What is good cholesterol?

Answer 1

Good cholesterol is the cholesterol that the body makes on its own. It helps keep your heart healthy and fights off diseases that can be triggered by bad cholesterol, which is the type that you get from meats and dairy products. Both levels will go up and down, but there is little connection between the two. If you have high levels of bad cholesterol, it can cause health problems, but cutting back on animal products will only effect bad cholesterol, and the good cholesterol in your body will more or less stay the same/ increase.

Answer 2

Cholesterol in general has a negative connotation. In high amounts it can cause heart attacks, strokes, clogged arteries and other not-so-desired long-term illnesses. However, cholesterol is still a needed part of the human body in order for it to function properly. In addition, HDL cholesterol, or high density lipoprotein cholesterol, is actually good for your cholesterol levels. This type of cholesterol scavenges free and isolated cholesterol in blood vessels, and deposits them in the liver, where the cholesterol cannot harm your body. This in effect reduces the level of free cholesterol in the human body.