I'm guessing that you have heard of cholesterol, it is hard to escape this latest buzz word with all the media hype surrounding it. The terms “good cholesterol” and “bad cholesterol” are also often thrown into the mix but few people understand exactly what cholesterol is.
In this article I intend to look at what cholesterol actually is and how it affects our body's.
Cholesterol is actually made in the liver, and almost every animal that is eaten for food uses the same method to produce cholesterol. Your own body produces cholesterol as it is necessary for the body to function correctly. Cholesterol can also be absorbed from the foods we eat and is then carried through the bloodstream via particles known as lipoprotein's.
Research has proven that your body produces around 75% of the overall cholesterol found in your blood stream and foods consumed as part of your diet account for around 25%.
Lipoprotein's are made up of protein and fat and can be either good for you or bad for you. Good lipoprotein's carry a high percentage of protein versus the percentage of fat. Lipoprotein's that have a higher percentage of fat as opposed to protein are considered bad, this is due to the fact that they have a tendency to stick to the walls of arteries as they pass through.
The problem with this is that, over time they will accumulate and form hardened plaque. This makes the arteries hard and restricts the flow of blood to your heart. The term used be doctors and scientists for this “bad” lipoprotein, is LDL or low density lipoprotein.
The lipoprotein's that have a higher percentage of protein as opposed to fat serve a very beneficial purpose with quite the opposite effect. The task of the “good” lipoprotein's is to remove cholesterol from the body and to keep it away from the heart and the arteries. These “good” lipoproteins are know as high density lipoprotein's or HDL. If you increase the percentage of HDL cholesterol in your bloodstream you greatly reduce your chances of having a heart attack and developing heart disease.
There are numerous foods that can help to increase your HDL cholesterol and these often carry many other health benefits. There are often no real symptoms of high cholesterol until things have gotten a touch out of hand so if you suspect that you may have high levels of LDL cholesterol then it pays to go see a doctor so they can run some tests to see if this is the case.
It is worth noting that high cholesterol does not just affect people who are overweight, it can affect people who are otherwise fit and healthy.
In this article I intend to look at what cholesterol actually is and how it affects our body's.
Cholesterol is actually made in the liver, and almost every animal that is eaten for food uses the same method to produce cholesterol. Your own body produces cholesterol as it is necessary for the body to function correctly. Cholesterol can also be absorbed from the foods we eat and is then carried through the bloodstream via particles known as lipoprotein's.
Research has proven that your body produces around 75% of the overall cholesterol found in your blood stream and foods consumed as part of your diet account for around 25%.
Lipoprotein's are made up of protein and fat and can be either good for you or bad for you. Good lipoprotein's carry a high percentage of protein versus the percentage of fat. Lipoprotein's that have a higher percentage of fat as opposed to protein are considered bad, this is due to the fact that they have a tendency to stick to the walls of arteries as they pass through.
The problem with this is that, over time they will accumulate and form hardened plaque. This makes the arteries hard and restricts the flow of blood to your heart. The term used be doctors and scientists for this “bad” lipoprotein, is LDL or low density lipoprotein.
The lipoprotein's that have a higher percentage of protein as opposed to fat serve a very beneficial purpose with quite the opposite effect. The task of the “good” lipoprotein's is to remove cholesterol from the body and to keep it away from the heart and the arteries. These “good” lipoproteins are know as high density lipoprotein's or HDL. If you increase the percentage of HDL cholesterol in your bloodstream you greatly reduce your chances of having a heart attack and developing heart disease.
There are numerous foods that can help to increase your HDL cholesterol and these often carry many other health benefits. There are often no real symptoms of high cholesterol until things have gotten a touch out of hand so if you suspect that you may have high levels of LDL cholesterol then it pays to go see a doctor so they can run some tests to see if this is the case.
It is worth noting that high cholesterol does not just affect people who are overweight, it can affect people who are otherwise fit and healthy.
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