For those who are unaware, cholesterol is a fatty molecule that is regularly present in the blood and serves a number of crucial roles.
It is first and foremost a component of cell membranes and essential to their integrity. Then it plays a role in cellular metabolism and is essential for the manufacture of several hormones, including cortisol, testosterone, and oestrogen.
As a matter of fact, the body is eager to get it from the foods we consume in addition to manufacturing 30% of the blood’s cholesterol and 70% of the body’s total cholesterol.
However, its consumption with food and its synthesis in the liver are not independent.
In fact, typically, the synthesis rises when the food intake is lowered and falls down without a pause when the food is abundant in it.
The issue comes when cholesterol levels are excessively high, most often as a consequence of an imbalanced diet but sometimes as a result of a hereditary trait that causes the body to create too much cholesterol.
Foods may raise cholesterol levels just as much as they can pamper us, therefore it’s important to always communicate this. Other meals, on the other hand, may help to assist a drop in their levels.
In fact, several foods—like eggs, lobster, shrimp, squid, oysters, cuttlefish, and fish eggs—are relatively rich in cholesterol (bottarga, caviar and the like).
Therefore, it is important to consider the nutritional content of the foods we purchase, notably saturated fats, which are particularly prevalent in meals of animal origin, such as red meat and even more meats and cheeses, as well as in fried foods, many processed foods, and sweets.
It is usually advisable to use vegetable oils for condiments, especially olive oil since it contains mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids that lower cholesterol.
A crucial difference has to be noted when it comes to margarines: only those without the so-called hydrogenated or “trans” fatty acids, which are created via various processing steps to give vegetable oils a firm consistency, are healthful.
In general, it is important to have a balanced diet and take precautions, especially to prevent becoming overweight, which, when combined with obesity, contributes to the development of hypercholesterolemia.