Many doctors scare the terrible word "cholesterol".Only, as practice shows, very few really know what it is.
So, from the point of view of chemistry, cholesterol is alcohol, but it dissolves in fats. Cholesterol doctors identified only in the 18th century and gave it its traditional name, which can be deciphered as "fat bile".In English-speaking countries, by the way, its name sounds a little different - cholesterol.
Benefits and Harms of Cholesterol
About cholesterol say a lot of things that are bad, but in fact the human body needs it. It is involved in the synthesis of male and female hormones and ensures the stability of cell membranes. Most of the cholesterol is produced by the body itself, but 20% should be taken with food.
However, there is still harm from cholesterol. No wonder the doctors talk about bad and good cholesterol. How can cholesterol be good and bad at the same time? Quite a logical question, which has a completely logical answer. The fact is that cholesterol does not dissolve in water, and to deliver it through the blood into tissues, the body needs to connect it with lipoproteins - protein-transports. Lipoproteins, in turn, are different. There are proteins of small size, they are called low-density lipoproteins, and there are also high-density lipoproteins. These two kinds of proteins differently spread cholesterol in the body. Large proteins better carry cholesterol, and small ones often leave their "load" in the walls of the vessels, resulting in the development of atherosclerosis.
Everyone should know that high blood cholesterol does not mean that a person will need to be treated for a long time. The worst cholesterol is not the one that is contained in the blood, but the one that settles on the walls of the vessels, so you need to monitor not only the quantity, but also the quality of fat entering the body with food. Oily fish will bring more benefits to the body than fatty meat, but about the benefits of vegetable oils and do not need to say.
However, do not forget to track the amount of cholesterol entering the body. It is better if it is less than 300 mg.