What is cholesterol? How many types? What are its functions? How can it harm our health? Through this column, let me clear a few simple doubts related to cholesterol.

First let me tell you the path of cholesterol. 80% of cholesterol needed for our body is produced by our liver. Only 20% is absorbed to the blood from food intake. It means we need only less supplements of cholesterol to be provided through our food.

What is cholesterol? What are its functions? It’s a wax like substance seen in body tissues and blood. It’s its duty to do all energy related functions of human body. Half amount of a person’s body weight is cholesterol. It combines with proteins to form lipoproteins and travels through blood to reach the whole body. But it’s not soluble in blood.

Cholesterol is of two types – Low density Lipoprotein (LDL) and High density Lipoprotein (HDL). LDL is bad cholesterol and if gets deposited in blood vessels cause many problems to our body. HDL is good cholesterol needed for our body and it conserves our heart and other internal organs too. Very Low density Lipoprotein (VLDL) helps cholesterol to move through blod vessels and most triglycerides are visible in this cholesterol. Triglycerides (TG) can be called common fat and its function is to store fat for future purposes and to release it when needed. But it helps fat deposition of LDL.

Though cholesterol has many harmful effects it helps our body in many terms. It’s most essential for building walls of cells and cell growth. It helps in the production of sex hormones – androgen and estrogen. It helps in the production of steroid hormones like cortisol and plays a major role in production of bile pigment. In sunlight exposure it gets converted to vitamin D and makes efficient use of vitamins D, E and K.    

LDL, the major cause of heart attacks should be less than 100 mg/dl for your safety. HDL is good for your health; so try to increase it as much as possible. If its content goes below 40 mg/dl, LDL gets deposited in your blood vessels. Safe level of VLDL is below 30 mg/dl and that of TG is 150 mg/dl.

Before I conclude let me give you its harm effects in brief. If fat deposits are excess in blood vessels it blocks free flow of oxygen and blood through it, resulting in strokes and heart attacks.

Article Posted By : Sandhya Rani  On March 09, 2013lView All Articles

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http://www.veethi.com/articles/let-us-know-cholesterol--article-1723.htm

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