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| Important basics |  |
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| Fat-soluble vitamins | ||
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| Water-soluble vitamins | ||
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| Elements | ||
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- Important Basics Food Charts -
8: CHOLESTEROL:
There is another type of fat, called sterols. Cholesterol is the sterol found in all animal tissues; in plants, the sterols are of a different kind.
Cholesterol forms a part of all animal cell walls (membranes). It is also used to make hormones like cortisol and to make bile acids.
Unfortunately, it can also accumulate in the inner parts of arteries, leading to progressive reduction in the diameter of blood vessels and in blood flow. This in turn leads to heart attacks, angina
, abnormal heart rhythms and heart failure when the vessels affected are the coronary arteries supplying the heart. Arteries supplying blood to the brain, the legs, the kidneys and the gut can also be affected.
The extent to which cholesterol accumulates in arteries depends in part on the level of cholesterol in the blood. When high, this is called hypercholesterolaemia. Not only dietary cholesterol, but also dietary saturated fat, elevate the blood cholesterol level. Polyunsaturated fat and certain kinds of dietary fibre lower the blood cholesterol level.
It is worth remembering that the body can make its own cholesterol so that dietary cholesterol is not an essential nutrient.
Note: In seafood, some of the sterols that were once believed to be cholesterol are actually a different kind, so the values shown in the Cholesterol Food Charts for seafood may be less than in some other references.
CHOLESTEROL INTAKE
The safe range of cholesterol intake is:
200-400 milligrams per day.
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Important Basics |  |
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| - | Energy | ||
| - | Water | ||
| - | Dietary Fibre | ||
| - | Protein | ||
| - | Phenylalanine | ||
| - | Carbohydyrate | ||
| - | Fat | ||
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Cholesterol | ||
| - | Saturated and Unsaturated Fat | ||
| - | Alcohol | ||
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