Cholesterol – There is a good side to it too!

Cholesterol for the body comes from two main sources; the liver and the food that we eat. Cholesterol is so important for the body that the liver produces about 1000 milligrams of cholesterol every day. The extra cholesterol from the food is not really needed and this is what adds up to the health risks. If you stick to a completely cholesterol free diet, the liver will increase its production of cholesterol.

Cholesterol is not a free moving fat and it cannot reach its destination in the body on its own. Therefore, it binds to lipoproteins and together they flow through the blood stream to their destination. Depending on what it binds with, cholesterol is either HDL cholesterol [good cholesterol] of LDL cholesterol [bad cholesterol].

Cholesterol is a much misunderstood molecule. There is a very vocal group of doctors who believe that cholesterol is being wrongly targeted for development of heart disease. They believe the real culprits are stress, oxidative damage, inflammation and sugar. According to them, “Reducing cholesterol to lower heart disease risk is like removing the lettuce from your burger to reduce the calories.”  It is not that the lettuce does not have any calories, but that it is the wrong target.

Here we look at some of the functions of cholesterol in the human body:

1. HDL cholesterol helps in clearing the LDL cholesterol that is clogged in the arteries. This is the body’s way of protecting the heart from atherosclerosis.


2. Vitamin D is one of the essential vitamins that are required for strong and healthy bones. The body synthesizes it in the skin from cholesterol when there is adequate exposure to sunlight. So if there is no cholesterol, it will result in weak bones irrespective of the vitamin D and calcium intake.


3. Cholesterol is essential for the proper functioning of brain cells. A new study from the UK suggests that low level of the "good" HDL cholesterol is linked to poor memory, and decline in memory, in middle-aged adults. Researchers defined low HDL as less than 40 mg/dL.
   When the brain is deprived of cholesterol, it triggers the release of certain neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters affect the data processing and memory functions of the brain.


4. Within a cell, it is cholesterol that helps in transport of nutrients.


5. The cell membrane is the outer covering of the human cell. Cholesterol plays an important part in creating and maintaining the cell membrane.


6. Nerve cells need cholesterol for proper transmission of impulses.


7. Cholesterol plays a significant part in the synthesis of several hormones of oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone, aldosterone and cortisone. The functions of these hormones are varied and vital for human growth.


8. Cholesterol is required for the production of bile. Bile is extremely vital in the process of digestion and absorption of essential nutrients from the digestive track. Bile is also extremely important for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.


9. Cholesterol is the precursor in the several biochemical pathways that begin in the cell.


10. Cholesterol is required by the cell membrane to keep itself permeable and fluidic enough for the nutrients and oxygen to be transported in and out of the cell.

Cholesterol is not all bad. In fact, cholesterol is so essential for the human body that Mother Nature has made the provisions for it, in case your diet doesn’t have any cholesterol in it.

As with all things, too much of cholesterol is bad. When the amount of cholesterol circulating is way beyond the body’s requirements and the body’s ability to clear it, it is then that the cholesterol clogs your arteries causing atherosclerosis.