What (Too Much) Cholesterol Is Doing to Your Body

Cholesterol is a wax-like substance found in your cells and blood. Your liver creates most of the cholesterol in your body. As for the rest? It comes from the different foods you eat. Cholesterol travels in the blood bundled up in packets referred to as lipoproteins.

Cholesterol has two forms:

• High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is the “good,” healthy cholesterol. HDL carries excessive amounts of cholesterol out of your arteries to your liver, which then removes it from your body.
• Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is the “bad,” unhealthy cholesterol that your doctor warns you about. LDL can accumulate in your arteries and form fatty, …read more