Ah cholesterol, the much vilified
nutrient! If we listen to most of
the traditional nutrition and health information out there we are forced to
think that cholesterol is extremely bad for us and should be avoided at all
costs. However, as many of you may
know already, cholesterol is essential for human life. It is a major component of all of our
cellular membranes and is the precursor to many hormones we need (1).
Also frequently mentioned are the different
types of cholesterol, the so-called “bad” cholesterol, LDL, and the “good”
cholesterol HDL. However, calling
these two transport molecules cholesterol is really a misnomer, as they are
complexes containing many different types of proteins, fatty acids, and only a
portion of it is actual cholesterol.
These two molecules have different functions in our body, and can come
in a variety of sizes. However,
labeling them “good” and “bad” cholesterol is incorrect and misleading.
So is there actually a “bad” form of
cholesterol? I have already said
that cholesterol is essential for life, but there is a type of cholesterol that
does appear to be bad for us. This
type of cholesterol is cholesterol esters, which is just a cholesterol molecule
attached (esterified) to a fatty acid. Not all cholesterol esters are equal
though, ones that are attached to polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) appear to
be the most dangerous.
