Have you managed to catch the most recent drug commercial? The one about a guy moving down a spiral staircase with numerals printed on the steps and the numbers decreasing in value as he goes down the stairs.

It portrays how your physician may have told you that you have to lower your cholesterol levels lower than ever before to have a healthy body. Unfortunately, it is a myth and a potentially fatalistic one as well. Let us begin with a few known facts on the issue at hand, Cholesterol.

What really is cholesterol?

Is it something that is harmful for your body?

Should cholesterol levels in our body be kept as low as possible?

Let's take a moment to consider those questions.

First though, what is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a soft waxy fatty substance that can be found in our bloodstream and cells of our body. It is also present in the food that we consume daily, in meat and dairy products. It is produced in our liver for important body functions such as cell formation, hormone, vitamin and bile acid production.

Cholesterol is needed by the body to form cholic acid that is then used to produce bile salts to digest fat. Also, cholesterol is essential to the production of adrenal and reproductive hormones such as progesterone and testosterone. Cholesterol can also make our skin impenetrable by water and other harmful substances.

In addition, it can cause toxins in our bloodstream, to be bound together, reducing inflammation and protecting our nerves and organs at the same time. So, now that we know how important cholesterol is to us, the question is, why does it have such a bad name?

Rumors began when scientists and researchers made a finding correlating blood cholesterol, cholesterol in our bloodstream, with heart disease. However, if one were to return to research classes in school, they would find out that correlations are of no big importance. When two things are correlated, it just means that two things are present at the same time, or as the American Heritage Dictionary puts it; a correlation is a causal, complementary, parallel, or reciprocal relationship, especially a structural, functional, or qualitative correspondence between two comparable entities.

In plain English this means that just because a person is caught holding a gun, it does not mean he pulled the trigger.

However, where the confusion really lies is because there are two types of cholesterol. One good for you, and one bad for you. The good type is called HDL Cholesterol, and the bad type, LDL Cholesterol.

LDL Cholesterol stands for Low Density Lipoprotein, and when too much of this circulates in our bloodstream then it is bad news. Because it builds up on the inner lining of our arteries, and can cause us to have heart attacks. A bit like a kettle when it gets clogged up with limescale.

HDL Cholesterol on the other hand seems to have protective capabilities. It makes up approximately a fourth to a half of the blood cholesterol that is carried around our bodies, and seems to have a protective effect against heart disease, as it seems to be able to carry LDL cholesterol away, and hence stop it forming against the walls of our arteries. Acting a bit like a kettle de-scaling solution.