Most people have heard that cholesterol is something we need to worry about but most of us don't really understand why. Cholesterol does some important work for the body and is needed in all of our cells for healthy functioning.

Cholesterol gets into the body in two ways. It can be produced by the liver or it can come from foods that we eat, mainly food from animals like eggs, meat and dairy. Since the liver makes all the cholesterol we need, a diet that's heavy in these types of food can lead to an excess of cholesterol.

Some complicated processes are involved in transporting cholesterol from the liver to where it's needed in the body. Because cholesterol doesn't dissolve in the blood, it needs a special kind of protein called a lipoprotein to carry it in the bloodstream and get it to all parts of the body. One kind of lipoprotein, called LDL, carries the cholesterol from the liver to the body and another, called HDL, carries the unused cholesterol back to the liver to get flushed from the body.

Ordinarily, your HDL is balanced by your LDL. The problem comes when there isn't enough HDL to handle all the extra cholesterol that got delivered by the LDL but wasn't needed. Too much LDL can sometimes be traced back to those fatty animal based foods in our diet.

The end result is that too much cholesterol gets dumped into the blood without a way to get back. Since the excess cholesterol doesn't have anywhere to go it slowly gets absorbed by the walls of the arteries. Since anything unusual like this is considered to be a hostile invader, the white blood cells start to attack the cholesterol seeping into the inner walls of the arteries. This is when the real problems start.

When the white blood cells go on the offensive against the cholesterol, the walls of the arteries get inflamed. Even worse, the cholesterol stuck to the inside of the arteries starts to form a hard shell called plaque. Now the artery starts to get narrower and the increase in plaque causes the white blood cells to attack even harder causing even more inflammation and even more plaque.

Since the arteries are now weaker and narrower because of the plaque buildup the heart has to work harder to get the blood through. The arteries are weak and if they get any weaker they can spring a leak and cause blood clots. Now the body is at risk for two grave dangers. The first risk is that the heart isn't getting as much blood as it did before and that can lead to a heart attack. The second risk is that a blood clot could block the blood flow to the brain causing a stroke.

Fortunately, there are a couple of things that we can do to maintain healthy levels of cholesterol in our bodies. We know that eliminating smoking and avoiding drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can help to increase the levels of HDL. We also know that a program of regular exercise will boost HDL production in the body.

High cholesterol is something that can be improved with diet and medication. Talk to your doctor about your level of risk and find out what you can do to keep your heart healthy.