There is a general perception that goes through your mind whenever you hear the word “Cholesterol”. And that perception is usually bad or attached to its harmful effects on our overall health, and our heart’s health in particular. But, this perception is not entirely true.
Apart from all the negative ideas you might have about cholesterol in your mind, you need to know that cholesterol plays a vital role in reparative functions. And it is a precursor to many hormones likes testosterone, estrogen, cortisol etc. It helps in the production of Vitamin-D, and also bile fluid which helps in digesting the foods we eat.
Your body makes three times as much cholesterol that you source from the foods you eat like egg yolks, animal protein, fish, etc… Over everything else, cholesterol is a powerful antioxidant that helps a lot in repairing the damage done through oxidation.
Let us consider the so-called bad cholesterol, which is otherwise called as LDL. LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein, which is simply a vessel that carries some cholesterol in it, along with it, it carries triglycerides, fat-soluble vitamins, and other things. We call it as bad cholesterol because whenever there is a block or narrow path in our arteries that restricts the blood flow to the heart, we find LDL or bad cholesterol in the zone. But the real culprit is not LDL, it is oxidation that causes the damage to our arteries.
When the arteries get damaged due to oxidation, the LDL receptor in the lining of the artery attracts the LDL and attaches itself to the damaged area. But your body is merely doing this to heal itself from the damage. So, the real culprit here is not cholesterol, it is oxidation.
So what causes oxidation?
Oxidation is mainly caused due to bad food habits. Some common foods that could induce oxidation include vegetable oils, fortified grain, refined sugar, refined grains, transfats, smoking, deep fried foods, alcohol.
So is cholesterol bad for your health? The short answer is NO!