Cholesterol is basicaly a waxy, hard fat-like substance found naturally in your cells and produced by your liver. Your body needs some cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help you digest foods.
While it is essential for vital bodily functions, very high levels of Cholesterol in your blood can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Eating excess saturated fat can increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, or “bad” cholesterol. Health experts agree that people should limit saturated fat and replace them with more nutritious, healthier alternatives.
Please Note that;
Eating cholesterol-rich foods may not significantly raise cholesterol levels in most people because your body compensates by reducing its natural production.
Some high cholesterol foods, like eggs and full-fat yogurt, may be part of a healthy diet, but processed meats and fried foods may harm your health and should be limited.
Adopting healthy lifestyle changes, such as eating more fiber, increasing physical activity, and quitting smoking, may lower LDL cholesterol levels and improve heart health.
What causes high cholesterol?
The most common cause of high cholesterol is an unhealthy lifestyle. This can include:
Unhealthy eating habits, such as eating lots of saturated fats. These fats are found in red meats, full-fat dairy products, chocolate, some baked goods, and many deep-fried and processed foods. Eating too much saturated fat can raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol.
Lack of physical activity, with lots of sitting and little exercise. This lowers your HDL (good) cholesterol.
Smoking, which lowers HDL cholesterol, especially in women. It also raises your LDL cholesterol.
Stress, which may raise levels of certain hormones such as corticosteroids. These can cause your body to make more cholesterol.
Drinking too much alcohol, which can raise your total cholesterol level.
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