Cholesterol and Triglycerides, What's the Difference? Which Is More Dangerous?

Medical Video: LDL and HDL Cholesterol | Good and Bad Cholesterol | Nucleus Health

Do you often hear the statement that levels of total fat, cholesterol, and triglycerides are too dangerous for the body? You probably already know that these two types of substances are formed from the fat foods we eat. But actually, what's the difference between triglycerides, cholesterol and total fat? Which is more dangerous than the three?

Everything comes from fat

You need to know that, your body's total fat, triglycerides and cholesterol are formed from the fatty foods you consume every day. All types of fat that enters the body, whether it's saturated fat or unsaturated fat, will be broken down into fatty acids. Then all the fatty acids will be used as needed. The body will convert fatty acids to cholesterol and triglycerides if needed.

Actually, total fat is all fat contained in the body, including cholesterol and triglycerides. Then what is the difference between cholesterol and triglycerides?

What is the difference between cholesterol and triglycerides?

Both types of fat are needed by the body. But, if there are too many, it will cause heart disease, stroke, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and other degenerative diseases. There are several differences between cholesterol and triglycerides, namely:

Different functions and uses

Triglycerides are useful as a reserve energy that will be used by the body if the main source of energy, glucose, in the body has run out. Therefore, triglycerides are stored in fat cells called adipose cells. These cells gather to make a tissue which is also called adipose tissue. Adipose tissue is spread in various parts of the body, such as under the surface of the skin and between organs.

While cholesterol is a substance produced by fat metabolism and is needed by the body to build tissues and cells, form various hormones, and play a role in the digestive system. In the blood, cholesterol cannot dissolve so it joins protein and forms lipoprotein. In addition, there are two types of body cholesterol that have their own uses, namely:

good cholesterol or high density lipoprotein (HDL) which functions to carry and clear cholesterol from various organs, including blood vessels, back to the liver.
Bad cholesterol or low-density lipoproteins (LDL) which functions to carry cholesterol from the liver to various organs. LDL becomes bad if the amount is too high in the body, resulting in fat becoming deposited in the blood vessels.

Formed from different substances

Although cholesterol and triglycerides are both formed from fat, but there are still differences from both. Cholesterol is only formed from saturated fats obtained from the food you eat. So, the more sources of saturated fat, the more cholesterol the body produces. Not only results from the fatty foods you consume, actually body cholesterol is produced naturally in the liver. so, to control the amount, you have to limit eating fatty foods.

Another with triglycerides. Triglycerides are the body's energy reserves that can be produced from fatty foods or carbohydrate-source foods. So, triglycerides can be formed from various foods you eat that have calories. When the fuel to form energy in the body is fulfilled, the remains of glucose and proteins that are still present in the blood will be converted into triglycerides and then stored as energy reserves.

Differences in the normal limits of cholesterol with triglycerides

You must pay attention to the amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood so as not to cause chronic illness. The normal limit of triglycerides in the body is less than 150 mg / dl. While the following are the normal limits of cholesterol:

Normal if the total cholesterol is less than 200 mg / dl.
You should be careful if the amount of cholesterol is between 200-239 mg / dl.
Including high if cholesterol levels have reached 240 mg / dl and more than that.