I hate Cholesterol but I need it.
When I mentioned
about cholesterol, what is the first thing you think of? Is it a good thing? Or
it is a bad good for you? Actually, we do
need it as part of our daily life but too much of it may give us harm. Without
it, we would be dead, but too much of it will lead to serious health problems.
Cholesterol (C27H45OH) is
a fatty substance that is found in our body cells. It is made by our liver, but
it can also be taken in from certain foods such as meat, fish, egg and cheese.
Cholesterol attached to certain proteins and travels through the bloodstream
since it cannot travel lonely. This combination between cholesterol and protein
is called a lipoprotein. There are two types of lipoprotein which are
low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL).
Basically, low-density
lipoproteins (LDL) is bad cholesterol and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) is
good cholesterol.
High-density
lipoproteins (HDL)
|
Low-density
lipoproteins (LDL)
|
·
Also known as good cholesterol
·
Helps in producing bile
·
Assist in the production on adrenal
gland hormones and sex hormones
·
Helps in building and maintaining cell
membranes
·
Helps to absorb vitamin A, D, E & K.
·
Insulates nerve fibers
·
Can be obtain from fish, pistachios and
alcohol
|
·
Also known as bad cholesterol
·
Lead to heart attack
·
Clog arteries
·
Lead to stroke
·
Can be obtain from red meats, prawns,
|
Cholesterol plays an
important role in our life; we will not survive if without it in our body.
Without it in our bodies, we will have cells, bone structure, muscles,
hormones, digestion, and brain function problems. Our cells would become flabby
and fluid.
Although we need
cholesterol, but we still have to control the amount of it. It is because too
much of cholesterol in our body can lead to a serious health problem such as
heart disease, stroke, overweight and so on.
Excessive LDL
cholesterol can form plaque on artery walls; it will influence our blood
circulation. Therefore, the risk of heart disease and stroke are increase.
However, HDL cholesterol is considered as good cholesterol, due to it carries
cholesterol to our liver so that our liver can remove the cholesterol from our
body. Therefore, the risk of heart disease and stroke are decrease.
The figure below
shows two different arteries, one is a clean and healthy artery while the other
is narrow artery.
References:
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