What Is Cholesterol, Where Do We Get It And Why Do We Need It?

Cholesterol is a high molecular weight alcohol found in all animal tissue. When purified it is a yellow compound and its molecular structure is similar to and really the parent com pounds from which the bile acids, sex hormones, vitamin D and adrenal hormones are produced as diagrammed in Figure 1. In an adult human, cholesterol is synthesized in the liver at the rate of 1.5 - 2.0 gm per day. Therefore, the normal dietary intake of from 200 to 600 mg is only a small part of what there is to work with. Dietary sources are foods of animal origin - relative amounts are shown in Table 1