YOUR BODY STORES CHOLESTEROL

Where your body stores cholesterol

Cells. Over 90 percent of all the cholesterol in the body is found in cell membranes. A great deal of cholesterol is also located in the nervous system, concentrated in the cells of the brain and spiral cord. Liver. Huge amounts of cholesterol are found in the liver as a main component of bile, the digestive juice produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Steroid hormones. Cholesterol is a primary structural element of steroid hormones such as cortisol and aldosterone and the sex hormones, so a high concentration of cholesterol is found in the glands where these products are synthesized. Cholesterol allows women to be feminine and men to be masculine - it's a building block of the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone. Bloodstream. Cholesterol is found in the bloodstream as "blood cholesterol" in small circular packages called lipoproteins.