Cholesterol Health Center

Cholesterol: How it Works in Your Body

Like most of my patients, you've probably been trained to think of cholesterol as bad. Or maybe you've heard terms like "good cholesterol" and "bad cholesterol." But the fact is your body makes and uses cholesterol. It's a natural waxy substance produced by your liver and ingested from foods you eat. Your body uses it for cell membranes, hormone production, and for converting vitamin D into a form your body can use. It is a vital part of these functions—you need it.

Cholesterol is packaged in a special molecule called lipoprotein that allows it to move around the body in your bloodstream. There are two main types of these lipoproteins, low-density (LDL) and high-density (HDL). The LDLs take the cholesterol from your liver throughout your body, wherever it's needed. The HDLs are responsible for taking the unused cholesterol back to your liver where it is either recycled or eliminated.

As with most of the systems in your body, it's a very efficient process—until diet and lifestyle disrupt the proper balance of LDLs and HDLs. If there aren't enough HDLs to take the excess cholesterol back to your liver, the LDL cholesterol stays in your tissues and becomes vulnerable to oxidation. This is when cholesterol levels become a factor in cardiovascular health.

To learn more about Dr. Sinatra's top recommendation for cholesterol health, click here.

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