Cholesterol is an organic molecule that is waxy and fat-like in texture. Cholesterol is found in all cells of the human body. It composes about 30% of all animal cells and is essential for the sustenance of life. It is not possible for animal cells to survive in the absence of cholesterol. It is by virtue of cholesterol, that the cellular membranes have fluidity. Cholesterol is needed by our bodies to synthesise Vitamin D and serves as a basis for all steroidal hormones.
Since cholesterol is so critical for survival, our body has an internal 37-step mechanism to synthesize it. The body of an average human male (150 lb) synthesises about 1 gram of cholesterol daily. However, when cholesterol is ingested, it is esterified. The body fails to absorb esterified cholesterol. This is the reason why the cholesterol ingested with food does not condition, if not a bit, the blood’s cholesterol-levels, even after 7-10 hours of consuming it. However, when lipoproteins start distributing absorbed fats within extracellular water, the concentration rises. Cholesterol starts to accumulate in the arteries.