Cholesterol is a waxy substance, or a lipid, made by your liver but it also comes from the animal foods (meat, dairy, poultry) you eat. It's not inherently bad & your body needs it to build cells, Vit. D & certain hormones. Those foods are also high in saturated & trans fats & those foods can cause the liver to make an excess of cholesterol. So it's that added production of it that can cause a health issue as can smoking, kidney disease, diabetes, genetics, inactivity & hypothyroidism.
Cholesterol does not dissolve in water. To help it move through the blood, the liver makes lipoproteins. These are made from fat & protein. Many don't even realize these are issues until they develop serious complications, which is why you should have it checked & get a routine cholesterol screening.
So all that being said...why is it important?? Well it circulates in the blood. So as it increases in the blood, so does the health risk. There are 2 types of cholesterol LDL (low density lipoproteins) the bad kind & HDL (high density lipoproteins) the good kind. This cholesterol, along with other substances can form a thick, hard deposit on the inside of the arteries also called plaque & causes them to be less flexible, which is called arteriosclerosis. If a clot forms & blocks one of these narrowed arteries, the result could be heart attack or stroke.
The HDL helps return the LDL back to your liver to be removed from your body. This helps to prevent it from building up in your arteries.
There are several types of statins that one can take which can have negative side effects. There are also other mediations they can give you that can have bad side effects.
There are diet, lifestyle changes you can make too along with certain supplements & foods that can help lower your cholesterol levels. For example: garlic, hawthorn, astragalus, red yeast rice, psyllium, ground flaxseeds, rosemary, turmeric, ginger, holy basil, yarrow, artichoke leaf extract, fenugreek seeds & leaves.
Concerning one's diet: limit foods that are high in cholesterol, saturated fats, trans fats. Chose lean protein such as chicken, beef, fish & legumes. Eat a wide variety of fruits, veggies & whole grains. Choose baked, broiled, steamed, grilled or roasted foods instead of fried foods. Avoid fast food & high sugared pre-packaged food whenever possible.
According to Harvard Health, these foods can help to lower cholesterol. Whole grains such as oats, barley, oat bran, beans, eggplant, okra, almonds & other assorted nuts, fruits, fatty fish that are loaded with omega 3's & of course lots of fiber.
So, in conclusion, on can make dramatic changes to their lifestyle & possibly make great improvements to their cholesterol levels. The answer isn't always in prescriptions.