THE LIVER, A CHOLESTEROL FACTORY

The liver, a cholesterol factory

The liver is a glutton when it comes to cholesterol. Its cells work round the clock using huge amounts of cholesterol, mainly to manufacture bile. In fact, almost 80 percent of the cholesterol in the liver is used to produce bile, which is secreted into the small intestine for fat digestion. The liver also uses cholesterol for lipoprotein production, particularly VLDL (the parent molecule of LDL). The foremost source of "bad" LDL cholesterol is the liver, which indirectly functions as an LDL production facility.