The Main Functions of Cholesterol
Cholesterol has three main functions: helps produce hormones, a building block for cells and assists in bile production in the liver.
Lisa Klein-Davis, Physician Assistant with Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, affirms people’s body produces enough cholesterol that it needs, to be able to do all of these functions that are essential.
Dr. Jonathan Fialkow, Chief Population Health Officer with Baptist Health South Florida, explains cholesterol is mostly made in the body. Excess cholesterol can cause inflammation if it is built up in the arteries.
Excess of it is removed by the body. If it efficiently clears the excess, people have a low cholesterol level, he affirms.
Transcript
Let’s go over some of the overall functions of cholesterol here and find out because, when you talk about good cholesterol here you go, the graphic will tell us that it helps produce hormones which I don’t think a lot of people are aware of these three things, are what cholesterol is good for.> Well cholesterol is necessary for it like said two building blocks for cells for cell, membranes, it does it’s an important part of we need it to for certain hormones in our body, bile production which helps to you know break down certain types of food, so cholesterol is essential for us too and again, our bodies are going to produce enough cholesterol that we need to be able to do all of these functions that are essential so.> If you’re thinking things from an evolutionary standpoint our bodies produce what they should and what we need and really don’t want what it doesn’t need, and cholesterol as we’ve said is essential the body must have it, it’s a building block for the hormones and and cell membrane structures so that’s why the body makes cholesterol, I wouldn’t leave it up to nature to say I must have this food or I die because it’s so important so we manufacture cholesterol. >Okay so now we’ve looked at good cholesterol we’ll go to the bad stuff what causes the bad levels. > So again here to dispel myths so as we said because cholesterol is mostly made in the body, it’s used in the body and excess cholesterol can cause inflammation if it builds up in the arteries, so the body has mechanisms to get rid of the extra cholesterol, so the body makes cholesterol travels around in the blood used excess is delivered to the liver where it’s cleared actually through our intestinal tract, so the body will remove excess cholesterol, the main differentiators of why some people have high cholesterol and low cholesterol is actually a lot of genetic factors, your ability to clear the cholesterol, so if you and I make the same amount of cholesterol, we use the same amount of cholesterol, but my body doesn’t efficiently clear the excess, I have a high cholesterol level, if your body really efficiently clears it you have a low cholesterol level.
