How Does the Body Use Dietary Cholesterol?
Purpose Cholesterol is a fatty substance which travels through the bloodstream to the cells, where it is used to make cell membranes. It also assists with certain hormone production. For these reasons, it is essential to our good health. When measuring cholesterol levels it is important to be aware of both HDL (the good kind) and LDL (the bad kind). Too much LDL or too little HDL can increase risk of cardiovascular disease. HDL makes up about 1/4 to 1/3 the total cholesterol number and has a special role in the removal of extra LDL through the liver. Sources jQuery(document).ready(function(){ jQuery(‘#jsArticleStep1 span.image a:first’).attr(‘href’,’http://i.ehow.com/images/a04/s9/b8/body-use-dietary-cholesterol-2.1-800X800.jpg’); }); About 75 percent of cholesterol is produced by the body while 25 percent is acquired through the food we eat. Foods high in saturated fat from meat and dairy products provide our dietary sources of cholesterol. These include fatty cuts of beef, pork, chic
