It's actually not cholesterol that's good or bad for you, but the "vehicle" that is carrying it.

 

Because cholesterol is waxy, it can't mix with blood, which is watery. In order to travel through your bloodstream, it hitches a ride with proteins, creating special transporters called lipoproteins. Think of these lipoproteins as "trucks" that carry cholesterol around the body.

 

 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

 

There are 3 main types of lipoproteins that make up your total blood cholesterol: HDL, LDL and VLDL. Together, they make up the Good, the Bad and the Ugly:

"The Good". High-Density Lipoprotein or HDL works like a garbage truck. It removes bad cholesterol from the blood vessels and takes it to the liver where it is broken down.

"The Bad". Low-Density Lipoprotein or LDL acts like a fat delivery truck. It picks up cholesterol from the liver and delivers it to the cells. When more cholesterol is ready for delivery than the cells can take, LDL cholesterol drops off the extra cholesterol on the artery walls.

"The Ugly". Very Low Density Lipoprotein or VLDL is the "ugly" part of the trio. What makes VLDL so ugly is that it tends to convert to the bad LDL in the blood.

 

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