Cholesterol, Lipoproteins, and Cardiovascular Health

"Cholesterol is a fatty substance present in all cells of a human body, has several important functions, and originates from external (diet) or internal (liver) sources. To move through the bloodstream, cholesterol sticks to special proteins that carry it in water called lipoproteins. While the body contains several classes of these proteins, the most common are low- and high-density lipoproteins, respectively termed LDL and HDL. Often, because of their heavy load of cholesterol, LDL is considered bad while the opposite is true on both counts of good HDL. Other kinds of smaller molecules that carry cholesterol are grouped together as "remnant cholesterol" and recent studies have documented this remnant is associated with elevated risk of heart disease and stroke, making them important also to reduce in the body"--