Cholesterol: What Is It Good For?

We’ve been conditioned to believe that cholesterol is harmful, and today most physicians believe “the lower the better” when it comes to cholesterol numbers.

But cholesterol is an integral component of cell membranes. In fact, every one of the trillions of cells in the human body (each of which has a membrane), contains copious amounts of cholesterol.

The body was designed this way to ensure that cell membranes are fluid, not stiff. The membrane has a lipid (fat) bilayer — a film two molecules thick — that repels water. Cholesterol and cholesterol-derived proteins form the basis of that bilayer. Inadequate cholesterol levels result in leaky cell membranes, which leads to inflammation and degeneration.

That’s why many of the side effects of cholesterol-lowering medications are associated with inflammatory and degenerative problems.

LDL cholesterol acts as a carrier molecule for cholesterol and is an integral substance for the body. LDL also fights infections. Lipopolysaccharide, or endotoxin, is a toxic substance produced by bacteria.

When someone is admitted to the hospital for a serious infection, doctors often search for endotoxins as the cause of illness. LDL cholesterol binds and neutralizes endotoxins and bound endotoxins are unable to stimulate a serious inflammatory response in the body.

Hypercholesterolemic (high cholesterol) mice given bacterial endotoxin had a significantly lower mortality rate than a control group without high cholesterol. Conversely, mice with low cholesterol had a higher-than-normal mortality rate when confronted with endotoxins. The introduction of endogenous lipoproteins resulted in a reduced mortality rate.

Studies have found an inverse correlation between total cholesterol levels and mortality. Many of these studies found a higher death rate from infections in those with low cholesterol levels.