What Is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol – What It Is

Before we discuss “natural” ways of controlling cholesterol, you may be asking, “What is cholesterol?”

In simple terms, cholesterol is a necessary wax-like substance found in the blood to build healthy cells. In addition, cholesterol plays a part in helping the body produce hormones as well as helping to insulate nerves.

According to the American Heart Association, cholesterol comes from two sources.  It is found in the liver which produces all that the body needs.  The rest comes from foods derived from animals, such as meat, poultry and whole fat dairy.  These are considered dietary cholesterol.

Cholesterol – What It Does

There is good cholesterol, HDL which stands for high-density lipoprotein; and bad cholesterol, LDL which stands for low-density lipoprotein.

The HDL (good) carries the LDL (bad) away from other body parts back to the liver, which in turn removes cholesterol from the body.

The LDL cholesterol is the primary cause of the build-up of plaque, increasing the risk for heart disease.  We can help control our LDL by changing our dietary cholesterol.