Posts Tagged ‘hormones’
What is Cholesterol and Why It Matters?
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a fatty substance from two sources: their own body and some foods. The liver makes the cholesterol necessary and sufficient for the normal functioning of the body.
The body uses cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help digest fat. It takes only a small amount of cholesterol in the blood to meet these needs.
Cholesterol is the main sterol in the human body and precursor of all other steroids body. It is part of cell membranes, lipoproteins, bile acids and steroid hormones.
Cholesterol is an important constituent of gallstones, but its main pathological feature, is for the production of atherosclerosis of vital arteries causing heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.
The animal-derived foods are rich in cholesterol, especially eggs, dairy and meat. Most of this is in esterified form.
The body absorbs about half the cholesterol content in the diet. Plant sterols are poorly absorbed by the body.
Obesity And Cancer
There is a direct association between body weight and the risk of certain cancers (breast, colon and rectum, and the inner lining of the uterus – called the endometrium, among others).
Obesity is accompanied by a series of changes in the body, mainly chemical signals circulating in the blood (hormones and other substances called “growth factors”), which favor the development of tumors.
Obesity could be a “marker” of exposure to carcinogens in the diet, linked to the consumption of fat, especially animal fat. Read the rest of this entry »