Good and Bad Cholesterol

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a product of fat metabolism, which is mostly synthesized in the human body. The amount in a body depends on nutrition and how well the liver is functioning. In a healthy body that consumes food sources humans evolved with, cholesterol is managed well by the body. Problems arise when a person consumes food with a lot of fat or when liver function is impaired.

Fats have different classifications and may or may not be harmful, the same thing applies to cholesterol. To understand that cholesterol can be good, bad, or neutral, let's start with the need for cholesterol.

Why do we need cholesterol?

Cholesterol is important for a person from birth to the last days. Breast milk is rich in cholesterol for infant brain development. In adulthood, cholesterol prevents the brain from aging.

It also affects the production of sex hormones, reproductive system, immune system, and nervous system. Cholesterol assists in the development of each and every cell in our body, it provides the strength and elasticity of cell membranes.

In a healthy body about 15% of cholesterol is spent on the construction of new cell membranes. 5% of cholesterol goes to the synthesis of hormones and vitamins. The remaining 80% is processed into bile. The processes of cholesterol production, processing and disposal occur in the liver.

Low cholesterol level leads to disorders in sexual reproduction, inability to conceive, and loss of libido. As well as depression, digestive disorders, the development of osteoporosis, diabetes, and hemorrhagic stroke.

Bad and Good Cholesterol

Cholesterol is not found in the human body in its pure form, since cholesterol does not dissolve in the blood. It is “transported” through the vessels by protein molecules.

As this protein transports cholesterol (lipids), it is called a lipoprotein. There are two types of lipoproteins: low-density and high-density.

So, whether cholesterol is bad or good is determined by the type of protein that transports it.

Low-density lipoprotein delivers cholesterol to where our body needs it. However, if there is too much cholesterol, this lipoprotein begins to clump and stick to the walls of the arteries. These agglomerations or plaques impede the circulation of blood, resulting in insufficient blood supply to tissues and organs. Breaking away from the walls of blood vessels, plaques form into blood clots.

Depending on where the blood clot forms, it causes heart attacks (in the coronary arteries), blood strokes (in the vessels of the brain), and inflammation (in the veins of internal organs and limbs). Therefore, low-density lipoprotein is considered to be bad cholesterol.

High-density lipoprotein is known as the good cholesterol because its job is to take excess cholesterol from the body and send it to the liver, where it is disintegrated and then removed from the body. High levels of good cholesterol reduce the plaques in the arteries and reduce the risk of potential heart diseases.