Low Cholesterol Diet

Excerpt

Cholesterol is a fatty molecule found in different tissues of the body and circulated through the blood. It is produced within the body tissues, mainly by the liver, and also gets absorbed from the diet consumed. Cholesterol also called lipid molecules, are found in the walls of cells in all parts of the body, more so in the nervous system. It gets stored in the liver and adipose tissue. The body uses cholesterol to make cell membranes, hormones, bile acids, vitamin D, and other substances. Cholesterol circulates to and fro to the tissues but needs to be attached to specific protein molecules in the bloodstream. These lipid-protein complexes are called lipoproteins, which have cholesterol (lipid) inside and protein outside. Two specialized kinds of lipoproteins that carry cholesterol in the blood are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL is also called the “bad” cholesterol because it carries cholesterol to tissues. HDL is also called the “good” cholesterol because it carries cholesterol from tissues to the liver, where it gets degraded or transformed. Most of the circulating cholesterol is in the LDL form. The higher the serum cholesterol concentration, the higher the chance of its deposition in the tissues leading to disease manifestations of coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease.