“Good” Cholesterol Vs “Bad” Cholesterol

April 7, 2008

Do you ever try to scan every product available in your local grocery? You will find that majority of that product is labeled as …-free, i don’t mean it is ‘free of charge’ but it’s mentioned as is bromate-free, fat-free, cholesterol-free, preservative-free, etc. You see?

This is not absolutely bad, but we have to be more concern about the foods we consume and the nutrients that we get from them, and that was recommended by health experts. Please note, not everything that is –free is good for our health. Our body need certain substances to run well. Let us take a look at cholesterol for example. Really simply defined, cholesterol is a fatty substance that occurs naturally in the blood, cell walls and most body tissues. Cholesterol is made by the liver, and it enters the body via foods rich in saturated fat.

There are two kind of cholesterol: the good and bad cholesterol. Why they mentioned as the good cholesterol because it is needed for certain important body functions, but cholesterol also has an bad side. If the bad cholesterol present in excessive amounts in our body, it can injure blood vessels, then cause heart attacks and stroke.

Low density lipoprotein (LDL) is the “evil” cholesterol. This is the form in which cholesterol is carried into the blood and is the main cause of dangerous fatty buildup in arteries. The higher the LDL cholesterol levels in the blood, the higher the heart disease risk.
On the other side, high density lipoprotein (HDL) is the “good” cholesterol. This “good” cholesterol carries blood cholesterol back to the liver, where it can be eliminated. HDL helps prohibit a cholesterol buildup in blood vessels. Low HDL levels increase heart disease risk.

Before going into cholesterol deprivation program, You should mention that cholesterol is needed for human life. It develops and repairs cell, it is needed to produce sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone, it is converted to bile acids to help you digest food and it is found in large amounts in important organ such as brain.

Posted by N. A. Hilal | Filed Under Blog, Foods 

Comments

One Response to ““Good” Cholesterol Vs “Bad” Cholesterol”

  1. Alreinsius STS on May 16th, 2008 10:13 am

    Hi!
    This is a very interesting and useful article. Thank you.
    Can you further this LDL and HDL topic with more specific information like the scores of LDL and HDL, the measurement unit and of course, more importantly, how we can reach and maintain our lDL and HDL scores healthily.
    Keep Up The Good Work.
    Cheers,
    Alreinsius STS

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