Information about Cholesterol Cholesterol is one of the most widely known sterols. It is most commonly ingested by the consumption of meat, fish, poultry, egg yolks, and milk fat. Cholesterol is an essential component of all animal cells. Too high a level of cholesterol in the bloodstream is connected with an increased incidence of coronary heart disease.
Cholesterol is also an example of a naturally occurring steroid.
There are over 100 different steroids and cholesterol is the precursor for all of them. It decreases the fluidity of a membrane because only animal membranes contain cholesterol. Its ring structure makes it more rigid than other membrane lipids. Cholesterol is synthesized in the liver and is found in almost all body tissues. An excess of cholesterol accumulates on the walls of the arteries which restricts the flow of blood.