Cholesterol is a soft, waxy material that is produced by the liver and is found in the cell membranes and bloodstream of the human body. While cholesterol has been demonized as being a risk to health, it is essential for proper health and body function. It serves many functions in the body that maintain cellular integrity, produce important hormones, aids in digestion, and improves learning and memory.
Cell Wall Construction
Cholesterol is found in all cells in the body. It is concentrated in the cell membranes, where half the molecules are cholesterol. Cholesterol also is used in constructing organelles within the cell. These include mitochondria, which provide energy to the cell, and the endoplasmic reticulum where proteins are made and modified. Within cells, cholesterol also assists in cell signaling. This is a form of communication on a cellular level and facilitates cells to work in unison. Cholesterol is also important in maintaining the fluids within the cell itself.
Hormone and Vitamin Development
A steroid, cholesterol is the precursor for many steroidal hormones. These include glucocorticoids, which help regulate blood sugar, and mineralcorticoids, which assist in blood pressure regulation and balancing minerals within the body. Cholesterol is also used in the production of sex hormones, which regulate reproductive processes. It is the precursor for the hormone pregnenolone, which in turn is the precursor for progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone, which are responsible for, and essential to, healthy reproductive activities.
Digestion
Cholesterol is also used by the body to synthesize bile acids. For the human body to digest fats, they must first be emulsified. Bile acids allow fats and water to combine within the digest tract. This breaks the large amounts of fat down into smaller components that can be more easily digested. Bile acids are produced from cholesterol within the liver and are passed to the intestines by the gallbladder.
Learning and Memory
Cholesterol is important to the nervous system. It is critical in the process of developing synapses, or connections between nerve cells, within the brain. Cholesterol production is highest within the brain and nervous system during sleep.
Vitamin D Production
Another function of cholesterol within the body is to act as a precursor for vitamin D. In conjunction with exposure to sunlight, a human body naturally synthesizes cholesterol into vitamin D. The vitamin is essential for body function, particularly for calcium metabolism, which can help to improve bone health, mental acuity, immune system strength and the regulation of blood sugar.
