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What is cholesterol in simple terms?

What is cholesterol in simple terms?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that’s found in all the cells in your body. Your body needs some cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help you digest foods. Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs.

What is the main cause of cholesterol?

Many different factors can contribute to high blood cholesterol, including lifestyle factors like smoking, an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise, as well as having an underlying condition, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

What foods are high in cholesterol?

Foods that contain cholesterol and are high in saturated fat. Full fat dairy foods such as milk, cheese, yogurt and cream. Animal fats, such as butter, ghee, margarines and spreads made from animal fats, lard, suet and dripping. Fatty meat and processed meat products such as sausages.

How do you feel when your cholesterol is high?

What Are the Symptoms of Cholesterol Problems? A high level of cholesterol in the blood doesn’t have obvious symptoms, but it can increase your risk for conditions that do have symptoms, including angina (chest pain caused by heart disease), high blood pressure, stroke, and other circulatory ailments.

What is cholesterol and what exactly does it do?

Cholesterol is a waxy substance your liver makes to protect nerves and to make cell tissue and certain hormones . Your body also gets cholesterol from the food you eat. This includes eggs, meats, and dairy.

Which cholesterol is the bad one?

LDL (bad) cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is considered the “bad” cholesterol, because it contributes to fatty buildups in arteries ( atherosclerosis ).

How can you tell if you have cholesterol?

The only sure-fire way to find out if you have high cholesterol is through a lipid panel, which is a blood test that will look at the key lipids, or fats, that are in the blood, such as: Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) High-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (“good” cholesterol) Triglycerides Total cholesterol

What does cholesterol do to your body?

Cholesterol is a waxy, odorless substance made by the liver that is an essential part of cell walls and nerves. Cholesterol plays an important role in body functions such as digestion and hormone production.

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