THE IMPORTANCE OF CHOLESTEROL

[Guest guest]

Hi there please note where it says that cholesterol is used for

cortisol production - no wonder giving statins can cause muscle

weakness and other issues if people are already low on cortisol.

Taken from http://www.cholesterol-and-health.org.uk/cholesterol.html

What is cholesterol?

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Before we consider what cholesterol is, let us say what cholesterol

is not: Cholesterol is not a fat; it isn't made from fat; it isn't

even made from saturated fat. Cholesterol is an alcohol called a

'lipid alcohol'.

You can be forgiven for thinking that cholesterol is a harmful alien

substance that must be avoided at all costs. It isn't! Cholesterol is

an essential component in our bodies with a wide range of uses:

Body cells are being broken down and replaced all the time. Obvious

examples are finger nails, hair and skin cells, but almost all body

cells are replaced many times over during a person's life. Cholesterol

is a major building block for this process.

If you radically restrict your cholesterol intake to the point that

there is not enough cholesterol to repair and build tissue, cell

growth is disrupted.

Cholesterol is vital to keep cell membranes throughout the body intact

and permeable so that nutrients can pass into the cells, and waste

products can leave them.

Cholesterol is also found in the brain and nerve cells, where it is

essential for nerve transmission and for brain function.

Cholesterol is used to maintain normal hormone production including

the sex hormones in both men and women.

Cholesterol is crucial for the manufacture of the important

anti-stress hormone, cortisol.

Cholesterol is essential for the proper functioning of the immune system.

Cholesterol is used, in conjunction with sun on the skin, to make

Vitamin D3.

Cholesterol is used to make bile acids, essential for proper digestion

of fats and in ridding the body of waste products.

Cholesterol is so important that practically every body cell has the

ability to make it.

Eat as much cholesterol as you like

Your body can absorb only about 300 mg of cholesterol per day from the

foods you eat and, as your body needs many times that amount, it then

makes up the difference. Although the major proportion is manufactured

in the liver, almost all body cells can make cholesterol. For this

reason, if you eat less cholesterol, your body will compensate by

making more cholesterol; if you eat more cholesterol, your body will

make less. And you can eat foods containing as much as 5 times the

usual 300 mg without it having any effect on the amount of cholesterol

in your blood. So it doesn't matter how much cholesterol you eat.