What Is the Function of Cholesterol Molecules?

Although the medical community has heavily advocated for the reduction of cholesterol through the consumption of a whole grain diet, what it usually doesn't explain is that that our bodies naturally produce much of the cholesterol found in our blood. While the dangers of high cholesterol are widely acknowledged, the fact is the body needs cholesterol for necessary functions.

Types

• There are two types of cholesterol molecules, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Most people know LDL as "bad cholesterol" and HDL as "good cholesterol."

Identification

• Both HDL and LDL cholesterol molecules are very large, carbon-hydrogen-oxygen chains containing 27 carbon atoms, 46 hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The only way to distinguish between the two types of cholesterol molecules is by the difference in their protein carriers.

Function

• Cholesterol helps stabilize cells from temperature changes. It is an essential component in cell membranes, a major part of the insulating sheath housing nerve cells and helps us synthesize calcium into bone. Cholesterol serves as a forerunner to sex hormones and helps produce bile used to digest foods.

Negative Effects

• Excessive cholesterol in the blood can lead to clogged arteries, which can cause a stroke or a heart attack.

History

• Cholesterol was first isolated in 1770, but widely ignored until German chemist Adolf Windaus created a detailed, albeit erroneous, structure of its molecular composition in 1903. Windaus' colleague Heinrich Wieland studied the correct structure of cholesterol with x-rays in the 1930s. American chemist Robert B. Woodward synthesized cholesterol from simple compounds in 1951, helping to further the scientific community's understanding of cholesterol molecules.