The Cholesterol In Your Body
You may have heard that there is a good cholesterol and there is a bad cholesterol. Good cholesterol helps the body to function better, while bad cholesterol places the body at a high health risk. But where do we get these kinds of cholesterol? And how on earth could they affect different systems of the body, especially the circulatory system.
Cholesterol is substance that appears like wax, similar to that of oil which has been frozen solid. Like oil, it does not dissolve in water. It is also naturally present in the body. Like fats and sugars, cholesterol is useful to our well-being. That is, the body uses cholesterol to make other steroids. But an excess of anything is always perilous. Too much fats may lead to obesity, and too much sugars may result to diabetes. Too much cholesterol, too, may cause several coronary heart diseases, including the hardening of the arteries, an illness called arteriosclerosis. Unfortunately, we love eating foods that are rich in cholesterol, such as meat, eggs, and milk products.
Cholesterol, along with fats and lipids, is carried by substances called apolipoproteins. When these proteins attach themselves to cholesterol, they become lipoproteins. So far, scientists have identified five types of lipoproteins. First is called the chylomicrons. These carry a type of lipid called triglycerides. Second is called the Intermediate-Density Lipoproteins (IDL), which carry both triglycerides and cholesterol. Third is called the High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL). They are linked to “good” cholesterol, simply because they bring cholesterol to the liver, where the cholesterol may be excreted or be changed into other substances. Some health professionals believe that HDL in the body could be increased by exercise.
The remaining two lipoproteins are linked to “bad” cholesterol. These are the Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL), and the Very-Low-Density Lipoproteins (VLDL). Instead of taking the cholesterol to the liver, the LDL and the VLDL deposit the cholesterol on the walls of the blood vessels. The deposited cholesterol builds up and clogs the passageway of the blood, straining the heart muscles to work harder and perhaps more desperately.
Ideally, the body must have about 200 milligrams or less of total cholesterol. More than that, the body’s health is at risk. And since one large egg has about 213 mg of cholesterol, it implies that you should not consume all of it in one day. Sharing will be a good idea.
Health professionals advise that people who are twenty years old or older must have their cholesterol levels checked (a cholesterol screening) every five years, especially when they suffer diabetes or obesity, and when someone else in the family has a heart disease. Is the cholesterol in your body at safe levels?