Cholesterol is a waxy substance that occurs naturally in all parts of the body. Produced in the body by the liver, it is carried through the body to the cells and takes what it needs. The excess cholesterol is then transported back to the liver.

If this excess isn’t picked up quickly, it can stick to artery walls and lead to cardiovascular disease. The body uses cholesterol to produce hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help digest fat. Only a small amount of cholesterol is needed to meet these needs. Excess cholesterol in the bloodstream can be harmful.

Cholesterol is considered a type of fat, a sterol to be precise. Its production starts with sugar molecules. Please read the preceding sentence a thousand times again and again. Yes, cholesterol production begins when the cells of the body see sugar molecules. These sugar molecules can be glucose (found in starches, processed and un processed foods and all vegetables), fructose (found in fruit and berries) and galactose (found in lactose which is comprised of glucose and galactose).

High blood cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms; so there are a lot of people that are completely unaware that their cholesterol level is too high. It is important to find out what your cholesterol numbers are because lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens the risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of a heart attack or stroke.

Even if you have already had a heart attack or stroke, lower cholesterol will reduce your chance of having second one.
Fat is the major source of energy for the body, but excessive fat in the diet is dangerous. The excess fat raises blood cholesterol levels. It’s bad for the circulatory system and causes heart attack or stroke. The amount of fat and cholesterol in a diet should just be according to the daily calories required by the body.

There's also a significant portion of people with high cholesterol that don't follow a high cholesterol diet, do not consume high amounts of fat and do exercise regularly. These people are merely genetically predisposed to having high cholesterol. Though they may achieve some lowering of cholesterol through increasing their efforts at exercise and adding foods known for lowering cholesterol, they will probably still need a medication.

It is good to go to your local book store and find a low cholesterol diet cookbook, because a lot of the time you can find delicious recipes that are much lower in cholesterol than other foods. For example if you get hungry for french fries while on a low cholesterol diet, consider this - most low cholesterol cookbooks will have a recipe for oven fries.

There are two main types of fat: saturated and unsaturated fat. Saturated fat facilitates the accumulation of cholesterol inside the body, while unsaturated fat reduces blood cholesterol levels and therefore minimizes the chances of developing cardio-vascular diseases. A low cholesterol diet should exclude foods that are rich in saturated fat and include more foods that contain unsaturated fat. Simple carbohydrates contained by sweets should also be excluded from your low cholesterol diet.

Your diet to lower cholesterol is actually just a sensible approach to eating. Plants and foods that have no labels are what to include. Animal muscles and organs and foods with multi-ingredient labels are not. Just think of food selection as a natural process. It really isn't difficult to discern that a delicious and succulent apple is better for your cholesterol levels (and everything else) than is a steak and egg biscuit soaked in grease. Clean plant foods do not have any cholesterol to build up on your arterial walls.


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