If you're like me and have really high cholesterol, you've probably asked yourself a number of questions such as; "How do I lower it? What are the risks of high cholesterol? And what is cholesterol anyway??" Most people focus their attention on ways of lowering cholesterol without ever really knowing what cholesterol is. While you certainly don't need to know, being able to answer the question 'what is cholesterol?' may at least give you some better insights on why its important to keep it low, and how. If not, it may at least help prepare you for a spot on Jeopardy.

From the organic chemistry point of view, cholesterol is an aerobic chemical compound, sounds complex doesn't it? Well to continue, it is also hydrophobic in nature (doesn't like water). And, so? You might be asking. Perhaps a better way of putting it would be to explain how cholesterol works in the body.

Cholesterol is not all bad, it is absolutely vital to the existence of any animal; this includes us humans. The cell membranes of the human body have to remain fluid and flexible, unlike that of a plant. Plant cell membranes are rigid and have no flexibility. This is where cholesterol comes to the fore, this substance keeps the cell membranes of the animal flexible. The cell membranes of an animal/human consist of two layers of lipids. Both lipid cell layers have a head and a tail, these are hydrophilic and the head aligns with the watery exterior and interior of the cell while the tail aligns in the relatively water free centre of the cell. Cholesterol, travels between these two layers of lipids, keeping the membranes elastic. Kind of like a layer of oil between the surface of a piston ring and sleeve.

From this we conclude that the presence of cholesterol is vital to the life of an animal. Cholesterol is carried through the body on lipoprotein carriers, the most important are HDL and LDL. LDL or low-density lipoproteins are the dangerous ones. When LDL levels are high, there is a great risk of them clogging arteries.

When people ask me 'what is cholesterol?' that's usually what I tell them. I also tell them that it is an essential building block of several hormones, and is naturally produced by the liver. While our diets typically have plenty of cholesterol in them, the liver will naturally be able to meet all of our cholesterol needs without getting any from food. Therefore, you can never eat too little cholesterol. So, the next time someone asks you 'what is cholesterol?' you know what to say.