People are concerned with lowering their cholesterol levels, and many people would like to know how they can do this. Cholesterol is a crystalline substance that is classified as a steroid. However, because it is soluble in fats rather than water, it is also classified as a lipid. This is why people who wish to lower their cholesterol levels are told to avoid meat and other foods containing animal products. Despite the bad reputation, cholesterol is actually required for the body to function.
Cholesterol is used by cells to build membranes, used in sex hormones, and for digestion.
The cells take what they need, and any extra stays in the blood stream until other lipoproteins pick it up for transport back to your liver. LDL are often called bad cholesterol and HDL are called good cholesterol. An analysis of the function of each explains why they are called bad and good. Low-density lipoproteins are heavily laden with cholesterol, because they are the molecules that transport cholesterol from the liver to all the cells of the body. High-density lipoproteins, however carry fairly little cholesterol, and circulate in the blood stream removing excess cholesterol from your body tissues and blood.