Cholesterol is a complex fatty substance that is essential for the normal functioning of the body such as formation of membranes covering the cells or the synthesis of hormones, but harmful when in excess. It is considered to be the chief cause for the narrowing of arteries which at times is known to cause heart attacks. Pure cholesterol is solid at room temperatures and is insoluble in water. It is present in all tissues of the human body in varying concentrations. An adult human has in total about 60 grams of cholesterol in the body about one gram of which is used up everyday. The lost cholesterol is made up in the liver through digestion of foods especially rich in a kind of fat substance called high density lipoproteins (HDLs). Cholesterol is harmful only when it is in excess amounts in the blood. This happens with the excessive intake of HDL-rich food such as animal fats, palm oil and coconut oil. The excess of cholesterol in the blood slowly settles on the insides of blood vessels narrowing their bore. This condition called atherosclerosis increases blood pressure and causes heart attacks and strokes.
