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Cholesterol. The word itself evokes images of arteries narrowed by atherosclerotic plaque, the gunk that sticks to vessels and impedes the passage of blood the way a kink in a garden hose slows the flow of water. Or perhaps we think of cholesterol as something our favorite foods—ice cream, two-crust pies, steaks, French fries—are rich in, a culinary spoiler that makes us choose the fish yet again. (Hold the Béarnaise, please.)
But the drumbeat of public health messages about the hazards of too much dietary cholesterol obscures a more complex reality, namely that cholesterol is essential to animal life. In fact, much of the cholesterol in us is manufactured by our own bodies, not obtained from our foods. It serves as a precursor to the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone and to vitamin D, which is necessary for the formation of bone. Cholesterol is also needed to produce the bile acids that digest fats. Cholesterol is only dangerous when the body's regulation of it goes awry, owing to genetic or environmental causes.
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