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While most people understand there is a good type of cholesterol and a bad type, few understand what it is about each that makes it so. It isn't that "bad" cholesterol makes your number go up, and "good" cholesterol makes it go down. In fact, the two types of cholesterol work with and against each other in your body in a constant battle.

The type of cholesterol commonly thought of as bad is called LDL, for low-density lipoids. This gunky stuff is attracted to other molecules just like it, so it tends to accumulate in chunks. When it moves around in the bloodstream, it can't float in the normal blood fluids because it isn't water soluble, so it has to hitch a ride on lipoproteins. Sometimes when they're making the tour of your body, they get sucked into the walls of your blood vessels. This causes two problems. It makes your blood vessels harden, and it coats them on the inside. We know these two conditions can lead to increased blood pressure and an increased risk of strokes and heart attacks.

On the other side of the spectrum, HDL, which stands for high-density lipoids, is zipping around your body, frantically trying to find LDL particles to take the back to the liver, where they can be reused as bile or excreted. HDL particles are like little scrubbers. They work to scour the sludgy LDL out of your vessels and keep the blood highways open. This is why it is preferable to have high HDL levels along with your low LDL levels. More HDL is like having a higher chaperone to mischief-maker ratio.

To understand how cholesterols work against each other in your body, imagine your blood vessels as a series of flexible pipe. When your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels get high, your pipes do two things: they get harder and less flexible, like a PVC pipe, and they get coated with plaque, like concrete. So now you have a PVC pipe coated on the inside with concrete. When your blood vessels narrow, your heart has to pump the same amount of blood through a smaller system. This raises the pressure of the system - also known as raising your blood pressure.

If you were to squeeze a PVC pipe (or bang it on a table), a little chunk of concrete might come loose. If a chunk of something moving through your system is too big to get past the concrete coated pipe, it can get stuck. This is bad for the whole body. When this happens in the coronary artery and a portion of your heart isn't able to get oxygen and nutrients, it's known as a heart attack. When the blockage travels to your neck or brain, it's known as a stroke. These blockages, also called embolisms, can occur in other parts of the body as well.

HDL is like a sandblasting system that moves through your body and chips off pieces of concrete in your pipes. It keeps the pathways clean to prevent traffic jams, and puts the offenders in liver jail where they belong, thus reducing your risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

While the fact is that cholesterol is a requirement to build cell membranes, produce bile, and make babies, over-indulging in foods with bad cholesterol can be devastating to your health. A balance of good fats in your diet will give your HDL a boost and keep your pipes running clean.

Learn more about this author, Kimberly Dawn Wells.
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