Nowadays, people often frown when they hear the word "cholesterol". Well, not everyone knows that the human body naturally produces cholesterol. Here's the whole story of how it gets produced inside the body.
According to an article from the Harvard Health Publications of the Harvard Medical School, only 20 percent of the cholesterol comes from the foods people eat and the remaining 80 percent is produced by the body naturally. Contrary to common knowledge that cholesterol is just responsible for bringing heart diseases, it is also a vital component in the human body. Cholesterol actually helps in making vitamin D and hormones such as testosterone and estrogen which are essential in daily metabolic processes.
As a fat, cholesterol needs the help of other forces to be fully utilized in the human body. With the help of lipoproteins, a mixture of lipids and protein, cholesterol flows through the bloodstream easily. However, when lipoproteins start to have a low density, it causes several health issues such as cardiac-related problems.
There are several types of lipoproteins which help the cholesterol production in the body. Here are the five basic types according to the aforementioned article by Harvard University. First, chylomicrons are responsible for carrying the fatty acids from the food you eat. Another one is the very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) which is made in the liver which acts as the vehicle to carry triglycerides to the different tissues in the body.
On the other hand, intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL) is either transformed into low-density lipoproteins or removed from the system. Fourth, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is usually coined as the "bad" cholesterol for its reputation of causing arterial clogs. And lastly, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) is the "good" cholesterol which is responsible for the removal of cholesterol from the stream.
It is indeed beneficial to be aware of this information about cholesterol. According to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 73.5 million adults in the United States alone have high risks to "bad," cholesterol and only 29.5% of them had the condition under control.
Cholesterol is one of the unique works of nature that has its own set of pros and cons. To be able to judge it correctly, it's a must to know the entire story especially in how it's produced.
