Cholesterol has become one of the biggest health concerns for industrial and post-industrial nations in today’s world.

You can’t seem to go a single day without seeing some ad or article warning of cholesterol’s potential to damage the circulatory system. However, cholesterol as a whole is rarely clearly defined.

Cholesterol is a lipid, which basically means that it’s form of fat, and it is necessary to every living thing on our planet.

Even plants have trace amounts of cholesterol contained in cell membranes.

Cholesterol is necessary to the formation of cellular membranes and many hormones the body needs to run properly.

Because it is so widely used to build cells, pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and growing children all need to ingest a decent amount of cholesterol every day.

However, most cholesterol is synthesized by the body from other fats we take in, and any balanced, healthy diet contains more than enough for any human being.

Any living body, from a cell to a full-grown human, is a process in continual motion. As a part of that process, cholesterol must be kept in balance.

Enough must be ingested and synthesized to keep bodily functions going, and enough must be excreted from the body to keep from growing “plaques” of cholesterol on the inside of blood vessels.

Industrial and post-industrial cultures usually have a problem with keeping cholesterol levels from growing too high, rather than suffering from an insufficient amount.

Because cholesterol is synthesized within the body, dietary changes may not be enough to keep cholesterol levels under control, which is why cholesterol-lowering medications can be a viable therapy for some people.

If a given person’s system naturally produces high levels of cholesterol no matter how little cholesterol he or she eats, medication helps curtail the over-production.

However, cholesterol medication should never be used to justify a poor diet or unhealthy lifestyle.

Many people think of their cholesterol in terms of HDL and LDL cholesterol. While useful as a shortcut, this is actually inaccurate.

Both HDL and LDL are forms of lipoproteins.

In other words, they are systems of protein chains that carry cholesterol along with them. Cholesterol does not dissolve in blood, so these lipoprotein “baskets” are necessary to convey cholesterol through the bloodstream.

Without HDL and LDL, cholesterol would quickly clump up in any given blood vessel, block it off and create massive systemic problems.

In speaking of cholesterol, as with anything else in the human body, it’s a balancing game.

The body is a marvel of engineering and produces nothing unnecessary to life.

Cholesterol is not the enemy, it does not deserve the level of stress and fear that it’s been stamped with, it’s a fat molecule.

An overdose of cholesterol can kill just as surely as an overdose of oxygen or water.

However, if you have a problem with high cholesterol levels, applied education is the best weapon you have, so research everything, decide on the therapy best for you, and then hopefully enjoy your long life!

These days we hear a lot of warnings about cholesterol, but the funny thing is, cholesterol isn’t all bad. Your body produces it naturally and it performs some pretty vital jobs – helping to build new cells, as well as produce hormones and insulate nerves. Only when you’ve got too much do you have a problem.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of confusion surrounding this substance because it’s made up of both good and bad cholesterol, and is known as HDL and LDL. So which is the good guy, and which is the bad guy ?
HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol is the good guy (higher the better), and LDL (low-density lipoprotein) is the bad guy – the artery-clogging little devil.

Every Day Ways Of Keeping Your Cholesterol Low.

Watch your weight.
The more overweight you are, the more cholesterol your body produces. So if your weight is up, this is one more reason to bring it down, but do so with a healthy diet.

Cut Out The Fat.
You’d be wise to cut back on such sources of saturated fat as meat, butter, cheese and hydrogenated oil. Whenever possible, replace these items with fish, poultry, low-fat dairy products and polyunsaturated oils.

Switch To Olive Oil.
Olive oil contains monounsaturates which is said to help lower cholesterol levels if added to your food on a daily basis. Two or Three table spoons full a day should be sufficient

Go Easy On The Eggs
Don’t feel you have cut them out entirely, if you want to play safe then limit your eggs to about three a week, or use egg whites only.

Be Full Of Beans
Nutritious and inexpensive, beans and other pulses contain a water-soluble fibre called pectin that helps clear cholesterol out of the body.

Eat More Fruit
Fruit also gets it’s cholesterol lowering punch from pectin, so by eating lots of fresh fruit you will help to lower your cholesterol levels.

Have Your Oats
Oat bran also helps to lower cholesterol in a similar fashion to pectin rich fruit. In fact it was a high oat bran diet that helped me to reduce my cholesterol level. I used it on cereals, and mixed it into meals that I ate. It looks a bit like sawdust, but it’s really effective.

Other Foods That Are Recommended.
Carrots can lower cholesterol. Carrots by way of their pectin content the same as fruit. Two carrots a day should be enough to help when combined with other foods which have been recommended. Eat them raw if possible.

Take Garlic
Eat raw garlic. As well as reducing your circle of friends, it will reduce harmful blood fats. If you don’t fancy eating raw garlic, then use the liquid garlic extract which can be bought in capsule form. These can be purchased at your local supermarket or health food store.

Don’t Smoke
Studies have shown that heavy smokers have a higher cholesterol than non smokers, so here’s another reason to give up. You’ll also save yourself a bundle of cash as well ! – In smoking trials which were carried out in Sweden, smokers tended to suffer from low levels of the beneficial HDL cholesterol.

Medication – Drugs
There’s now plenty of drugs on the market for lowering cholesterol levels. But, as with all drugs there’s always side effects to take into account, so try the natural methods first. Only use drugs as a last resort.