Cholesterol

What foods contain cholesterol?
Cholesterol is present in all animal products we eat meat, poultry, fish, milk and milk products, and egg yolk. Both the lean parts (muscle) and fat of meat and the meat and skin of poultry contain cholesterol. Cholesterol is not found in foods of plant origin such as fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, and dry beans and peas. Quick breads and other baked products may contain some cholesterol if they are made with ingredients such as egg yolk, cheese, milk, butter, or lard.

Although cholesterol is important and necessary for human health, high levels of cholesterol in the blood have been linked to damage to arteries and [|cardiovascular disease].[|[][|2][|]] [|François Poulletier de la Salle] first identified cholesterol in solid form in [|gallstones], in 1769. However, it was only in 1815 that chemist [|Eugène Chevreul] named the compound "cholesterine"
 * Cholesterol**, from the [|Greek] //chole-// ([|bile]) and //stereos// (solid) followed by the [|chemical] [|suffix] //-ol// for an alcohol, is an [|organic] [|chemical substance] classified as a waxy [|steroid] of fat. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes and is required to establish proper [|membrane permeability] and [|fluidity]. In addition, cholesterol is an important component for the [|manufacture] of [|bile acids], [|steroid hormones], and [|vitamin D]. Cholesterol is the principal [|sterol] synthesized by animals; in [|vertebrates] it is formed predominantly in the [|liver]. Small quantities are synthesized in other [|eukaryotes] such as [|plants] and [|fungi]. It is almost completely absent among [|prokaryotes], i.e. bacteria.



[[image:Cholesterol-Levels.jpg]]

 * ~ **Total Cholesterol** ||~  ||
 * Less than 200 || Desirable ||
 * 200-239 || Borderline high ||
 * 240 and above || High ||


 * ~ **HDL Cholesterol** ||~  ||
 * Less than 40 (men) || Low ||
 * Less than 50 (women) || Low ||
 * 60 and above || Optimal ||


 * ~ LDL Cholesterol ||~  ||
 * Less than 100 || Optimal ||
 * 100-129 || Near optimal/above optimal ||
 * 130-159 || Borderline high ||
 * 160-189 || High ||
 * 190 and above || Very high ||


 * ~ Triglycerides ||~  ||
 * Less than 150 || Normal ||
 * 150-199 || Borderline high ||
 * 200-499 || High ||
 * 500 and above || Very high ||