Monday, September 28, 2009
Cholesterol is actually a type of fat and in its raw form is a waxy yellow gunk. It is different from most fats because the cholesterol molecule is more like a steroid molecule. Your body uses it to produce different hormones.
It is actually pretty easy to eat a diet that is lower in cholesterol, but we now know that the types of fats we consume are as important as the amount of cholesterol we eat. It is the way that saturated fats and trans-fats interact with cholesterol in the bloodstream that can cause health problems.
Your liver produces about 300 mg of cholesterol per day, which is about what is needed for the body to function properly. But we also consume cholesterol in the foods that we eat. Because plants don’t produce cholesterol, any cholesterol that we eat must come from animal products. A lean cut of meat has the same amount of cholesterol as one with a lot of fat. The key is to eat the one that is leaner and thus lower in saturated fat.
