that now you need to get your cholesterol even lower than you did before. It’s a myth; and a dangerous one at that.

Let’s start with just a bit of very basic biology.

Many classify cholesterol as good and bad. This is not true. Cholesterol is simply cholesterol. When thinking of good and bad, many are referring to HDL’s and LDL’s. HDL refers to high density lipoprotein while LDL refers to low density lipoprotein. Lipoproteins are merely cholesterol carriers. Lipoproteins are part lipid (fats) and part protein. The reason for this structure is proteins are soluble in water whereas fats are insoluble in water. The protein portion is used to transport the lipids through the blood. Since blood is comprised mostly of water, the lipid portion would not travel without the protein portion.

Everyone constantly hears about the dangers of high cholesterol. Yet, much like high blood pressure, high cholesterol is an invisible danger to individuals and due to its invisibility, many people ignore the dangers associated with it. Nevertheless, having high cholesterol can lead to significant health problems down the road if it remains untreated. Therefore, it is important to get your cholesterol levels tested regularly and it is equally important to do all you can to keep its level at a number that is acceptable.

Now a days we hear a lot of warnings about cholesterol, but the funny thing is, cholesterol isn’t all bad. Our body produces cholesterol naturally and this cholesterol performs some pretty vital jobs - helping to build new cells, as well as produce hormones and insulate nerves. Only when we’ve got too much do we have a problem.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of confusion surrounding Cholesterol because it’s made up of both good and bad cholesterol, and is known as HDL and LDL. So which is the good and which is the bad ?