Many people have the impression that cholesterol is a “bad thing” and that the lower the cholesterol in the body, the better. Is this in fact the case? Is cholesterol really of no use to the body? This is the question we need to understand today. Cholesterol is divided into “good cholesterol”, which protects the arteries, and “bad cholesterol”, which can lead to cardiovascular disease. Generally we call HDL “good cholesterol” and LDL “bad cholesterol”, but in fact, there is no real difference between good and bad cholesterol, they each have their own uses and are important nutrients that the human body cannot do without. Cholesterol is the culprit of cardiovascular disease, some people think that cholesterol “has a hundred harm but no benefit”; others think that “there is no cholesterol, there is no atherosclerosis”, so low cholesterol is not what harm to the human body? 1, low cholesterol can lead to increased brittleness and decreased elasticity of blood vessels, leading to strokes and other diseases. This is because the cholesterol level in the blood is too low, it will affect the stability of the cell membrane, so that the cell membrane elasticity decreases and the brittleness increases, and eventually affects the elasticity of blood vessels. 2. Cholesterol is an important component of cell membranes, accounting for more than 20% of the plasma membrane lipids. Cholesterol is also a component of nerve fibers. Without cholesterol, the physiological functions of cells cannot be carried out and life would be terminated. 3.The incidence of cancer is increased in people with low cholesterol, which is mostly related to the fact that low cholesterol cannot nourish the cell membrane well and maintain the integrity of the cell membrane. 4.Cholesterol forms bile salts, and the role of bile is to emulsify the ingested fat and form small particles so that the fat can be easily digested and absorbed in the small intestine. 5. Cholesterol is the precursor of many active substances in the body, such as adrenocorticotropic hormones and sex hormones like cortisol, aldosterone, testosterone and estradiol in the human body, as well as the precursor substance of vitamin D is also cholesterol. Therefore, people with low cholesterol have reduced immunity and hormone deficiency. From the above analysis, it becomes clear that high cholesterol is not beneficial to the body and low cholesterol is harmful to the body. Be sure to keep your cholesterol within the normal range.